I’ve worked in several different industries throughout my adult life. I spent the vast majority of that time in the radio industry from the early 80′s to the mid 90′s. I also spent time in the Golf industry, and later in the Security and Home Automation industry before I found YTB. I quickly realized that each industry has it’s share of bickering and finger pointing. Every industry has it’s share of people who do nothing but start rumors either to discredit or get a leg up on the competition.

If you combine all the years I spent in the other industries, it doesn’t hold a candle to what I’ve seen in the Travel Industry in the 4 years I’ve been involved with YTB. The backstabbing, the ranting and raving, and the accusations that are thrown around in this industry is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

I have to hand it to the Traditional Travel Agents, they are an extremely passionate group. Please don’t take that as any form of admiration however. Any type of admiration turns very sour when the passion is as misguided and so dysfunctional that you see grown adults belittle and scorn each other in public forums. Because all they do is bicker the industry is left fragmented and unorganized. Travel MLM’s have come and gone for over a decade now. The industry has been outraged over the MLM model and Card Mills, but because nobody can agree with one another, Travel MLM’s are not only still around, they’ve gained considerable traction in the industry.

I was looking over the data I have on how people find this blog earlier in the week. Several search terms popped out at me for consideration for an article. Before I had an opportunity to research the story, a “Google Alert” came last night that put all the pieces together in one very well written article in Travel Agent Central.

In the article Peter Stilphen, an industry advocate, seems to be convinced that OSSN (Outside Sales Support Network) now caters to the MLM industry and has said so publicly in an open letter. OSSN of course denies the allegation and is going to great lengths to shut Mr. Stilphen up. OSSN has even gotten legal counsel involved to contact Mr. Stilphen numerous times to confirm the allegations with documentation and facts. Typical of most critics however, Stilphen has ignored the request for verification. What this has boiled down to is nothing more than an “Am not” – “Are too” type of argument that once again is being played out in the open for everyone to see.

Why am I not appalled over this type of conduct? Because I’m sorry to say it’s more the norm than it is the exception. Once again, instead of promoting solutions, benefits, or guidelines that have been a real sore in this industry for well over a decade now, we have more bickering and finger pointing.

Once again…we have to ask…”How’s that working for you so far?”

I’ve read numerous times that Travel MLM’s give professionals a black eye. When you look at something like this, you have to wonder why some don’t look in the mirror and realize that professionals are doing a fine job of punching themselves and providing plenty of back eyes of thier own.

I’m not a member of OSSN, but I have gotten updates and e-mails from this organization for years. They’ve been beneficial to me in as much as to provide information about industry trade shows and supplier training that educate and enable me to be more productive in the travel industry. While there have been many offers to join the organization, thier policies prohibit anyone involved in MLM’s from joining. While they do offer a “TRUE” credential, I can’t justify switching to anther host simply to carry a “TRUE” card. For someone like myself, CLIA offers the best training and accreditation now that they’ve upgraded and enhanced thier program. As we’ve learned however, even an organization like CLIA isn’t immune to the fighting and bickering going on between “professionals”.

The last time I wrote about Peter Stilphen was well over a year and a half ago when Royal Caribbean decided to pull the plug on YTB. At the time Peter was on the Board of Directors of an association called PATH. With Peter’s urging, PATH convinced Royal Caribbean that they needed to terminate it’s relationships with Travel MLM’s and Card Mills. To this day, we’ve only been able to verify two agencies that have ever been terminated by RCL while over a dozen other Travel MLM’s are still in good standing and booking with the cruise line. One of the agencies terminated being Joystar and the other being YTB.

Worked out well, don’t you think?

Although Peter has been a very outspoken critic of both Joystar and YTB over the years, I really don’t pay much attention to him personally. He’s simply lumped into the mix of outspoken critics who buys into the social “meme” I wrote about on Wednesday. He is however, one of the longest tenured critics surrounding Travel MLM’s that I know of. He and Bill Alverson (CEO of the now bankrupt Joystar) started the rumblings over a decade ago when Bill started the first Travel MLM called TravelMax. (Also long gone.)

Back in March I picked up another open letter to the industry from Paul Henderson of ProTravel Network, who has also grown tired of finger pointing and the bickering in the industry which adds further proof that the industry has no clue how to resolve the issue of industry credentials. Because the industry hasn’t been able to come up with guidelines, anyone associated in the industry is fair game when it comes to pointing fingers. Peters most recent crusade to eliminate “cards” has him yelling at OSSN now, an association that’s promoted by PATH by the way.

I honestly can’t tell you if the industry is ever going to get along with each other. I find it a real shame that an industry which evokes so many good memories and emotions for it’s clients in the form of vacations and exotic locations, has such a difficult time finding it’s “happy place” when it comes to communicating and getting along with each other. I’ve never seen such enormous ego’s, and so many experts in all my life. For me, it’s another reason why I stick with YTB.

You would think that some of these old dogs would wake up and learn some new tricks after so much time spent doing what they do with no answers or resolutions in sight. Unfortunaly that’s not my call or within my control. Because of the suppliers and clients I spend most of my time with, the professionals end up being a nessasary evil in the industry that I simply endure while learning, growing, and making my own way in the travel industry.

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Looks as if we have another company in our industry who has had enough of the games being played in the Travel Industry. Paul Henderson, CEO of Pro Travel Network, wrote an open letter to the industry on Friday which Travel Weekly picked up.

I have to hand it to Mr. Henderson, he’s got spunk!

Now I don’t agree with everything, but unlike the Traditionalists in our industry, I’m not going to split hairs or point out “what’s wrong” simply to belittle a message that I do agree with. (A nice trick that I’m sure Paul understands all too well.) The minor points shouldn’t overshadow a strong message that I, and I think most Travel MLM’s can stand behind, although I’ll allow everyone concerned to form their own opinions.

What I like best about this message is that it’s clear that like YTB, Pro Travel Network has no intention of going anywhere and there are a few in the industry would be better off finding a way to co-exist so they can get back to working their own business rather than spending the time they do pointing out what needs to be changed in ours.

Here’s the problem as Mr. Henderson see’s it; there are no guidelines to follow, or legal precedence to go by that gives anyone a stamp of approval to call themselves a “Travel Agent”. Now I know that there are those who have voiced their own set of rules or guidelines, but when you look at what they say and compare it with IATA, CLIA, ARTA, PATH, and OSSN, you end up with WTF.  Or better stated, a melting pot of ideas without one clear leader that defines the role of “Travel Agent”.

In an industry that has “self service” companies like Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, and Priceline that enables anyone to book just about any type of travel they want without the aid or service of a “Travel Agent”, (to the tune of $45 BILLION annually no less) you might be asking yourself why some feel that they need to protect this title the way they do. Likewise, the airline industry started this whole mess when American Airlines cut commissions and offered up self service to the masses back in the late 1990′s. So what “qualifies” John or Jane Doe to book an airline ticket themselves? What kind of qualifications are required by John or Jane to order cruise documents, a hotel room, a car? None. Zip. Ziltch. Nadda.

In defense of the “professionals” who are beside themselves, many were brought up in the industry much differently than it is today, and many have been members of the industry much longer than many of us “newbies” who only have a couple of years under our belts. However, it’s ludicrous to try to compare this profession to say…a Doctor. You can’t order and do heart surgery yourself like you can a cruise and I seriously doubt you ever will. But that’s the way it is in this industry. People simply make up their own set of rules and stories in an attempt to rid the industry of a model they clearly love to hate, but at the same time clearly can’t grasp.

Case in point is Joystar. Mr. Henderson like myself clearly understands that Joystar was never a “Card Mill” or an “MLM”. (I told you that back in October of 2007) But I don’t know if Mr. Henderson understands Bill Alversons connection to TravelMax which was an MLM and simply followed him over to Joystar because many believe once and MLM’er ALWAYS and MLM’er. (Part of the ignorance we deal with.) Nor does it explain companies why Cruise Value Center closed abruptly a few month ago who was also not an MLM. In addition, the small number of RTA’s that I can count on one hand who cut YTB out of the mix and booked directly with a supplier only to walk off with the money (out of more than 300K who have been involved) there are hundreds more in the traditional arena who are caught and prosecuted doing the same thing. But like the issues surrounding what makes anyone a legitimate “Travel Agent”, those stories are simply ignored and fingers are promptly pointed back the direction of MLM.

The problem in this industry IS MLM according to some, and they spend an incredible amount of time and effort in their own personal missions to save everyone from the evil MLM’ers who never have and never will be successful. (By the way, that would include yours truly. ;-P) It appears that Mr. Henderson also sees right through the smoke and mirrors of this illusion…

Neither are all MLMs bad.  What a ridiculous notion.  Who says they are?  Those who have never had success in it or see it as a threat to their models?  Or those who use these bashing techniques as promo for their previously unrecognized companies?  Travel is a 7 Trillion industry, so I hardly think competition is the issue.  MLM has just become another “buzz word” created to label those we don’t like.  Is there anyone today that sees Mary Kay as a bad business model?  Warren Buffet owns Pampered Chef.  Is there anyone out there who hasn’t eaten from Tupperware?  Avon is a household name.  So why can so many traditional companies such as American Express, etc., sell a home-based agent product, with training and accounting tools, support, etc., but if an MLM does it, it is no longer a valid product?  Come on!!!

So how can we judge any travel-related MLM, as good or bad. If they book lots of travel…they must have cheated.  Or we take their number of agents and divide into travel revenue to show that each agent only booked or earned this or that, as if that means anything.  I was taught as a child that less than 20% do over 80% of the work.  If an MLM agent takes an unwarranted FAM….oh my God, the end is near.  So we spend hours picking apart one another’s business, instead of addressing the real issues of concern…that perhaps a bad company has exploited.  Fix the issues, the exploitation goes away.

There in lies the both the problem and frustration that so many of us have concerning these critics who have entirely too much time on their hands to dream up and concoct the blogs, forums, and posts that they do. If you actually look at the real issue, you have to look inward and admit that YOUR model is flawed, and some just can’t come to grips with that idea.

Once again, we have another solution to sit down and talk about the issues face to face.

I would love to sit in on the panels or boards to help defend, not MLM nor card mills, but fairness.  To look at what is fair.  Let’s face it, most travel agents don’t book $1,000,000 per year.  Since only a few even hold the IATAN card, that means most book far less than $50,000/yr.  Many thousands are part-time.  Does that make them less qualified to make a booking?  So this must be researched and carefully thought out, debated and discussed.  But, I do believe all bad agencies and hosts should be terminated, but we must first, as an industry come together to create what guidelines allow for that.  Otherwise, we must stop pushing rules that do not exist!!!

I have no idea if Mr. Henderson’s response to our critics has anything to do with this or not, or if he even knows about the “witch hunt” that’s brewing for yet another look at MLM’s at the end of the month, and I’m afraid that no one from the MLM industry has been invited to participate. Instead, we can look forward to even more spam that gets promptly deleted when it arrives in our “in box” with the nonsense both of us have apparently been bombarded from some very irate and frustrated people.

I couldn’t agree more that until the industry starts looking at a clear definition of “Travel Agent” the intense energy spent by these critics to warn everyone do more harm, and cause more confusion for everyone involved. But like my alcoholism, these traditionalists need to take a hard look at themselves in order to do that, and I see no signs of it I’m sorry to say. Meanwhile, I’ve seen plenty of MLM’s change, adapt, and respond to the issues going on in the industry, and that shows strength, not the weakness as some like to spin.

Overall Paul, what the MLM’s need to do is walk the walk and given time, the traditionalists in the industry will exhaust themselves, especially at the pace their going. Like the Mary Kay’s, the Tupperware, the Avon’s, and the Primerica’s of the MLM industry, time will prove that our model DOES work with the proper management behind it. (As proper management is key for any business model.) I’m afraid that you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone at this point who is willing to listen to your ideas on the other side of the river, which they call “da Nile”. I agree it’s frustrating, it’s sad, and it’s extremely unproductive, but there’s really not much anyone can do to help until they’re willing to admit that we can help.

From where I sit, they’re just not ready and I can’t see any clues that they ever will.

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Back in November I had the pleasure of speaking with George Dooley in an interview concerning Travel MLM’s. I was impressed with George’s open mind and his willingness to not only listen, but his sincere desire to understand the MLM business model as it applies to Travel. He like me understands and recognizes both the Pro’s and Con’s concerning what YTB has done in the industry.

I’m pleased to see that George is still learning and reporting, and apparently objective, although via a different Trade Publication and attempting to provide both sides of the YTB story in a fair and unbiased manor. Of course, I can’t blame him for the focus and subject matter, YTB has been a very hot topic for months now, and there’s always something interesting to write about concerning this particular Travel MLM. (I should know. ;-P)

Personally, I have no problem with both sides of the story, as long as it’s intelligent, and it appears that most of YTB doesn’t have a problem with it either. Last Thursday, George interviewed the current President of PATH, Andi Mysza concerning his opinions of YTB and the litigation going on. I happen to agree with Andi concerning his quote:

“Today’s travel professional should be focusing on knowledge, education and building a relationship with the customer while selling the experience. If your host is not encouraging this, you need to step back and reevaluate your choice in hosts.”

Based on the lack of comments concerning the article, I don’t see much opposition to this particular statement. Sure there were a few from both sides, but the few comments posted had praise for both PATH and the California AG for the attempt to rid the “pariah” known as YTB.

George’s next piece regarding YTB, published the very next day, which not only favored YTB, but highlighted a couple of industry veterans appeared to have peaked a little controversy. The piece highlighted Davidoff Associates, who are working with YTB to enhance its travel agent program along with another respected educator, Marc Mancini, who is also assisting YTB in creating a comprehensive professional education and training program.

Comments include:

“I guess the Davidoffs and Mancini have drank the kool-aid.”

“The Davidoff’s and Mancini’s last check probably just cleared the bank so they felt safe in making those remarks. They are paid stooges.”

“Welcome to the cult Mr and Mrs Davidoff.”

And my favorite from the same “author”…

“All this really doesn’t matter as YTB will be gone in the next couple of years as is the history of MLMs.”

I have to ask…why is it that seemingly intelligent individuals can’t work towards a solution but instead always focus on the problem? I’ll be the first to admit that YTB isn’t perfect, (do you know any business model that is?) but why the negativity and hostility towards anyone who apparently wants to make a contribution to help?

The excuses some people come up with, and the unwillingness to resolve and correct issues, right or wrong, is sad to see. What’s even worse is how I see time and time again this label of “shame” that’s thrown around for anyone who supports the MLM model. I’ve seen it for years, and for the record, this “shaming” of people, is more telling about the author who doesn’t have a legitimate reason or complaint towards the opposition.

It’s a last resort based in anger or ignorance.

The history of MLM is rich (pun not intended) with companies like Avon (1890), Mary Kay (1963), Nutralite (1934), Amway (1972), Shaklee (1956), Herbalife (1982), Fuller Brush Company (1905), and Tupperware (1945). All companies still going strong and thriving in the MLM business model.

So what gives?

Here’s the real problem as I see it as taken from the Davidoff’s.

“YTB may well be the future of retail travel sales and deserves close study by the industry— not condemnation.”

That’s what scares most of the Traditionalist to death and they see it, make no mistake about it. When Travel Weekly came out with the Power List this summer and they saw that YTB not only made it AGAIN, but the jumped 9 spots it was time to hit the panic button. To make matters even worse and add insult to injury, Travel Weekly even stated that they singled out YTB to make sure that the numbers that were reported were actually “travel sales”.

In addition, they see 300% growth in the ranks year over year, and as the California AG’s office said, “They got too big, too fast” so something has to be done.

I don’t know if you know this or not, but when I stated that this complaint was a planned attack on YTB to coincide with the National Convention, some laughed at me. (Imagine that…) The excuse given was that the small minded group who stated this, thought I was talking about them. Truth be told, it’s not THAT groups M.O., and honestly, none of them have it in them. They’re perfectly content wallowing in their own Poor Me Stuff (PMS) and shaming anyone who tries to make some type of intelligent dialog.

As it turns out, it looks as if there is some discussion going on now in Legal circles for a growing call for AG reform.

No kidding. I have a Readers Digest Condensed version of the write up for anyone caring to read, and you know me, I had to check it out from a reliable source to make sure it wasn’t all smoke and mirrors.

So now we have documentation that California, among other states have been on the take from “Special Interest” groups, or hand over Legal Suits to their “pals” in order to make additional income for the AG’s.

Say it isn’t so!

Well, I will say this. There’s nothing to prove at this point if this happens
to be the case between the California AG and YTB. The two go quite nicely together however based how the suit is riddled with MLM myths and legends to bring down the “pariah” that some just can’t seem to get rid of.

I don’t know if we’ll ever find out the truth about it from the Attorney General however. Like always, it’s up to us [YTB] to prove things. ;-P

We may however see, as the plot thickens and as YTB turns the industry on it’s ear.

I just saw this in Travel Weekly and wanted to make sure all of you are aware of this.

Remember back in October when Royal Caribbean said they were only going to support the traditionalists? I wonder what the 472 Agencies currently at 16% are thinking about RCCL now when they find out their potentially in jeopardy of dropping below 16% because Royal Caribbean is raising their sales quotas to maintain the commission levels these “supporters” currently enjoy?

In the Travel Weekly report it gives an example of an Agency now having to pull in another $500K in sales, otherwise Royal Caribbean is going to cut their commission starting in 2009. (The example being $1 Million in sales to $1.5 Million in sales.)

For these small time Agencies who are already suffering and finding it harder and harder to compete with market share this is a huge slap in the face to the supporters of PATH and other organizations who convinced them that terminating MLM’s was going to fix the illusion they have about why things are so bad for them.

I guess not.

I have to wonder at this point if these Traditionalists are owning up to the promises THEY made to Royal Caribbean to support them.

In another Travel Weekly Report it’s documented that Carnival is still making more per berth than Royal Caribbean, and while I don’t know if this switch to supporting Traditionalists is tied directly to these numbers, it has been mentioned before from the Traditionalists that they increase sales, and add bigger profits as a whole in the industry.

Again, guess not.

It’s also noted that Growth Fund threw overboard some 4,270,000 shares of RCL stock on Friday May 30th, which may or may not have been related to reports of this news circulating. My guess is however that this move is more related to RCL shares hitting new lows than any “Agency Issues”.

There is already speculation that other cruise lines will follow Royal Caribbean’s lead on this and up the commission thresholds for everyone, and quite honestly I hope they do. It should weed out some of the under performing Agencies who are just barely hanging on and make more room for the likes of YTB who’s already been documented to book some $13 Million with Royal Caribbean when the faucet was turned off late last year.

That’s the collective power we have as YTB. It’s also a big reason why only a few suppliers have actually dropped us. Money talks and with $414.5 Million booked in 2007 YTB is well on it’s way to dominating this industry, just like it was promised back in 2001.

I’ll devote more time to this later on in future posts but I wanted to shed just a little light at what I’m currently working on. While the following quote was printed back in September of 1999 and it did talk about another shift in the industry concerning the airlines, I think this quote could ring very true if the speculation does come to fruition concerning commission thresholds in the future.

“”When I entered this industry … I realized that the strong would survive, and strength — many times — equates to size,” he said.

“If you have five or six million dollars in sales or less, you are not going to get the attention from the [Cruise Lines] that you need to survive.”

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First of all, I’ve got to tell you…I LOVE the internet. I love the way information flows on this puppy. Technology has made it available for anyone to access just about any information and documentation they could possibly desire in this day and age. (Thus the term “Information Superhighway”?) Based on information we all have access too, we could acquire PhD’s in just about any field of study we choose. It’s all there, you just have to find it.

I read a book last year from Author T. Harv Ecker, “Secrets of The Millionaire Mind” and I also listen to a syndicated talk show host here in Atlanta named Neal Boortz. I’m a firm believer that if you want to be successful, you listen to people who are more successful than you are and do what they do. Both of these successful individuals have told me this:

“Don’t believe a word I say, unless you can verify it to be true on your own.”

If you’re like me, your scratching your head after reading the “In The Hot Seat” Interview with Lisa Bauer, Senior V.P. of Sales with Royal Caribbean International stating that “The Letter” terminating “Card Mills” was ONLY sent to THREE Travel Agencies. In addition, she never names the three agencies.

Secondly, we find another report with Joystar responding to RCCL dropping them, a bona fide Host Agency, hardly the “MLM” or “Card Mill” everyone is talking about in all the doom and gloom circling around the internet concerning the death of Travel MLM’s.

No, something just isn’t right about how all this is unfolding. Logically, it doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re trying to cut the legs out of these “Card Mills” by only using one cruise line, three Agencies, and one of them isn’t even a “Card Mill”, that’s hardly the “Shock and Awe” I would expect. Again, something I read about in “Secrets of The Millionaire Mind” was that we need to take “massive action”, not some hodge-podge trickle like this.

What was most disconcerting to me was the way Royal Caribbean handled the situation with Bill Alverson, chairman and CEO of Travelstar, Joystar’s parent company. In the article it states:

“It took about three minutes for us to learn that RCI had absolutely zero intention to listen to our side of the story or to ask questions we could answer to clear up the matter,” Alverson said. “When Mr. Fishkin [President] asked what led Royal Caribbean to this decision, we were told they did not have any particular concern they could identify, that we have never done anything to harm their brands, or hurt them financially, but they were terminating the relationship anyway….When we asked for clarification, we were told by [Lisa Bauer] that she has decided to ‘broaden the definition of what a card mill is’ and considers Joystar and ourEnterprise members to be one….”

When this “Card Mill” fiasco first broke on October 10th, with news that the ARTA applauds RCI’s policy to remove sales relationships from MLMs and Card Mills, I boldly stated that YTB’s relationship had been strengthened the week before with news that the home office would handle all the Group Bookings for RCI. In the report listed above Bill Alverson also stated:

“I tipped my hat to Royal Caribbean management as I read their email announcing they were sending termination letters to travel industry “card-mills,’” he wrote. “After all, it was about time suppliers took a stand on behalf of real travel agents.”

Like YTB, their relationship had also appeared to be strengthened based on a PowerPoint Presentation given by Royal Caribbean’s management to Bill Alverson less than 60 days prior.

So, why the sudden change in heart by Royal Caribbean by not one but now two Agencies who are producing a combined $23 Million in revenue for Royal Caribbean? (Documented sources and reports of $13 Million by YTB, and $10 Million by Joystar.)

About the only concrete information I could gather as to why RCI would terminate Joystar was based on their Enterprise program. Knowing what the Enterprise business model with Joystar employs, I will tell you that it does allow for Sub Agents. Kind of like a mini-Host within a Host Agency in which the Parent Host allows someone to create a Sub-Host for others to help sell travel within this Mini-host. Sub Agents make the majority of the Travel Commissions while the Sub-Host takes a cut. (For those of us in YTB, it’s very similar to a Power Team Leader making a 10% override on all Travel Commission produced within your own Power Team.) The Enterprise business model however, only goes one level deep to the Sub-Agent, unlike “Multi-Level” in Network Marketing.

While Affiliations and Organizations are protesting the use of “recruiting”, some actually make it a requirement as a member of their Organization that they have a minimum number of these “Independent Contractors” in order to even be considered to be a Host Agency. An Organization called The Professional Association of Travel Hosts (PATH) for example require a minimum of 25 Independent Contractors in order to even join their particular organization.

No, I’m sorry, but there has GOT to be something MORE going on here and enquiring minds like mine want to know! (Thanks for letting me steal that comment by the way!)

I needed a couple more pieces to this puzzle in order to complete the picture that was forming in my head, and at this point, probably like yours, it’s was very clouded and murky and there were more questions than answers. I told you I knew just enough to be dangerous about Joystar. There was something else about this company I was missing. So I did some more digging.

Apparently, at one time Bill Alverson was the CEO of a Travel MLM called TravelMax in the mid-1990′s which is now defunct and from what I understand one of the first MLM’s in the Travel Industry to operate. While researching, I also found that there certainly isn’t any love lost between our “Star Villain” in this story and Bill Alverson. There is a considerable animosity between these two. While reading Bill’s Blog to the field, I found this post, which I agree, reflects A FEW of these “Professionals” out there who are crying about all the business being taken away by “Card Mills”. (However this entry is clearly directed at one particular person, our “Star Villian”.)

ALL RIGHT ALREADY! I’ll cut the “Star Villain” charade and let you know who I’m talking about here. It’s someone I’ve mention here a couple days ago; Peter Stilphen, who much has been written about from the CEO Bill Alverson, and he even created his own web site dedicated to Peter. So yes, there’s no love lost. (Sorry Mr. Alverson, it IS out there.)

But how does this connect with Royal Caribbean?

I might be the ONLY YTB RTA that’s registered with CruisingPower.com, (according to Lisa Bauer), but I didto find this answer. Along with “The Letter” there is an FAQ section, (also found via Google without access to RCI.) which for those of us who are caught up in this fiasco NEED TO READ so you know what’s going on. In the FAQ it mentions that Royal Caribbean has joined the same organization mentioned above called PATH, The Professional Association of Travel Hosts. access Royal Caribbean’s “Agent Only Area”,

I have been reading about this organization from various publications, Blogs, and message boards with some good, and not so good reviews. In particular, and most recently (8/27/07) while reading Bill Alverson’s Blog he states at the very bottom of his post directed specifically at PATH:

“Stay tuned for information on ill-conceived trade associations and the Antitrust violations including price fixing, unfair competition, restraint of trade and other potential criminal charges all association members may face because of the potential criminal activities of a few very bad eggs.”

To be completely honest, I know nothing about all these claims, and I’m simply not going there. (Right now) But it did pose the question, “Just who is this group called PATH?” So I start digging around on their web site.

Imagine my surprise when I take a look at just who is not only on The Board Of Directors but standing President?!

None other than Peter Stilphen.

I don’t know about you, and I’m no lawyer, but doesn’t this whole “Royal Mess” start looking like “Royal Scandal” and the start of unfair competition and restraint of trade to you?

Before you come to this conclusion however, take some advice from a couple of mentors of mine:

“Don’t believe a word I say, unless you can verify it on your own!”

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