Travel agents, who have had to overcome the airlines cold shoulder and the rise of the internet, now have a new foe: chambers of commerce.
Chambers all across the country are selling travel packages to raise money.
“Call it infanticide or call it cannibalism, but whatever you call it, the fact that chambers of commerce would be selling travel in direct competition with its members is an outrage,” said
Bill Maloney, chief executive of the American Society of Travel Agents. He added:
”Chambers of Commerce exist to help local members get more business, not to compete with them.”
In Santa Cruz, Calif., for example, the local chamber is sponsoring a $2,185 eight-day trip to Greece.
The chamber, which started by offering a trip to China in 2007 before the Beijing Olympics, sold around 900 packages in its first offering — making $700,000 and nearly tripling what the chamber raised through events and memberships.
Chambers are in part trying to overcome agent complaints by partnering with locals to put on the trips.
“Unfortunately, because it’s profitable, I don’t see chambers quitting the travel business. Only when the money stops will the agencies turn to something else,” writes Barbara E. Hernandez in BNET.
By David Wilkening
