Is dynamic packaging the answer?

Thursday, 19 Dec, 2005 0

TravelMole Comment by Jeremy Skidmore

A funny thing happened on the way to the travel agency. I walked into the retailer, only to find out it had turned into an operator.

There’s no sign of dynamic packaging in my household as I fumble to put a bit of wrapping paper around some highly unimaginative presents, but apparently it’s happening everywhere else on the high street.

And, ever since tour operators started mentioning the dreaded ‘c’ words – that’s cuts and commission to you – it’s taken off like wild fire.

Travel agents can’t make any money living off the crumbs from traditional operators, so they’re building their own trips and whacking on a healthy mark up. Simple.

The directors of consortiums such as Triton and the Travel Trust Association are hanging their hat on dynamic packaging becoming the saviour of all retailers. It all sounds very logical and I, for one, can’t see any future in selling the big tour operators.

But does dynamic packaging work for everyone?

I attended the TTA conference the other day and had a chat with a few agents who have a very different view. They don’t represent the views of the whole membership, or its directors, but there might be quite a few other retailers who think the same way.

They believe that dynamic packaging is an accident waiting to happen and that companies could be put out of business by a client suing if something goes seriously wrong abroad.

But more than that, many agents simply don’t want to dynamically package.

Ian Corbett, who runs Goldcrest Travel in the upmarket Reading suburb of Caversham is, by his own admission, a dinosaur. His website is basic and doesn’t bring in much business. He sells packages with a few select operators with whom he has a good relationship and is paid commission in the traditional way. Surely it’s only a matter of time before he’s out of business?

Actually, Ian’s had his most successful year for a long time. The select band of operators he works with have no intention of cutting commissions and he has no desire to copy their products by building his own packages.

Not all agents can succeed in the same way as Ian does. You need to be in an affluent area and have some loyal clients. But aren’t many independents in exactly that position?

Dynamic packaging will work for some, but is it going to be the magical cure that will save all agents from the job centre, as the consortium leaders seem to believe?

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