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What’s all the fuss about commissions?
Agents should not be making a “fuss” about losing commission, according to Robert Daykin, senior partner of The Corporate Travel Partnership.
Speaking at a seminar on the first day of the Business Travel Show in Manchester, consultant Mr Daykin asked delegates: “What is all the fuss about? If you go back to the beginning there weren’t any commissions, because there weren’t any travel agents. We just had suppliers selling their wares direct to the consumer.”
He added: “I have never really understood from the corporate perspective why commissions are there. It’s just money going round in circles. They are a muddle because someone has to account for them and it’s just a waste of time.”
But fellow panelist Alan Coles, managing director of P&O Business Travel, said that it was only right that – whether through commission or another type of payment – agents were rewarded for the work they do for the airlines.
Mr Coles said: “Travel management companies provide a value for airlines as well as agents and that value has to be recognised. I believe we should be rewarded for the work we do.”
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