A columnist in Personnel Today - one of TW's many sister publications - has blogged on skiving workers who are currently spending three hours a week at work searching for holidays.
But, wonders said columnist, how do agents skive?
maybe agents won't have time to skive if that time spent researching holidays converts into sales :-)
Martin Couzins, managing editor
Travel Weekly reporter Edward Robertson attended Cox & Kings' 250th anniversary bash last night...
Cox & Kings celebrated their 250th anniversary in style last night by throwing a dinner for their 100 top-selling agents.
Held at The Royal Garden Hotel Kensington, the event proved to be a lively affair with pre-dinner drinks, dinner, a band and more post-dinner drinks all taken care of by the operator.
A prize draw with seven luxury trips given away also guaranteed certain guests had mile-wide smiles by the end of the evening.
The evening proved a lot of fun, and agents were quick to explain what makes Cox & Kings stand out:
World Market Travel co-owners Peter and Tim Giles, who had travelled up from Bath:
It's really down to the places that they go to like South America or India that means you can't beat them. They have the best guides who know 100% what they're talking about and with the small groups they organise they're very different from other companies.
We know our clients will be treated in the manner they expect which you don't always get with other operators.
...and Bailey's Travel managing director Chris Bailey:
They take customers to places like India and South America that you can't send people to yourself.
Edward Robertson, reporter
Travel trade association ABTA has unveiled a new website, and it's a vast improvement - though the old one hardly had it goin' on, as I'm sure even ABTA would admit.
It's a more consumer-focused affair, with centre stage taken by a member directory. Users can search the database by destination and activity, giving them a pretty good way of tracking down reliable travel specialists.
I, for example, found a list of agencies that could do me a cricket holiday in Belgium. (I was just testing it.)
Specialist business is likely to be important to agents as straightforward bookings migrate to online retailers, so this is a good move from ABTA. The question is whether the association can raise its consumer profile sufficiently to drive traffic to the resource.
There's also some iffy usability under the 'Find a Holiday' menu item - this ought to take you directly to a search form, but brings up two lines of text that direct you elsewhere.
The new site also features prominent offers on the homepage, and a nice events page with a calendar widget.
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Here is a list of today's headlines from the conference.
Colin Heal to step down as Triton chairman
Portillo advises agents to 'embrace change'
Keith Wilson 'will add value' in consultant role
TTA speaks out over Worlchoice merger
Gold Medal introduces 0800 numbers
Agents told to promote themselves locally
Tour operators defend direct sell strategies
Cruise passengers could trable in five years, says ACE
Agents told to add value in economic downturn
McEwan confident Advantage agents will attend 2009 Triton conference
Martin Couzins, online editor
Triton - which is made up of the Global Travel Group, Worldchoice UK and Advantage Travel Centres - is having its annual conference in Palma, Majorca, this weekend and TW has three members of the news team reporting. Here are the headlines from day one.
Triton will no longer operate as a joint buying group
Agents to pay £18 a booking for ATOL scheme
Agents told to link financial and marketing strategies
Independent sector held back by 'poor standards'
Triton calls for stronger links with ABTA
Agents call for more focus on members
Group considering dynamic packaging cruise offering
Martin Couzins, online editor
Competition from outside the travel sector has been on the trade's mind for years, so it's interesting to read that three out of bed bank hotelconnect.com's seven top distributors are non-travel.
Hotelconnect.com's commercial manager spoke of 'gaps in the distribution channel' and said that agents who fail to promote city breaks are 'driving clients into the arms of aggregation sites' - with obvious effects on commission.
In recent years white label deals have made it easy for generalist retail brands to slap their logo on existing travel technology. See for instance:
It's been said before, but retail and media face some similar challenges, as the internet continues to disrupt their traditional reliance on one channel (the high street and print respectively).
Here in the meeja we distribute through our own print and online properties. We send out email products. We syndicate content through RSS feeds, podcast and video directories and so on. We use social networks and micro-blogging services such as Twitter. We're sweating channels (and yes, it stings a bit).
What causes that analogy to break down is that content producers like us control the multitude of channels, while agents are one of the channels and have to compete with the rest.
But - without wishing to sound like Alan Sugar - that's business. New guys will always come onto the scene, and the way to beat them will always be to have a better proposition, well marketed.
And that brings us back to familiar themes: going for niche, yield-over-volume business; providing personal touches; getting product training. The stuff, in short, that Woolworths could never do...
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Breaking news: ABTA and Federation of Tour Operators to merge on 1 July.
This has been four years in the making, according to discussions in TW towers.
We'll update the article as more details come in, and post any interesting links here.
UPDATE: Joint ABTA and FTO press release.
Not wanting to miss out on the buzz surrounding the announcement of this year's Apprentice hopefuls, TW Blog is happy to see a former travel industry employee has made the programme.
According to the Unreality TV blog, Claire Young laims to be the only convent-educated girl to have survived three summers in Magaluf for Club 18-30.
Her motto - JDI - means “just do it”. Let's hope she does :-)
Catch up BBC - its Apprentice site has yet to list the new candidates.
Martin Couzins, online editor
The Tracking Tourism Blog has a provocative post about tourism after 'peak oil' (i.e. when global resources are no longer sufficient to meet demand).
The party could soon be over and Peak Oil could start to radically upset our current notions of travel and tourism. As costs rise, the world will become smaller again - although there will nevertheless still be opportunities.
It's not a comfortable thought. We would, as TT points out, be forced to travel more locally. Where might this leave agents?
There is certainly potential for earning commission in the domestic market, but if overall choice dwindles and the product itself becomes more familiar, what will the role of the trade be?
You might see a difference in kind, where agents focus on organisation and perform a concierge-type function. Or you might see a difference in scale, where the role remains the same but the shrinking market can sustain fewer jobs.
Or both?
Answers on a postcard in the comments section please...
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Darren Phillips, of Darren Phillips Travel, South Shields, celebrates victory in the higher and lower quiz at Travel Weekly's dynamic packaging roadshow in Newcastle. What a celebration - could this set the standard in agent celebrations when winning a prize? Many thanks to all the agents who made it along and a big thanks to our sponsors.
See also: travel agents get spiritual and travel agents talk dynamic packaging.
Martin Couzins, online editor
This is another side to the Travel Weekly dynamic packaging roadshows. No, the agents who attended our Cheshire event at Mere Golf and Country Club last night were not put in a trance. They were in fact being entertained by magician/comedian Dom Moses.
Another busy evening and lots of agents brushing up on the latest supplier developments. Off to Newcastle for the last roadshow of the week . . .
Martin Couzins, online editor
Following the success of last year's awards, TW has launched its 2008 agent achievement awards.
The awards are regional - covering the Midlands, Southwest/Wales, Northern and Southeast - and include 10 catgories. New categories for this year are most innovative agency and best business travel team. Find out more at the awards website.
Martin Couzins, online editor
It is good to see a piece of Holiday Which? research which comes out on the side of travel agents - let's face it, this doesn't happen very often. It was particularly interesting to note that of the respondents to the Holiday Which? survey that used travel agents, 81% felt they’d received honest, trustworthy advice.
Trust is key for consumers and online players are still grappling with the issue. Agents are in a position of strength here because consumers still want face to face advice and transactions.
A search on 'trust' on the Travolution blog reveals some interesting discussion points around consumers' trust of online players.
Martin Couzins, online editor
We all know the golden age of travel was a gentler time but it’s always nice to have it reaffirmed. This is why here at TW we are bringing to your attention this email from one of our many great agents, Eton Travel retail assistant manager Elaine Kane.
She spent her weekend ripping up carpets and in the process found a load of newspapers dated September 1957 which had been used as lining.
While there was the normal (rather dated) scandals about a doctor admitting to be homosexual on TV and an actress in court accused of “making violent love in the back row of a cinema”, there was also this rather charming travel story.
Elaine writes . . .
“The travel story of the day was a BOAC plane that was taking passengers from London to Trinidad. It took off from London, landed in Glasgow to pick up passengers and refuelled then set off on its way.“On approaching Newfoundland, where it was due to land for refuelling, the pilot found the airport closed due to fog, so radioed back to London to say he was turning back.
"Most of the pax were asleep and did not know that they were heading back to London until they landed. They had spent 16 hours getting nowhere! Amazingly, they were pacified with tea and sandwiches before being put back on the plane to do the journey all over again!! Glad they weren’t my customers!!”
Of course had they been Elaine’s customers we are sure they wouldn’t have caused too much of a fuss. After all in those days the stiff upper lip never weakened, even when on holiday.
Ed Robertson, reporter
Interesting piece in The Observer which looks at some travel agencies that are being launched on the high street - at a time when high street shops are closing.
The piece highlights the value of the travel agent as personal travel advisor. For all the benefits of the web and telephone, there is no beating the personal touch. And this is especially so for more complex itineraries and higher value bookings.
Sounds like Black Tomato's new shop in Shoreditch, London, could be worth a look. It will be open till 9pm, has a bar, and every second month will be redecorated to reflect a different destination. Customers have to book for an appointment though.
Martin Couzins, online editor
Some bitesize stuff on Worldchoice's deal with the Travel Trust Association (that's right: TTA beat Stella after all, though Worldchoice insists the decision was nothing to do with concern about the latter's future).
UPDATE: we have some follow-up stories online - Worldchoice will stay part of Triton under the deal, and the TTA will not be looking to cut costs in the wake of the merger.
Nathan Midgley, web prodcuer
Here are the details of a request for a quote a customer sent to a travel agent yesterday.
The customer wanted five nights in Dubai and was not prepared to pay more than £30 per room per night – making that a maximum booking of £150. The booking was for one adult and one child.
The customer had sent the e-mail to 33 travel agents. As the agent who sent this on to us said
Just see how ridiculous it is getting out there, e-mailing so many agents over a booking which earns the agent £15. We advised the client that we would be unable to assist."
As an agent (I know not all our readers are, so if you're not, just pretend...) is this a booking that you would pursue? Or is a client who has approached so many people in search of the cheapest booking a lost cause?
Emily Ashwell, business and community editor
Last week I asked Travolution readers whether small travel agents can win over tough customers like recent Travel Weekly interviewee Chris Beddoe, who told us that she self-books online "because the only time I have to think about holidays is after 10pm".
I offered a (slightly spurious) choice: should agents invest in technology, or should they play to their traditional strengths?
Here's how the purple 'un's tech-savvy readers responded:
I think those agents that provide 24-hour, booking online are going to be the winners in the long term. It's great that smaller travel agencies are getting involved in the internet, but having a site which doesn't allow booking is pretty useless to me.
Darren Cronian
The Web lends itself perfectly for simple tasks such as flights, city trips, rental cars...but when you start combining these items it can easily take you hours. [People] will do it once or twice and then return to a savvy (!) agent because it's still more efficient.
Walter
I think agents should harvest on the disadvantages of the Web but they should also invest in tech support such as CRM. Not only are websites becoming more user friendly, they also become more savvy regarding your preferences. Once websites do this properly, agents will need to focus even more on niche offerings.
Gualterio
The point is that "booking" is not where agents add value. It's in "finding" and "recommending" particularly if what you want is unusual or undefined. Agents need new models that allow them to get paid for playing to their strengths.
DJ
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Thanks to Michael on the Flight Global blog for this piece of Dutch delight. The video features a Boeing 737 landing on water and is all done in the name of promotion for Dutch travel company X-travel. No surprises it's a Dutch thing - remember the the Pimp MyTravel competition?
Martin Couzins, online editor
A new post from regular guest contributor Brian Hordon of Silversea Cruises UK...
Travel industry predictions for the coming year always make interesting reading, and I admire the people who put their thoughts in the public domain. Get it right and nobody notices; get it wrong and you will be castigated!
The credit crunch, alongside several other negative economic factors, will contribute enormously towards a difficult trading year for the travel industry, but neither trade nor consumer publications appear to be focusing on the top end of the market, which can often be less susceptible to changing conditions - a market segment which has come to see travel as a necessity.
The Travel Weekly top 10 New Year Destinations for 2007 was led by Tenerife, New York, Bangkok, Sydney and Johannesburg (the next five include Cape Town, Melbourne and more) - one volume destination followed by four "big ticket" destinations. And high value product is further endorsed in bullish style by Passenger Shipping Association director Bill Gibbons in his 2008 cruise predictions.
The volume market may well take time to deliver satisfactory results, but luxury travel and other high revenue business could well be the trading salvation for those creative and aggressive travel agents prepared to have a go.
The UK travel industry has consistenly demonstrated its resilience during difficult trading periods, and I have no doubt that 2008 will see a repeat of this attitude; this is possibly best endorsed by Travelcare of Tamworth who achieved a spectacular score of 99% for a Caribbean holiday enquiry in a recent Mystery Shopper (Travel Weekly 4th January 2008). This should be the pacesetter for 2008 for every UK travel agent.
Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd
There have been a few developments in stories I mentioned before Christmas, so here's a quick update for those who don't subscribe to Travel Weekly's news feed (hint...).
The Travelscope administrators told us that they had spoken to 'interested parties', but that the Christmas break is likely to scupper any rescue deal.
On the operator front, Shearings has been able to offer some Travelscope customers places on similar trips, and "gave very good rates to customers who were due to depart on Friday and booked with us to go away the next day."
On the agent front, our news desk spoke to representatives of Advantage and Co-operative Travel, who said that agents who had made a Travelscope booking were working hard to salvage their clients' holiday plans (which, of course, is one of the benefits of using an agent).
Expect more disruption in the new year as BAA staff go ahead with strikes. Talks failed to avert a series of walkouts, which will affect all seven BAA airports on January 7, 14 and 17-18.
Another company has also given up the ghost: all-business class airline MAXjet filed for bankruptcy on Christmas Eve. Rival carrier Silverjet is offering seats to customers who were due to fly between London and New York.
Nathan Midgley, web producer
After five hectic days in Cape Town, South Africa, the 40 agents taking part in the Kuoni Worldwide Diploma final had the chance to let their hair down.
The event culminated in a fantastic evening at the Gold of Africa Museum, where they were treated to a tour of the museum followed by a tasting menu of traditional food in the museum’s newly-opened courtyard restaurant, courtesy of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official destination marketing organisation for Cape Town and the Western Cape.
The evening included the chance to join in some traditional African drumming. Pictured are (left) Sara Short from Bath Travel in Fareham and Kathryn Skeates from Travelcare in Ringwood, Hampshire.
Two agents were also named Worldwide Consultant and Advanced Worldwide Consultant of the Year 2007 – check out next week’s edition of Travel Weekly for exclusive interviews with the winners.
Emily Ashwell, business and community editor
Quick heads-up for blog readers. The industry saw some more consolidation yesterday: Harvey World Travel owner Stella Group announced that it has bought Triton member Global Travel Group.
The deal will create the largest independent network of travel agents in the UK. Full story on the website.
The first full day of the Kuoni Worldwide Diploma Final in Cape Town, South Africa, and the group went to a classroom of a different kind.
The morning was spent wine tasting at the Neethlingshof Wine Estate.
Pictured are: Ingrid Philpott, travel consultant at Bath Travel in Romsey (left) and Debbie Drummond, travel consultant, Going Places, Woking, tasting their first sauvignon blanc of the day - there were plenty more to follow!
After, the group stopped at the Spier Estate, which also includes the Cheetah Outreach project, where the animals are reared in captivity.
Pictured is Simone Crane, travel consultant at Hart Travel in Fleet with a seven month old cub.
"It purred like a kitten and was very docile," said Simone.
Emily Ashwell, business and community editor
Travel Weekly's Skills Zone editor Emily Ashwell is off to Cape Town with agents taking Kuoni Worldwide Diploma Final. Here is her first post.
Agents set off for Cape Town, South Africa, last night for the Kuoni Worldwide Diploma Final.
They will spend five days in and around the city, before sitting their final paper on Monday.
The work started on the flight out, where agents were given the first part of the Diploma Final to complete.
Pictured are (left) Sarah Day, senior travel consultant, Midlands Co-op from Birstall, Leicestershire, with Joanne Cross, travel consultant, Midlands Co-op, Beaumont Leys, Leicestershire.
Martin Couzins, online editor
Very interesting post on Travel Rants looking at fees for name changes on flight tickets. Not sure this is still applicable with flights being sold direct online.
Martin Couzins, online editor
This week Travel Weekly has reported that the over-50s are taking more holidays and that hoteliers need to cash in on the older generation. As the population ages and remains healthier for longer, increasing numbers of older people are becoming more adventuruous with their spare time.
The news that Saga has launched a social networking service should therefore come as no surprise. The Times reports that the over-50s account for nearly one third of the total time spent on the internet in Britain.
13,000 people have signed up in four months and the forums look well used. Check out the travel forum to see what's being talked about.
Martin Couzins, online editor
Our first agent reporter assignment is currently under way.
Audrey Singh, a Hays Travel homeworker, is currently in Puerto Rico at the 30th Annual Caribbean Tourism Conference. We'll be hearing from Audrey on her return.
(Regular readers will know that Agent Reporter has attracted some controversy - read TW Blog's response.)
Martin Couzins, online editor
Some sceptical responses to Travel Weekly's Agent Reporter scheme have come in. I think it's worth dealing with each of the objections raised in turn…
- Travel agents don’t have journalism skills
To be accepted as an Agent Reporter, agents will have to show specialist training, knowledge and experience, as well as reasonable writing ability.
We - like all comparable media - have long commissioned industry columnists on the same criteria. If an agent fulfils them too, why shouldn’t he or she produce the odd bit of content?
- Travel Weekly's content will suffer
ARs will be reporting back from trade events and fam trips, not covering news beats. We won’t cut back on professional content.
As for quality of writing, AR work will go through the editorial process (sub-editors, desk heads and the rest) like any other article.
- Agents have nothing to say
There are more than 10,000 agent reviews on Travel Weekly's sister online service Gazetteers.com.
Not every one of those reviewers is an expert. But many agents know their stuff. All we are doing is giving a few talented individuals the chance to demonstrate their product knowledge to clients and colleagues.
- Agent Reporters will neglect their jobs
It’s up to managers whether or not they allow their staff to apply. While the scheme will not suit every business, we think some managers will see AR work as potentially beneficial to both agent and agency.
Not only will published work prove an agent’s knowledge of their specialism, it will also earn them points on the ABTA/ITT Accredited Travel Professional scheme.
I hope that clears a few things up. Comments?
An interesting discussion point from the message board of Travel Weekly's Facebook group (Facebook member? Come join us). Select World Travel's Lee Harrison writes:
Recently we were quoted a price of £1945.00 for a Queen Mary Cruise. The price included a 45% discount. Then we're told by the client she's been quoted a price of £1395.00 by XYZ Cruise Club. Why discount a premium product that's already been given a good discount by the cruise pperator? We all know what happened to Cruise Control!
Are we changing the cruise product too much? Will more capacity on superliners be encouraging a " Benidorm" at Sea, especially with cruise clubs discounting to such ridiculous levels?
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Select World Travel's Lee Harrison contacts TW Blog to say that one of his consultant's travel videos a video featuring one of his consutants is up for an award on Weshow.com.
Karen Wratten filmed was at Beachcomber's 18th Birthday Party held in Mauritius, and a very well put together video it is too.
(It transpires the video is actually the work of Enigma FX - Select World Travel just attended the fam and posted the video on its blog. Apols for the confusion.)
Looks like everyone had a great time, if not a relaxing one - if anyone suffers from the delusion that agent fams are an excuse to put your feet up for a few days, they should give it a watch.
Anyway, it's good to see an independent agency producing this kind of content. If you like the video go and vote for it (requires registration). Good luck to Karen, Lee & co.
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Regular contributor Brian Hordon reflects on Travel Weekly's Mystery Shopper feature as Cruise Month draws to a close...
It had to happen during cruise month: Mystery Shopper went looking for a cruise holiday. The result? An excellent outright winner and a variety of scores for the other agents.
As for the agents who scored lower, it is difficult to apportion blame - I certainly have sympathy for the sales consultants who were the focus of Mystery Shopper's attention.
Lack of knowledge, lack of awareness of cruising, lack of confidence, lack of training? It is easy to "point the finger", but I see the Mystery Shopper exercise as an opportunity.
How many travel agents actually incorporate the weekly Mystery Shopper feature into their in-house training? The script is in place, the subject is clearly defined; the discussion can be based upon:
Mystery Shopper can appear a little harsh when reviewed after the event; but used positively, it can be yet another superb resource - especially for cruising.
And of course the feature included five selling tips by Andy Harmer from the Association of Cruise Experts - another invaluable resource for all levels of sales consultants.
Final point; I have every Mystery Shopper featuring cruise requests from the very beginning (yes, I know, how sad!), and with literally a couple of exceptions the score card remains very similar to the latest mystery shopper.
Don't despair, Luton, just adopt a positive attitude and learn from the experience.
Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd
This comes from our features reporter Janine Kelso...
I recently joined Thomas Cook's top 100 agents as they were flown to Antigua in recognition of their hard work.
Staying in the newly-built Mediterranean suites at Sandals Grande Antigua, we were wowed by the rooms - four-poster king-size beds, whirlpool baths and (big enough for two) rain showers.
The champagne breakfast has also went down well.
Eric Clapton and Giorgio Armani have homes on the island and Eddie Murphy (complete with embarrassingly-large entourage), 50 Cent and Danny Glover have all visited. But the agents got their own taste of fame this week when news of their arrival on the island was broadcast on local TV and radio stations.
Representatives from Thomas Cook and the Antigua and Barbuda Tourist Office told reporters that the incentive trip was beneficial to the island as it would help the agents to sell it with passion when they returned home.
Thomas Cook said it was the first time that one of their trips had drawn so much interest from the local press. The news report was screened at 6am and those agents who rose early enough to watch it were thrilled to see themselves on TV.
While here at Travel Weekly we are always writing about just how much travel agents still have to play for in the modern market, it is nice to see the proof of it too.
A recent requirement for return flights to San Francisco during the half term week (gulp!) left me spending time in the office searching numerous websites for a half decent price which would have been better spent in the pub.
So remembering my old friend Eton Travel Agency retail travel assistant manager Elaine Kane, who last year helped me out of a sticky situation in Beijing involving several large beers, two plates of kidney kebabs and a drunken member of the Chinese secret police, I turned to her for some help.
Not only did she source the flights quicker than I could but she made several changes without a single complaint, dealt with the airline’s demands for Advanced Passenger Information and most importantly got me the best price by more than £20. A result all round!
With flight consolidators like Gold Medal and Travel 2/4 still pledging to work exclusively with the industry I am sure there are prices out there for agents to access which the general public can’t and with a service charge (more than fair enough for the work put in by Elaine) we are left with both happy agents and customers.
Edward Robertson