5 2
Trade ‘battered’ by Piers Morgan
Jennifer Morris
jennifer.morris@
travelweekly.co.uk
Abta has defended a “car crash” interview on TV in which Piers Morgan said the travel sector is “damn greedy” for “hiking prices” during school holidays.
Abta media relations manager Sean Tipton appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to discuss the issue. Describing “a collaboration
between holiday firms and airlines to make holidays prohibitively expensive”, Morgan listed flight price differences, one of which represented a 762% mark-up. Tipton explained this was
flight‑only, and that Abta encourages booking far in advance. Morgan then asked: “When are
Abta and the airlines going to stop being so damn greedy?” Tipton said increased prices during school holidays were “simple economics” and that the average price margin over the course of a year for tour operators was about 2%. “I don’t regard that as particularly greedy,” he added. Agents described Morgan as “rude” and “a bully” on the
Travel Gossip Facebook page. Steve Dunne, chairman of
travel tourism PR and marketing consultancy Brighter Group, described the interview as a “car crash” on Twitter. “Sean was dignified but Morgan
battered him down,” he said. “I don’t feel as an industry we had a good defence. “These questions come every
year and industry bodies should agree on our key defences.” Classic Collection Holidays sales
executive Sophie Thackeray said: “I don’t think it would have made much difference who took the interview – it could have been a cardboard cut-out. “I think he [Tipton] would have
given a good defence but wasn’t given the chance.” An Abta spokesman said: “It was a pity Mr Morgan did not seem prepared to listen to Abta’s position, which is that school holidays should be staggered by region. “The reality is that prices are
set by an extremely competitive market, in which the holidays provided by Abta members consistently demonstrate value
for money.” › Talk Back, page 23
Counsellors woos ‘returning’ agents
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
Travel Counsellors is introducing a ‘return to work’ scheme following its best January for recruitment in a decade.
The move comes as travel
recruitment firms also enjoy a strong start to 2016, with some reporting “unprecedented” levels of new candidates. Travel Counsellors managing
director Steve Byrne said the scheme was in response to a rise in job applications from travel professionals who had been out of the industry for several years. It has just under 100 people in the pipeline for this year, with 10 signed up for induction training this month. Byrne said: “This [programme]
is driven by demand. This is our best January in terms of recruitment for 10 years. “We started to notice we were
Sean Tipton with
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid
getting an increase in enquiries from people who have been out of the industry for six or seven years. They have travel experience but need an industry refresher.” He put the surge in applications
down to Travel Counsellors’ reputation and increased confidence among candidates to run their own business from home. The scheme includes a
three-week induction, comprising two weeks at Travel Counsellors’ head office and one at home. It covers policies, procedures and technology developments. Byrne said there was clear demand for the scheme, adding: “It helps grow the business. The quality threshold has not changed; the criteria to become a travel counsellor is the same.” Gail Kenny, managing director of
Gail Kenny Executive Recruitment, which specialises in executive level recruitment in the industry, also reported a bumper January. “We have seen unprecedented
volumes of candidates coming in the market,” she said. “We can also see the work-life
balance becoming more important among candidates.” Owen Mckeon, content and online marketing manager at C&M Travel Recruitment, said: “We had a big increase in candidates in January compared to December, but this was still actually down compared with January 2015.”
4 February 2016
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