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Comment: Agent consortia should join, says Jeremy Skidmore
There’s no such thing as unity in the travel industry so it’s par for the course that Worldchoice and Advantage are at each other’s throats.
Of course, former Worldchoice managing director Julian Foster’s decision to jump ship to Advantage has added spice to the spat.
You may remember that the Worldchoice board fantasised about running a big plc and decided to set up a commercial arm to buy and run travel agencies. Foster thought this was a brilliant idea but didn’t like the way it was executed and left.
Now Advantage is trying to lure unsettled Worldchoice agents into following Foster’s example.
Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not. It’s just competition and agents should look at the deals on the table and choose the consortium they feel most comfortable with.
But there’s a bigger issue than this. I’ve said for a long time that the best thing for agents would be if these two joined forces.
Think of the negotiating power one combined consortium would have.
All this talk of losing your identity and independence is twaddle. You sign up to a consortium to make more money by pushing certain companies. If you want to be truly independent, go it alone and live on bread and water.
Of course, the two consortiums are unlikely to join up. There are far too many egos around and while it might make sense for the agents, it wouldn’t make sense for the leaders who are supposed to serve them.
Read previous comments by Jeremy Sidmore:
20-Nov-2002 Comment: Winter Bookings, by Jeremy Skidmore
13-Nov-2002 Comment: Timeshare and Resort Conference
05-Nov-2002 Comment: MyTravel
23-Oct-2002 Comment: The ABTA Convention
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