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Travel Convention: Cruiselines pledge no more commission cuts
Royal Caribbean International (RCI) has claimed it is benefitting from Carnival’s decision to cut commission to 5% with agents switch-selling to them.
RCI UK chief Dominic Paul said that it was not planning to follow suit with any changes to its commission structure in 2012.
“It’s too early to say if the commission cutting programme is working, but it’s clearly not totally working as we’re seeing a shift towards our business,” he said.
“We’re not planning to make any changed to commission levels next year.”
Upscale line Crystal Cruises also confirmed today that it has no plans to cut commission. The company, which sells 97.5% of its cruises in the UK through travel agents, said was happy to support retailers with "increased earning opportunities".
John Hays, owner of north-east retailer Hays Travel, backed up Paul’s claim that agents are switching away from Carnival to other cruisellines.
“We can’t make money on 5% commission, it’s not sustainable for us,” he said. “RCI has seen a significant upsurge in business from Hays Travel.”
Hays said he thought the slump in travel bookings could last for a decade.
“I’m a realist, not a pessimist, but I think we could bump along the bottom for 10 years,” he said.
“Trading isn’t great and we’re not seeing much like-for-like growth, but the flourishing areas are the innovative, differentiated areas – cruise is doing well and Black Tomato, an operator which has bespoke trips for £5,000 a booking, are doing exceptionally well.
“People are moving towards value. They’re not necessarily spending less, but they definitely want value for money and a personalised service.”
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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