TNNWC ENTREPRENEURIAL PUBLICATIONS

TNNWC Publications And Informational Products Division publishes The National Networker (TNNWC) Weekly Newsletter and The BLUE TUESDAY Report especially for entrepreneurs and early-stage venturers; free weekly subscriptions to these informative publications are available online to all entrepreneurial Members of TNNWC.

Membership in TNNWC is free (it's automatic for any subscriber to any TNNWC Publication) and available at our website. When you arrive there, just click on any of the JOIN US or BECOME a MEMBER buttons or links.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Changes in the Selling of Travel | THE BUSINESS OF LEISURE

The Business of Leisure with Tony Humphrey


Apart from my obvious enjoyment of Leisure and Travel my background in the industry covers – retail travel, group travel and a dabble with wholesale travel…pre-internet!

With the arrival of the web in the mid 90’s I started to learn about the new ways of reaching out to a wider audience of travellers around the world. My bricks and mortar business was costly and the whole retail industry was being hurt by lower commissions from airlines and the need to adapt to a system of charging fees to clients…..still a hard sell!

One day I could see that using the new online promotional tools, I could reduce my advertising spend in local, regional and national newspapers and magazines. I could also see the opportunity for travellers to ‘go-direct’ to operators via websites leading to a rapid decline in the bricks and mortar retail industry for independent agencies. What I could also envisage is that savvy consumers would expect to get direct booking (outlet) prices as there was no need of an agent or middleman. Although there are many consumers who do not think about the commission element in the price of travel I thought that one day the realization that when they are handling their own travel bookings directly with the source (outlet), they might think “Why am I paying full retail price?”

Another factor in the growth of online travel and the decline in retail agencies was that by going directly to the operators, the consumer would then be able to reap the benefits of knowledge, experience and expertise. They would now be dealing with the source. The ‘source’ would be either an expert retailer or the operator.

The travel industry, led by national tourism bureaux and large travel suppliers, was into a system of ‘specialists’ and readily appointing any agent, who was prepared to take a simple destination or product test, as a destination or product specialist….. “Become a specialist in our destination or our tour products and promote this to your clients” was the cry….. You could now tell your clients that you are a destination or tour specialist, not necessarily an expert with knowledge, experience and expertise or that you have even “been there, done that, got the t-shirt’ – no worries…you are a specialist. This system of specialist travel agents is still alive and well today and in my opinion is detrimental to the reputations and expertise of the real experts with many years of travel experiences. Find these if you can and select different agents for your different wants and needs by destination and/or activity. They are out there!

Reality check: I remember going to a major travel agency flight centre chain for two tickets to Mexico and was only offered two airlines. After I returned home and checked on the internet, I found five airlines. Obviously they only sold their preferred carriers where they earned preferential commissions.

It’s an odd fact that throughout our lives we will probably spend more on leisure and travel than with lawyers, accountants, doctors, builders, plumbers, electricians, hairdressers. But with all of the latter we will make sure that they know their biz! However, rarely do we ask the same of our travel agent.

A Travel ‘Outlet’ is born. I felt that it was time to offer travellers a resource where they could go directly to the source and get a price that did not include the retail mark-up.

Next issue: Outlet prices and commissions and who makes them.

More opportunities in The Business of Leisure can be found by clicking the Welcome in logo at the Club.

Tony Humphrey is the CEO / Top Hand at TheTopTravelClub.com which offers its members significant discounts and savings on travel and shopping in over 100 countries. Sign up today for our exclusive 2 for 1 family membership package… ..Please Click Here.

For more information, please visit Tony's TNNWC Bio.



For complete tactical and strategic business planning, marketing, media, lead-generation, technological and capital resources, scalable solutions and tools to support every entrepreneurial start-up, young enterprise, small- to medium-sized business and emerging high-growth company, talk to the Advisors and Experts at TNNWC Group, LLC.

We are a collaborative entrepreneurial, creative organization offering you hands-on, personalized assistance in every aspect of achieving your monetization, profitability and financial sustainability objectives, domestically and globally.

We don’t just “coach” you or offer you pre-packaged, push-button solutions – we listen to you, analyze your exact needs, and work within your scale of operations and your budget to: (1) create your optimal tool kit , and (2) work as your partner (with our sleeves rolled up) to implement your plan by supporting you in the most efficient and productive use of every tool.

Visit our website, which is located at http://www.TNNWC.com

To receive your Free Subscription to our critically- acclaimed business newsletters, publications, information bulletins and alerts, simply join us as a Member. Two of our most widely-read publications include The National Networker (TNNWC) Weekly Newsletter, and The BLUE TUESDAY Report. Every Subscriber automatically receives Free Membership.


Membership will grant you access to our unique suite of business planning, business-building, business promotion, business cost-reduction, business capitalization and strategic planning services, as well as entry to our expert management consulting services. These benefits are unequalled anywhere.

Just go to our home page, and click on the “JOIN US” button. Find out about what WE can do for YOUR growing enterprise -- we are recognized advocates, champions, thought-leaders, writers and keynote speakers on such timely subjects as social networking and relationship-building, traffic -building, social media buzz, branding, developing international trading and joint venture relationships -- and structuring and obtaining alternative forms of capitalization. We are on top of every significant business, regulatory, technological, social and consumer trend worldwide.

At TNNWC, we have a specific orientation: We Solve Problems. We Help Our Clients To Achieve Their Goals And Objectives. Prosperity. Peace. Collaboration. Sustainable Solutions For Continuous Growth™.

Subscribe. Join Us. Visit Us. http://www.tnnwc.com/.

You can access our free supplemental RSS FEED by clicking *HERE*

This blog post format is Copyright © Douglas E. Castle, with all rights reserved.

About Douglas E. Castle
Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:
Share/Save/Bookmark

No comments:

Blog Archive

BNI News Feed

The Emergence of The Relationship Economy

The Emergence of The Relationship Economy
The Emergence of the Relationship Economy features TNNWC Founder, Adam J. Kovitz as a contributing author and contains some of his early work on The Laws of Relationship Capital. The book is available in hardcopy and e-book formats. With a forward written by Doc Searls (of Cluetrain Manifesto fame), it is considered a "must read" for anyone responsible for the strategic direction of their business. If you would like to purchase your own copy, please click the image above.

Knowledge@Wharton













Site Credits:


Featured in Alltop
ALLTOP Business
News Wire. HOT.
Cool Javascript codes for websites
KeepandShare.com(R)  Fabulous Free Calendars

Create FREE graphics at FlamingText.com