5 2


‘Get-rich-quick groups threaten agents’ honour’


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


The trade has raised fears that “get rich quick” franchise travel groups selling unprotected holidays could destroy the reputation of experienced agents.


Midcounties Co-operative group


general manager for specialist retail Alistair Rowland told Abta’s Travel Convention one of the biggest challenges facing agents were US “pyramid-style” organisations expanding into the UK – tempting new recruits with no experience by claiming they can become high-earning travel agents. Speaking to Travel Weekly,


Rowland said: “Right now this market is expanding and my call out is that it’s expanding at risk with no governance. The person that will lose out is the consumer. “If we allow these US


organisations to gain legitimacy in the UK, this will be a dangerous scenario if transactions are not properly financially protected. “There are people who are purporting to be travel agents when really that’s the last thing they are and they have no expertise. We need to protect the honour of the industry.” Designer Travel managing


director Amanda Matthews agreed there was a “disaster waiting to happen”, with new-style ‘agents’ entering travel to “get rich quick”. “I believe the reputation of our


profession as travel agents could be on the line,” she said. Agents have also reported


increasing numbers of start-up retailers asking ‘basic’ questions on travel agency forums, suggesting a lack of knowledge. These range from posts asking


for help to find suppliers which could sell a twin-centre holiday in Paxos, a northern lights cruise and a villa for 10 in Portugal, to when easyJet flights go on sale or what the weather is like in Jamaica in October – all requests experienced agents say travel professionals should know. When asked about


franchise groups joining, an Abta spokesman said all members are subject to its code of conduct and must follow all the legal obligations, which “helps provide the highest standards of


Rowland


customer service”. › Travel Convention report, page 16


Ben Ireland ben.ireland@travelweekly.co.uk


A car saleswoman who has grown her business through PR stunts is opening a call centre travel agency where she hopes to repeat the trick.


LingsWings, which has joined


Hays Travel Independence Group and received an Abta licence, is to live-stream its Gateshead office on YouTube while videos of plane crashes play in the background. Owner Ling Valentine, a self-


confessed extrovert, says she hopes acting “crazy” will drive traffic to the site and bookings will follow. She forecasts sales of £800,000 in the first year through the “Marmite” sales approach. Ling, who set up a car-leasing business, LingsCars, in 2000, has converted a floor of its office for her new venture and plans to hire five agents within three years. In 2008, she appeared on TV’s


Dragon’s Den and turned down a £50,000 investment in LingsCars from dragons Duncan Bannatyne and Richard Farleigh, who offered her the cash for 30% of the firm, rather than the 5% she proposed.


3 STORIES HOT


Ling Valentine is launching LingsWings with a rusty Boeing 727 as the logo


LingsWings will be like Marmite


“We might do badges and T-shirts saying: ‘I flew with Ling and I’m still alive’”


She used a nuclear missile truck


and yellow tank to advertise her car-leasing business. The company has sold to 9,000 customers and has a database of 50,000 names. She hopes to grab holidaymakers’


attention with more stunts. The LingsWings logo is a rusty Dan-Air aircraft with a picture of Ling with her head in her hands on its tailfin. “I can see why some people


wouldn’t like the plane crashes in the background, but it’ll get them talking about us,” she said. “We might do badges and


T-shirts saying: ‘I flew with Ling and I’m still alive’. We want people to share [the website] with their friends. People who don’t like it can book somewhere else.” Ling said the move into travel


was because people don’t buy cars every year. “I’m still learning how the travel industry works,” she admitted, but said: “It’s just like cars. We find the best suppliers and give the best deals.”


18 October 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 5


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