01 October 2009

Secret Operator

In the first of a series of regular comment pieces, Travelmole's new Secret Operator asks in advance of next week's ABTA Travel Convention if John McEwan was the right choice for ABTA chairman....

"The problem with democracy is that most of the time the dictators are right….
We can’t be trusted to make the right decision.

Political elections, company promotions and awards all suffer from the X Factor syndrome……suckers for a nice smile and someone who blubs about how they "owe it all to mum" we lovingly vote for the one that can’t sing.

Take the election of ABTA president or chairman as the position is now called.
Did the industry elect the travel agent?
The man on the front line, talking to the public, fighting online players and high street overheads?

No, true to form and fitting of a 10 minute Dermot O’Leary dramatic pause……..
We chose John McEwan.

Now I’m sure that John is lovely (do you think he tries to look like Robert Redford, or is it just me?) but is he a leader?

There have been several statements of late from John, little pearls of wisdom,
Like the market is tough and that agents need to future proof their business.
Well, I think that the cat is out of the bag on that one, John!

However, it did allow me a pleasant 20 minutes as I envisaged a travel version of the game "Go For Broke".
Picture it, agents decline commission and collect payment after departure in a bid to be the first to close their shop!

Childish.
I Know.
But I bet you there is a tour operator somewhere that still has a marketing budget that could sponsor it!

Putting my low form of wit aside, my point is that it’s a shame that John didn’t talk about what ABTA can do in terms of supporting agents at such a difficult time.
What a great opportunity to talk about the workshops they offer on managing a business in a recession.

Come on, John, you can do better than this!

Before anyone thinks that this is an unfair attack on John’s leadership I’ll close by saying that if John isn’t the leader you wanted, make him the one you wanted.

All too often in the industry we moan and bicker on our bar stools without ever making the effort to muck in and help our leaders.

Voting isn’t just ticking a box and putting your feet up whilst someone else changes the world in your favour, John can’t represent the travel industry unless we tell him what we want.

Anyone reading this that cares about the many challenges we face should get involved, because we inevitably get the leaders we deserve."

* Do you agree or disagree with our Secret Operator? Let us know by clicking on ADD A COMMENT below

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Your Comments (2)

I guess from the tone of the comments that

your 'Secret Operator' is a travel agent. As far as the election of a new President or Chairman (and I don't care what they call the incumbent) is concerned it could easily have been a one horse race if another candidate had not thrown his hat in the ring at the time, I call that democracy and not dictatorship. As to whether he is a leader or not time will tell. In my view the person on the front line is normally too busy to act as a leader to the industry as well, they usually end up in the cardiac ward, in a box, or explaining to the trade how their business went bust ( as has happened twice in recent memory ) while they were busy helping everyone else in tough economic times! In the meantime ABTA provides things like a recession toolkit (available on the ABTA website), and also a workshop at the upcoming convention on the same topic. I don't think anyone could accuse them of complacency in the current climate. It's probably just that John has forgotten to tell everyone that this assistance is available and has assumed that you look at the ABTA website from time to time. I do agree with one thing your secret operator says, there are too many travel agents happy to moan about what ABTA doesn't do for them; they are presumably the same agents who caused the demise of regional meetings by their lack of interest in attending. I would have thought such gatherings were the ideal way of getting involved and making John the leader we wanted.

By Peter Cansick, Thursday, October 1, 2009
Positive reporting please....

I have known John clearly far longer than your new Secret Operator. Over this time John has proved to be a great leader and driver of business, and I am sure over time he will prove this with ABTA. But not everyone will be happy, and they usually get the media coverage, as "good news doesn~´t sell papers!". So let us see some positive reporting about people doing well! And equally how will we judge the Secret Operator over time? Will his or her value as a reporter come out? Mmmmm? At least John has shown us his face....but Robert Redford? Please!

By Danny Crowe, Thursday, October 1, 2009