Gerd Wilmer is the Director of retail and corporate travel agency Landmark Travel.
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The Future for Travel Consultants
To meet the challenges of the future we need to change the structure of our businesses. Eliminate the weak points of the past, overcome the cashflow challenges when the bookings start to come in and lay the groundwork for a profitable future.
In many aspects we are the bottom feeders of the industry, relying on the generosity of suppliers (especially transport) for our income. We continue to lose hard-earned cash through commission recalls, ADMs and charge backs.
When we restart, we will book travel 12 to 18 months in advance. Where is our cash going to come from? If we do not change we will have little income for another 12 months or so. We all know what that means.
The Travel Agent Acts classified us as “agents for the suppliers”. These Acts have been rescinded. We are now free to define ourselves and our legal position. I have during my 52 years as a travel agent always put my clients’ interest first. All of you travel agents have the same philosophy. Now is the time to change and define our public perception and legal standing.
In the future we will enter into consulting contracts for each booking. Our T&Cs do not mention the word “agent”.
Our clients contract Landmark Travel to organise travel services on their behalf. As consultants we plan, coordinate, establish and administer legally binding contracts between our clients and travel providers. De facto, nothing has changed, but we are on a different legal footing.
As consultants we can only charge third party cost at cost. Yes, it does mean that we cannot earn any commission. Our income will be a consultancy fee of, say 10% on the nett invoice amount for each component of the itinerary – good bye NCFs, taxes, etc.
This fee is payable with the deposit and is non-refundable.
We use the client’s credit card to pay as many suppliers as possible the net amount. This prevents income recalls and charge backs. It also protects the clients in case of supplier insolvency. Collecting the income at the time of booking will overcome cash flow problems.
Another advantage is that our list of service fees is very short, mainly dealing with amendments and cancellations.
I acknowledge that this is a paradigm shift in our self-perception. If we do not become more professional, I do not see a future for us.
