Published on : Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Over the past months we have experienced a rise in unsolicited feedback on the topic of “Agency Bypass”. We are of the view that the scales are reaching a tipping point and suppliers are failing to recognize and compensate travel agencies for the role they play in the travel purchase.
Let me share a recent conversation between Agent and Supplier:
ACTA member: Hi (Travel Supplier), I have a file I am working on and my client presented a coupon code that is listed on your website, however reservations say they cannot give me the rate? Was for 10 passengers from Vancouver – Puerto Vallarta for 1 week…really do not want to lose the booking, thought (travel supplier) was travel agent friendly? Help please!
Travel Supplier Rep: Thank you for your e-mail. We do of course value all of our retail travel agency partners, however the coupon code below is part of a Marketing campaign aimed at consumers booking on our website. As do other Tour Operators, we do occasionally market towards consumers who have made direct bookings with us in the past. This code is only applicable to direct bookings made on the website. I do apologize for the inconvenience and will certainly pass along your feedback to our head office.
What was the end result? The consumer went direct and the travel agent lost the sale.
It is obvious that the consumer’s preference was to employ the travel agent for their expertise, professionalism and peace of mind. BUT, when the pot is sweetened by the supplier and the Travel Agents hands are tied, it deletes all regard and respect for “consumers choice”. Without “choice” the playing field immediately tilts to the suppliers favor. This is an unfair advantage and it is happening more and more.I will note that many suppliers do not engage in this practice of bypass from the point of view that the promo code will work on their agency site. A good start, I suppose.
The result of these sales tactics continues to brew a toxic supplier- agent relationship. At some point the practice will back-fire because travel agents will(and should) actively work to protect their best customers from all the commotion. We have no real objection to suppliers offering “sweeteners” to cement loyalty from their customers as long as the practice doesn’t come off looking like it is anti-agent. Suppliers, for instance, could have offered free breakfast or a free upgrade to the consumer, without eroding away the pricing model or wrecking relations with a good agency supporter.Personally I feel this issue (from a sales perspective) is as big an issue as the NCF is on revenue. I’m not sure what the answer is yet, but ACTA has to call this practice out. Direct-to-consumer offers is a very serious issue which is on the rise.
Source:-ACTA
Tags: Agency Bypass. An Open Letter to ACTA members, Travel Association News
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