Thank you. I shall waffle for awhile. At last, a
hint of common sense after so many years in the wilderness. Professional
skilled consultants need to hit back, and hard to regain the kudos they once
had. An agency was once grateful for the professional staff and now the push is
that the consultant should be grateful to work for the brand of an agency. A
brand or company name does not make a professional. Professionalism in our once
fabulous industry has been undermined by principals and agency owners/directors
alike. Regardless of what the attitude is of many owners and principals, it is
experience and knowledge and people skills and an understanding of geography
and product is a definite advantage. (Remember the educational/familiarisations?)
What happened to those? These days only the privileged selected usually
management have those, and they are mostly not even selling anything. What’s
left over if anything is likely not even worth paying the taxes to participate.
The attitude in this newer breed of consultant is that if it isn’t in the
computer it doesn’t exist. What rubbish. Talk about dumb down. All professional
consultants should be given autonomy and should use products to suite the
client not products that fit into the company’s excess bottom line at every
cost. There are always exceptions and one fit doesn’t fit all. Another thing is
that consolidators should be brought back into the mix to even out the playing
field. Each professional should have the same advantage. A skilled trained
professional is no better if he/she works at one company over another or works
for themselves as an independent, and more importantly if the consultant is
independent the equal level of respect should be there without question.
Multinationals and large organisations are taking the people out of the
equation and putting bean counters and IT people in charge. That is absurd.
That skill remains with the professional and can never be taken away.
Individual Skilled Travel Consultants and advisors should have their
independence and recognition restored. Spruiking products for the holy dollar
is a cop out. The best quality and value
for money should always win. Owners of
agencies have allowed principals to place themselves as the client rather than
the reverse; how did that happen? Consultants were once the clients (and valued
ones at that) regardless of what company they worked with. Airlines attitudes
towards consultants is downright insulting and dismissive and rarely is there
the great service level that once was, it is the exact opposite – never tell an
airline you are a consultant if you are flying or you will end up sitting in
the hold or on the wing and you most certainly will miss out on a meal of
choice. That is if you manage to get on the flight at all. How many people have been in line for check-in
at the airport and heard “It’s the Travel Agents fault”? It isn’t any wonder that travel professional
advisors are losing their “cool” or having nervous breakdowns.
Shareholders and greed has taken over. Principals are poaching clients by
approaching them directly after the consultant has worked hard to keep their
custom. Travel agencies that heavily discount or even go into minus profit
should be weeded out. It is just irresponsible. The same goes for wholesalers
selling direct to the public and it should be illegal as it is in many other
industries. A question, would a person having a house built for them be happy
with an accountant or IT person advising the carpenter/builder, plumber,
electrician and so forth what to do? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t like my
surgeon to have an accountant or IT person telling the surgeon what to do
either. Come on travel consultants take back your charge and your pride. Don’t
get me wrong, there are rare companies out there that do respect their
professional consultants with the respect they deserve, but very rare. Rare wholesalers,
but airlines, I can’t think of one at this point in time. Oops where are my
airfare ladders and what was that HIP again? The art of ticketing bring it on. Much more accurate and less time
wasting that’s for sure. When rules were really rules and not a money grab and
attempt to push Travel Agents out of business. Another throw away question, why are Travel Agents
service fees the only service fees that are questioned. What is our hourly
rate. Hmmmm. Get back to me. Happy
Days !!