news conference report The Travel Convention October 18-20 ■ Hilton Malta Conference Centre ■ St Julians
ttglive.com
Last week’s Travel Convention heard advice about how to manage cash flow, the benefits of trade distribution and a rallying cry for domestic tourism. By TTG news team
Bank mulls risk overhaul Chris Gray.
A NEW form of assessing travel companies’ financial risk is needed so agents and operators’ cash flow is not hit by tough terms for using credit cards, delegates were told. A session on “Money Matters” heard that the Bank of Scotland is working on a system that would return a large amount of money to agents’ and operators’ cash flows. Tony Mooney, business development director at Bank of Scotland Merchant Services, said con- ventional card service providers had a harsh ef- fect on travel companies’ cash flow. That was because the merchant services
provider could impose terms that meant the agent or operator would not be paid for up to 60 days if they were concerned about the level of risk in the company. “At Bank of Scotland we are trying to pioneer an idea of giving cash back to businesses much quicker. Instead of saying ‘give us the cash to support the exposure’, we want to know what the risk behind the exposure really is,” he said.
10 29.10.2010
“Travel needs to get round this system of lock- ing up this huge amount of cash for such a long period of time.” Ian Oakley-Smith, director at Pricewater-
houseCoppers, said the entrepreneurial nature of travel bosses made them less likely to keep a close eye on the detail of accounting, such as cash flow.
“Managing cash flow is not that difficult and
most travel businesses are understandable, so can be modelled,” he said, “so why don’t people do it?”
Oakley-Smith said many entrepreneurs did not
surround themselves with people who could monitor such things because they did not find it interesting, but that could end with them being forced into a corner and having to confront the issue. “There’s a need for an educational process and
maybe now is the time after one or two challeng- ing years,” he said.
■Chris Lee on the perils of debt; Comment, p16
CULTURAL TOURISM.
Are all-inclusives irresponsible?
ALL-INCLUSIVE packages can be as socially worthwhile as any other holiday, delegates at a session on sustainability were told. Tui distribution director Nick Longman and tourism academic, professor Harold Goodwin, defended all-inclusives after Thomas Cook direc- tor of government affairs Andy Cooper said their growth was evidence that customers were not buying into cultural holidays. “The biggest growth is in all-inclusive and the mass market appears to be buying a product that could be anywhere,” Cooper said. Longman said all-inclusives were popular
because of the control and value they offered customers, but that did not mean they were a “cultural wasteland”. He admitted that sales of excursions had been declining in all-inclusives, and Tui was introduc- ing shorter excursions that were cheaper to encourage people to take them. The operator also offers “dine-around” options, so customers can eat at local restaurants. Goodwin said many all-inclusives helped the community as they used local suppliers for food, partly because local suppliers were cheaper.
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