business Essential news, comment and analysis Gary Lewis: ‘Some of


the risk has shifted to small and medium- sized travel agents’


‘Agents face more risk but are low-cost beneficiaries’


CONSORTIUM BOSS GARY LEWIS REFLECTS ON HOW AGENTS HAVE FARED SINCE THE LOWCOST TRAVEL GROUP COLLAPSE. BY LEE HAYHURST


The “extraordinary” events of July 15 exposed how smaller travel agents have taken on a greater share of risk, according to a leading consortium.


Speaking about the day when


Lowcostbeds collapsed and there was a coup attempt in Turkey, Gary Lewis, managing director of The Travel Network Group, said the lesson was clear. “In general the industry has de-


risked itself by not taking the same level of commitments on seats and beds as it used to,” he said.


64 travelweekly.co.uk 18 August 2016 “Big operators are now playing


in all markets to spread risk. “But actually some of that risk has shifted to small and medium- sized travel agents as they do more dynamic packaging.


“When one element of a holiday


fails but the other remains in place, that causes commercial pressures. As a membership organisation we have to put a lot of safety measures in place to mitigate that risk.” The failure of Lowcost Travel


Group at 3pm on July 15 saw travel firm partners across the


industry spring into action with well-rehearsed crisis plans, and TTNG was no exception. Lewis said the failure had a


direct impact on a number of the group’s members. And soon after putting plans in place, consortium bosses were back on a crisis call at 11.30pm about the developing situation in Turkey. “It was one of those days in


travel that come along every so often, but by any standards that was an extraordinary Friday,” he said. “And then you have the impact of the Brexit vote and the attack in Nice – all these complexities arising within weeks of each other.”


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