TUI pledges support for independent agents

 

 

The UK’s biggest tour operator has pledged continued support for independent travel agents.

 

TUI distribution director Nick Longman used the Advantage Travel Centres conference as a platform to back the use of third party agencies as part of the group’s sales mix.

 

This follows a period prior to the merger with First Choice when TUI-owned Thomson attempted to cut out the use of independents through commission cuts.

 

Longman told Advantage conference delegates that the group needed the support of third party travel agents.

 

He said that within the organisation’s five year forward planning, "we have no plans to sell through our own channels. I can’t see a time when we would go 100 per cent direct".

 

Independents that do things well provided a service that consumers wanted to use, Longman added.