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Advantage members forgive-and-forget TUI cuts
Advantage Travel Centres’ members have adopted a ‘forgive and forget’ attitude towards TUI and are reporting strong sales for the operator.
Just three years ago, Thomson parent TUI announced it was scrapping commission to travel agents in an attempt to bring all its sales in-house.
Independent members of Global, Advantage and Worldchoice subsequently formed Triton, developed their own products and worked with other operators.
TUI’s plan failed and they returned cap-in-hand to independents.
Now, Advantage Travel Centres chief executive John McEwan said sales were rising for TUI.
“Our business for TUI is strong,†he said. “The reality is that if a holidaymaker has been travelling with Thomson Gold for 15 years, that is what they want to buy.
“Other members will see the importance of selling Thomson in their catchment area. If you look at, for example, Norwich, Thomson has 45% of the business from there, so switching away from them would be difficult.â€
McEwan said other tour operators could learn a lesson from what happened to TUI.
“There is a moral lesson there, “ he said. “When TUI took that decision, it believed it could drive business in-house.
“But it cost a lot of money because you’re moving from a fixed and variable cost (where you pay agents if they make a booking), to just a fixed cost. The current TUI management understand that.â€
McEwan said bookings for Triton through Advantage were still strong.
“We’re doing fine, but I think there is more we can do, so we are talking about that.â€
McEwan has taken over the chairmanship of Triton and will chair his first board meeting on Wednesday.
*See linked Advantage stories.
by Jeremy Skidmore
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