EDITOR’S COMMENTS
NEWS Hot Stories
04 – Iata plan ‘could close agencies’; Midcounties trials £25 fee; trade urged to back axing APD for children; Google travel plans ‘not profound’; Bookable agency model questioned
News Digest
08 – Norwegian reshuffle; Aito reveals speakers; Gold Medal fam; Tui partners RTD10 conference; Cook adds tech to two more stores
Conference Report 10 – Hays Travel IG conference
Big Interview 14 – Jackie Willis, Titan Travel
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Product News 19 – Hoseasons revamps website
Operator News
20 – Inghams adds new resorts 22 – Butlins to open chalet village
Cruise News 24 – MSC Armonia back in service 26 – New APT ship to sail in Burma
Technology News 28 – Agency to offer more ancillaries
Aviation News 30 – Qatar to boost Doha service
ALL ABOUT YOU
Letters 32 – Thomson, Cardiff airport, Jet2
Comment 34 – Andy Freeth: first impressions
All For You 38 – Cruise, hamper, vouchers
Readers’ Lives 40 – Chris Bailey, Baileys Travel
Mystery Shopper 48 – Can agents find fun in Vegas?
DESTINATIONS North Africa & the Red Sea
51 – Discover why now is the perfect time to see the Pyramids 57 – 10 of the best hotels for couples
The US
63 – What to see, do and visit in 48 hours in Philadelphia 69 – Tour the verdant Vermont
JOBS AND CLASSIFIED
73 – Vacancies and business services TRAVELWEEKLY BUSINESS
News
78 – Cook sees increase of £168m 79 – Dart Group profits rise 10% 80 – ‘Confidence has not improved’
LUCY Editor-in-chief HUXLEY
Take a leap of faith and state your worth
Y
ou don’t need me to tell you that far too often it can seem that all the hard work you do for your clients is undervalued. With holidaymakers now primed to search out the cheapest bargains online, the pressure to match web prices is a constant headache for travel agents. Admittedly the industry, including established firms and new online entrants, has encouraged this behaviour by selling on price and not value. But two stories we have run in the past two weeks suggest the tide may be turning and good travel agents are prepared to state their worth. This week Midcounties has revealed it is to trial a £25 service
fee in stores to supplement commission earnings (page 5). And last week we heard how Travel Counsellors bosses have implored their agents to increase margins to 12% during the January peaks. At last week’s Travel Counsellors conference, agent Gilly Markham told how she used to discount £20,000 a year of her commissions while working at a high street multiple. She said it was a “scary leap of faith” to stop being the cheapest and increase her margin, but that she was upfront with her customers and she has not lost one. Within 11 months she had become a Gold Travel Counsellor, has been able to buy her dream house and in the last year did £750,000 of business. The great fear in the ultra-competitive world of travel retailing is that if you are £1 dearer than the next guy you will lose out, but maybe it’s the fear of not demanding true value for what you do that’s the biggest threat to agents.
lucy.huxley@
travelweekly.co.uk WHAT LUCY DID THISWEEK 1
2 3
Was delighted with the positive feedback from our eighth annual Travolution Summit
Hosted a Travel Weekly Executive Dinner for bosses of leading suppliers and retailers, with Celebrity Cruises’ Michael Bayley as guest speaker
Welcomed more than 100 delegates to our last Travel Weekly Business Breakfast of the year, focusing on trends and insights for 2015
27 November 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 3
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