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Jenny Ley-Meek “The Cook/Co-op merger presents a huge opening for smaller, lesser-known agencies to say: ‘Hello, I offer something different.’”
O
ver the past 12 months there have been plenty of opportunities for us agents to show our worth, especially after the collapse of Goldtrail, Kiss Flights and the totally unexpected volcanic ash cloud. These disasters, albeit stressful for the passengers involved, have given us the chance to shine – to really show the nation the added value we bring.
And for independent travel agents, the news that The Co-operative Travel has merged with Thomas Cook has brought us to another surprising juncture that should allow us to stand out even further from the pack – to make our mark and put us in a stronger position in the eyes of the consumer. While I am genuinely concerned for my many industry partners who may lose business through this merger, and feel for fellow agents who are likely to lose their jobs, I can naturally only be too pleased from a business point of view that more than 400 formerly independently-run Co- op shops will now be trading as part of a vertically integrated operator – leaving even more space in the market for businesses like mine to step up to the plate and demonstrate to consumers one of our strengths – unbiased offerings. I feel no anxiety at the prospect of Cook announcing commission cuts to third-party agents either.
While I actively sell Cook products, and enjoy doing so, we learned our
34 22.10.2010
lessons through Thomson a few years ago, so none of our baskets are solely crammed with Cook-flavoured eggs. In fact this
merger presents a
huge opening for smaller, lesser-known agencies to push through and say: “Hello, here I am. I offer something different”.
It is now up to the last-remaining
independent agents to reinforce the reasons why we are still in business, and to uphold all that is great about us. While there is uncertainty in the Cook and Co-op camps, there is no better time to revamp our independent businesses by brushing up on what makes us so successful: our ability to sell real choice of product, our super service, and our second to none, one-to-one relationship with our customers.
Jenny Ley-Meek is owner of Superior Travel, which incorporates homeworking, online and high street selling arms
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