ttglive.com Carrick casts doubt on agents Rob Gill.
FORMER HOSEASONS chief executive Richard Carrick has said he may buy an existing company and warned that the cost of selling through the trade can be too high for start-ups. Carrick, who is acting as a consultant after successfully selling Hoseasons to Wyndham Worldwide, made the comment to TTG after speaking at the Aito Conference in Brussels. Carrick had already told Aito delegates that he would probably not sell through travel agents if he was starting a new travel company. “Customer acquisition is so important and
I don’t think travel agents are the way to do it,” he told delegates. “I know it can work, and companies like Classic
Collection and Wendy Wu do very well through agents. But if I was setting up a travel company I would not be advocating trade distribution because I want to own the customer.” Carrick later clarified his comments by saying
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that if he was starting a small “Aito-style” business, the cost of working through the trade would be high. “Wholesale travel trade distribution would
prove prohibitively expensive in terms of brochure and distribution costs, commission and sales support costs,” he said. “But it’s unlikely I would start a business from
scratch. I would look to buy something.” Carrick’s original comments provoked a strong
response from agents on
ttglive.com Kristina Hulme, managing partner of Travel by Design, said: “As an Aito specialist agent we own the clients and we lend them to our friends, the Aito tour operators, who in return send the clients back to us when they have managed to look after their every need.” Nicholas McKay, managing director of Travel Designers, added: “It’s through hard work and dedication from us and the agency sales teams of companies such as Classic Collection that we
Carrick: wholesale trade distribution is prohibitively expensive
have grown our businesses together.” Carrick responded by saying: “I have enormous
respect for UK travel agents. “I’ve worked with them for 35 years and had
responsibility for a multiple travel agent at one stage in my career.”
■Aito conference report, p10-11 Reaction to Carrick’s comments, p28
news
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