Axe agent fams but pay commission promptly – hoteliers urged
An end to “indiscriminate” hotel fam trips for agents but prompt payment of commissions to the trade by hoteliers have been suggested to improve relations between the two sectors.
The formula has been put forward by Supranational Hotels managing director Niels Pedersen to form the centrepiece of a positive hotel-travel agency relationship.
He called for a end to the “love-hate” struggle that many hoteliers still appear to adopt towards agents.
Pedersen estimated that 30% of justified commission is never paid to agents for the basic reason that hotels do not sufficiently value the work of agents.
At the same time he believes that agency managers do themselves no favours by “allowing staff to apply for, or take up, indiscriminate educationals”.
He said: “Fam trips no longer pay because all the necessary information is on the web, and agency staff time is too valuable to waste on unproductive freebies.”
Pedersen added: “Too many hoteliers see agencies only as a necessary evil rather than as their partners who get the selling job done, and this can result in unpaid or delayed commission payments, and haggling over pennies.
“I doubt whether more than 15 or 20% of hoteliers acknowledge or appreciate that agencies act as their outsourced sales offices – training staff, marketing their services, and highlighting their hotels all on the basis of financial uncertainty and risk.”
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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