'Agents can make good operators'

Travel Technology Show Special: Magic Breaks managing director, Keith Thompson says becoming a tour operator can be a proftable route for agents if they get the technology right. Speaking at a debate at the Travel Technology Show last week, Mr Thompson said: “How do you sustain a retail business with all the changing distributions, threats and challenges that surround it.” He says that his company, which he started in 1991, decided that the best option was to turn into a tour operator, or “travel organisation”. He chose to work with RWA, which offers the Sell-It product. He says this enabled Magic Breaks to: “Produce a greater and more varied product than our size of company depicts and price control our stock with almost immediate affect, allowing for greater profitability.” Mr Thompson says the tour operator product has been profitable since year one. He added: “If we had to have relied on conventional of tour operating forms we would not be tour operating today”. He said that the marketing cost would have been prohibitive to entering the tour operating market and would have put the rest of the business in jeopardy. He added: “We understand that retailers do not make good tour operators and that tour operators do not make good retailers. So therefore you have to ensure you have the right skills in place before you embark.“ Mr Thompson warned the audience that it is not just getting the right technology that counts, the company must also enlist the help of IT support if it doesn’t have the skills itself, and the company must have to have an investment culture and have wider skills. He said: “Travel in this market is not just about handing someone a brochure or looking up in a guide when and where the local market is on. It’s about understanding how you acquire a customer through differing marketing skills.” Report by Ginny McGrath Read other stories from the Travel Technology Show: The future for dynamic packaging The end of Viewdata? Not for a while GDSs to review agent incentives Amadeus to diversify through Comtec deal No-frills airlines to get cut price GDS access? Operators warned: Going online exposes your technology Travel Trade Exclusive: OTC signs Lunn Poly deal