Is Webjet’s acquisition a sign of more “agent bashing”? MTA MD

A determined little girl swinging a red stick, trying to break open a colorful pinata. She is wearing a red blindfold, so she cannot see the toy she is trying to hit.
By Hannah Edensor


Webjet’s acquisition of JacTravel is a sign of the OTA evolving into one of the world’s largest B2B travel suppliers, but what does it mean for travel agents?

Webjet yesterday announced its acquisition of one of the world’s biggest suppliers of online hotel bookings and inbound travel services to the tourism sector, along with its travel agent booking site, totalstay.com.

Now, Mobile Travel Agents (MTA) co-Managing Director, Roy Merricks, has responded to the “OTA mega merge”, as he calls it, telling Travel Weekly he’s “living in hope” that this won’t spell trouble for traditional agencies.

But, Merricks warns, he’s cautious of the acquisition acting as a catalyst for a new round of “travel agent bashing”, especially given Webjet’s previous treatment of the profession.

Merricks said that JacTravel was an extremely well-respected business model on the international travel scene as evidenced by its recent receipt of a prestigious ‘Queens Enterprise Award’.

“JacTravel is very well known for its Totalstay brand, which provides access to some 165,000 hotels around the world to a wide range of business and leisure travel agencies via Amadeus,” Merricks told TW.

Roy Merricks

Roy Merricks

“And from what we see and hear, we can find no evidence that the company has made any enemies of travel agents – unlike Webjet which has in the past discredited industry professionals in its advertising.”

“I can only live in hope that with the sort of investment Webjet has outlaid for a company that was bought by private equity three years ago for just UKL80 million, some of JacTravel’s culture will rub off on its new owners.”

And Merricks’ not the only one with this attitude. Previously, Virtuoso MD APAC, Michael Londregan, told TW Webjet needs to focus on their own business, not agents, although now the two are overlapping after this acquisition.

“If you go back 30 years, Australians went to five cities internationally. We now go to a myriad of places all over world and do everything from fly fishing to rock-climbing and biking with your family,” he said.

“People’s appetite to travel is becoming more complex and intricate. That tends to make me think you can’t buy it in a packet on the shelf. It’s more likely something you’re going to want tailored to you.

As Merricks put it very concisely:

“The last thing we want to see is a new round of travel agent bashing on steroids!”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

    Latest comments

    1. I’ll start the discussion. After 30 years in travel as a wholesaler with close relationships with GTA, Octopus, Travco, CHR etc (won’t bore you any more) I can say that this is HUGE news the relevance of which most if not all in Australia have missed. But I’ll bet Skroo hasn’t. Ha ha.
      JAC is a massive b2b – perhaps second largest in the world and in the past have not been the least bit interested in “punters”. So why would Webjet buy them for that?? Makes no sense.
      But what does make sense is that JAC have massive b2b contracts around the world with major tarvel industry names – perhaps here with names you know!!! I am sure they do. You never know where it’s gong when you book online with a local source.
      I could be very wrong but this could be a case of Webjet getting a very substantial entry to the retail ravel industry. If not why buy into JAC Travel. Like them or hate them Webjet aint stupid.
      What do you reckon ?
      Your thoughts?
      Fascinating times ahead.
      Mike

    2. ….i don’t understand why every time otas do something big it immediately implies trouble for traditional agents.. i mean jees.. the internet’s been around for nearly 3decades traditional agents by now should have evolved into something online-ish biz… and i don’t think traditional agents nowadays are still confined in their brick and mortar comfort… or are they still… omg..

mobile travel agents mta ota travel agents virtuoso webjet

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