Thomson severs ties with independent agents
Thomson is to stop selling through “selected” independent travel agents and slash commission further with others.
The operator first revealed a cut in its base commission rate at last November’s ABTA Convention in Marrakech. The reduction to 7% came into effect in January, prompting rival operators to review their commission structures.
Thomson now claims that around three quarters of all its business is conducted through in-house channels – its website, call centres and holiday shops – after investing more in direct marketing.
Chief executive Peter Rothwell said the company is not prepared to pay travel agents high commission fees and wants to channel sales directly through its own high street shops, website and call centres.
Thomson claimed it was “forcing the pace of change” in the travel industry as consumers become increasingly confident about buying holiday direct via the internet. The company said it expected web sales in particular to accelerate over the next few years.
But leading independent agent Sue Foxall (Kinver Travel) said the move to zero commission had come as no surprise and agents were already dynamically packaging so were not reliant on Thomson.
She said: “I don’t know of an independent agent that is selling them anyway. We have been having a much better time without them and making more money because we are not booking Thomson.”
Her agency has booked just one Thomson holiday since commission was cut in January – and charged the customer a service fee to make up for the lost renumeration – against an average of 75 bookings during the same four-month period in previous years.
Foxall, Global Travel Group’s project development manager, said she did not expect the other major operators to follow Thomson because they do not have the same strength of in-house distribution and therefore need to deal with third party agencies.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt