Triton conference special: Heal opens with a dig at Rothwell

Worldchoice and Triton chairman Colin Heal had a dig at former TUI chief Peter Rothwell in his opening speech at the conference in Palma, Majorca.

“At the time of the ABTA conference in September 2005, TUI announced cuts in commission,” he said.

“They said it didn’t matter if sales through independent agents fell to zero. They felt sales through their own shops and online would be more than adequate to compensate.

“Peter Rothwell was the architect of that. He has gone and we are still standing and thriving.”

Heal said independents would be far worse off if Triton had not been formed in response to TUI cutting commissions.

“Commission levels to all agents would have been very seriously affected,” he said.

“The growth of Triton products and the huge amount of commissions being paid is the way forward.”

Heal said that TTA’s proposed takeover of Worldchoice was still on the cards.

“We’re in the final stages of negotiations. There is no problem with it,” he said.

by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)