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Agents told to stop naming and shaming suppliers in Thomas Cook fallout
Agents who have been taking to social media to name and shame suppliers in the Thomas Cook fallout are being asked to tone things down.
Bruce Martin, one of the co-founders of the travel Facebook forum Travel Gossip, said he was concerned about some of the recent posts, which include photos of brochures being thrown in bins.
He said he has been approached by operators and other suppliers who say some posts are ‘unfair and potentially damaging’.
Some suppliers say they feel unable to respond to the posts for ‘fear of fuelling further negative comments’.
"I’m no expert in the financial circumstances in all this; I don’t fully understand the about commission payments, customer ownership, booking takeovers or price increases, but I do know that suppliers are doing all they can to support agents whilst also trying to comply with financial agreements, CAA instructions and in many cases trying to mitigate huge losses at their end," Martin posted on Monday.
"And I know that agents have been flat out dealing with the aftermath and doing their best for their customers.
"We need more balance and understanding during this difficult time, agents and suppliers are all in this together."
He said in the days since Thomas Cook’s collapse he has approved over 600 new members on the forum. It now has more than 18,000 members.
In the last week there have been 1,600 posts, 12,000 comments and 65,000 reactions.
"Travel Gossip has become a huge focal point for everyone. The stats speak for themselves," he said.
But he encouraged members of the forum to be mindful of the long-standing rules.
"You are responsible for your own posts as per Facebook’s terms & conditions, not Travel Gossip Ltd," he said.
Any posts which break the rules can be reported to the admin.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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