Archive for the ‘Royal Caribbean’ Category

Don’t Look Now…

Friday, December 12th, 2008
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I’ve been told that the travel industry is just swimming along famously. No problems, no concerns, (other than those pesky MLM’s of course) and everything is just drifting along quite well. I was wondering what planet some of these Travel Agents live on. If you’d like to participate and only focus on one company, one issue, one glass of Kook-Aid you too might come to the conclusion that our MLM model is the ONLY model that has some of issues listed below.

Typically I see single posts or threads about MLM topics so folks can rant and rave about how horrid MLM is. Problem is, as I was reading through some of the trades this week, there were so many similar topics I’ve seen about MLM, it might take weeks to write single posts about each one separately. Don’t really want to spend the time or energy writing about problems, as I happen to be a solutions kind of guy.

dont-look-hereI know it’s a long shot for some, but wanted to see if we could take the blinders off to look outside of MLM and Travel and see what’s going on with the entire industry. Blinders can be great, but sometimes it’s a good idea to look around if nothing more for a status check to gauge how well, or how poor your single perspective might actually be.

Since I don’t want to boar readers, we’ll just give you the Readers Digest condensed version of each of the following topics, and as usual, you’ll find the third party links to actually documentation instead of trying to dig it up yourselves or just taking my word for it. (Remember, don’t believe a word you hear, unless you can verify it on your own to be true.)

First we have Frank Serio, a former owner and operator of Travel Concepts in Rhode Island who was sentenced in federal court to 15 months for wire fraud and defrauding airlines and Amtrak out of $571,000. According to Travel Weekly, he bought tickets at steep discounts and then obtained refunds based on full fares.

Serio had purchased tickets using other names and fictitious names and used phony voucher numbers or numbers reserved for airline/train employees and their relatives.  He also reported the sales through ARC and paid with a business or personal credit card.

Soon after each purchase, Serio requested full-price refunds through ARC, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In this way, he extracted $571,000 in refunds from American Airlines, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Royal Jordanian, United, US Airways and Amtrak.

The FBI investigated the case and ARC cooperated. Frank reports to prison on Jan. 5.

I’ve seen the word bankruptcy used all too often, for years in fact. Advantage Rent A Car has filed a voluntary petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 440 people nationwide received layoff notifications this past Monday. Advantage will explore alternatives during the company’s reorganization, including the possibility of a sale or merger.

In addition to seeking Chapter 11, Advantage has decided to consolidate its network of car-rental locations nationwide — keeping open only its most profitable store locations.

“The current economic environment has dramatically affected the travel industry,” said Jon Austin, a spokesman for Advantage. “We have been hit with a simultaneous drop in leisure travel, with greatly increased costs and frozen credit markets. These factors are affecting many industries and companies and we are not immune from these forces. These painful steps are a recognition of that reality.”

Advantage will employ only 460 people at the remaining locations and its corporate offices in San Antonio.

Some might consider Advantage a small player in the market, and simply can’t compete with some of the big boys in the market. Not necessarily the case, as news of Budget Rent A Car also announced they will be closing it’s contact center in Wichita Falls, Texas early first quarter 2009. (Some 1,400 jobs will be lost overall at Budget due to their cost cutting measures.)

Why one jet is raising a considerable amount of fuss, United has sold 15 Boeing 757s to East Shore Aircraft to raise $150 million in capital. They appear to agree that selling off some assets is a good way to to raise some much needed cash. United has raised more than $250 million of the $300 million by selling off assets in the fourth quarter of 2008.

I also realized that the ASTA is the be all and end all for some. I was shocked to find out that this association hasn’t cleared a profit since 2002. The ASTA took a loss of about $800,000 in 2007 and will take an additional hit of between $400,000 and $500,000 this year. It’s also reported that it’s spent some $2.5 million of it’s reserves to balance it’s budget in just two years time.

And while some can’t see paradigm shift going on in this industry right now…

Maloney said ASTA was “locked into the old World Travel Congress model” through 2005, at a time of “the collapse of the agency system” through disintermediation, and hence a declining pool of agencies from which to recruit members. This occurred, he said, in tandem with the rise of consortia and the conviction of many agencies that, if they had to choose, consortia were more important to the bottom line.

The news also brought to light that it’s lost support from the supplier end, focusing more on the Agencies themselves. Possibly because the ASTA appears to me at least to be completely out of touch and out of sync.

This last article about Royal Caribbean lending a hand to Agents in these difficult times, I couldn’t help but think of my good freind Candi May who was given the same type of lip service when she was struggling, and was told by her peers that “business couldn’t be better”.

I’ve always liked Vicki and it appears that most of the traditionalists respect her as well. But I wonder if her quote about things not being so rosey will wake some of the Agents I’ve seen who are in such denial about the state of thier business right now.
“This economic environment is unprecedented, and our travel agent partners need our unprecedented support,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean International, in a statement. “Like everyone, they are feeling the pain, and we need to help them through this.”

The only pain some appear to have are those pesky MLM’s who are to blame for all thier troubles. Instead of being grateful for what Royal Caribbean has done for them, on many levels I might ad, my guess is that the focus will continue to be how MLM is a bad mix. Honestly, from what I’ve seen, the obsession, anger, and resentment is only getting worse, and hit an all time low yesterday. (Too embarassing to elaborate, so don’t even ask.)

With all the chatter and focus on how crooked and poorly managed MLM is, it appears that some might need to take the blinders off and look around. (Ya think?)

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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Doug & Ronda Bauknight
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
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Say It Ain’t So Joe…

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
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Whatever happened to personal responsibility? When did we start blaming everything and everyone else but ourselves for problems? I found a gem the other day, and come to find out that it’s not the lack of service, it’s not all the time we spend on the internet posting our opinions, it’s not because we forgot just who our clients are and what our customers actually want. And it certainly can’t be because our clients are capable of doing what we do for a living on their own through the likes of web sites called Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia.

No, it’s none of that. What it all boils down to is none other than Travel Weekly. Who knew?

Interesting that after a years worth of hammering suppliers to choke out the pariah of untrained and uneducated Yahoo’s to little or no avail, (Royal Caribbean, Perilo, and Celtic Tours were the only three that headed the pleas.) we now move to the media outlets and industry publications to what looks like a new desperate attempt, begging if you will, to stop promoting these blasted MLM’ers who are ruining their business.

It’s not the first time suppliers have turned their back on the traditional travel agents, suppliers need the business, especially in this economy. Speculation that it was the suppliers fault stemmed from the ASTA who took a stand against MLM back in 2005 going all the way to the FTC. The blame fell squarely on the backs of suppliers after their attempt fell flat. Today, the largest cruise line in the world has teamed up with the largest Travel MLM in the world to promote gift certificates to increase sales for both the cruise line and the agency in the 4th Quarter.

A battle that I can only guess critics have resigned themselves to finally let go of.

Now that some have moved past the fact that suppliers just aren’t going to listen, the focus now turns to trade publications as they blast away at one of the most prominent and respected industry publications in the industry, Travel Weekly.

What was thought to be a fluke back in 2007 when YTB suddenly appeared on the pages of Travel Weekly’s Power List at #35 was dismissed as being nothing more than recruiting fees by those who needed to forgive Travel Weekly for their grave error. When news broke later in the year concerning Royal Caribbean’s termination of YTB, the company and its founders were suddenly catapulted to the front pages of just about every travel publication on the market. Most by the way praised the RCL move, as it was believed that this would be the first step in the avalanched of suppliers who would now agree that Travel and MLM’s are in fact a bad mix.

Instead of an avalanche of suppliers, what was found was more media coverage for Kim Sorensen who was named one of the 33 most influential in the travel industry and when you compare that to just 3 suppliers who sided with PATH, most everyone can see how lopsided that slap in the face was.

To add insult to injury the media coverage by Travel Weekly didn’t stop in 2007. While many critics speculated that Travel Weekly had “seen the light” and the nightmare of all this free publicity was now over, not only did Travel Weekly yet again document sales of $414.5 million in travel sales for YTB, but informed the masses that this speculation of “fees” were unfounded. No, the editors took the time to inform and educate critics when they stated that they check “numerous times” and $414.5 million are in fact “travel sales” not the “fees” that were being pitched.

Dag gummit!

I guess the final straw for these agents was Kim Sorensen being named to Travel Weekly’s Virtual Leisure Summit this fall. I could also speculate that this one name brought in a good number of participants who would have never given this new virtual summit a second thought if it weren’t for a name like Kim Sorensen being attached to it. Now I don’t know this for a fact, but I have to wonder just how big the smile were on editors faces over the frenzy this one name created all over the internet. If you know anything about marketing and media, they LOVE people and circumstances that go against the norm. That’s what makes it newsworthy. (I just listened to an audio from Joe Vitale, AKA: “Mr. Fire” yesterday that eluded to this very subject.)

If you find something that works, you keep doing it. A big reason why Kim will be participating in the upcoming “Preview 2009” December 18th and 19th. It’s got people talking all over the internet once again, as the article above pitches the show, and the buzz has also prompted Mark Murphy, President and CEO of Performance Media Group a competing publication to mention both YTB and Travel Weekly in its own publication.

What’s unfortunate is that Mark, like most who’ve never been involved in Network Marketing simply perpetuates more myths about the industry. He’s obviously unaware that A.L. Williams is no longer A.L. Williams, but now Primerica. Nor did he realize that this form of sitting across the kitchen table helped A.L. Williams gain the number one spot in Whole Life Insurance for 7 straight years.

Even sadder, and I see this all the time from ignorant (not stupid) people who don’t know any better. This use of the 2007 Income Disclosure Statement is almost always documented to show that all YTB does is recruit people into the business. I’ve yet to see any outsider realize that this document actually contradicts the very myth their trying to promote. Those I speak with who’ve heard this myth suddenly realize that this fear about everyone recruiting is inevitably washed away when they see that only 20% of the company actually recruits a single soul.

I don’t know if the ASTA was actually informed by the FTC about these recruiting fees back in 2005, based on how their pitch fell flat. I suspect the facts will come to light for everyone once again via California that it doesn’t cost anyone a dime to recruit new members into YTB. Some of our critics already know this as they may be counted in the 2008 Income Disclosure Statement as making squat. But that’s yet another story for another post for 2009.

In the meantime, well enjoy the press and the talk about YTB as it continues to make headlines and front page news for going against the norm and creating its own entity in the travel industry.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Book Your Travel & Vacations With


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Playing The Market…

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
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Are you as tired as I am over all the trash talk about YTB’s stock? Honestly, I’m sick of it. It’s as if YTBLA.OB is the only stock out there that’s down in the dumps. You’ve got to be hiding out in a cave somewhere not to realize that the markets overall are…well, in the toilet.

While the market has many running in fear, others are banking on the fact that the market will eventually turn in an upward trend. Most people would think someone would be crazy to actually be buying stock these days. Yet, that’s exactly what many of the super wealthy would have done in order to make their fortune. It’s times like these that would explain why Warren Buffett bought a considerable amount of stock at the end of the third quarter. (And if you’re thinking he sold a bunch, think again.)

The “Average Joe” simply can’t stomach what’s going on right now. That’s why we’re seeing the selling frenzy that we are, and also why critics appear to be focused on YTB’s stock specifically. It helps give the perception that the company is in dire straights and won’t last. Our third quarter numbers did a significant job is dispelling those rumors after their release. While there is a considerable amount of excuses following YTB’s profitable quarter, it did cause some of the most hardened critics to actually state that the numbers actually turned out better than they expected.

I would assume that’s why the focus has been shifted so quickly to the stock. It’s the one thing critics can point to that doesn’t look all that rosy, nor is bouncing back. The picture they’re painting is as if all other sectors are doing just fine, and it’s only YTB that’s having the difficulty holding on to its price. (Even with a profitable quarter.)

This attempt to spin the stock got me thinking how YTB compares to other stocks, more specifically, the travel sector since YTB of course knows nothing about travel. (Even after our 8 year run in this sector and being named in Travel Weekly’s Power List the last two years.)

By no means do I claim to be some type of stock expert. Far from it. But anyone with a pulse should realize that the markets, even after the election, continue to tank.

After pulling up various stocks to compare with YTB’s I started noticing that the broad brushed picture being painted isn’t what our critics claim it to be. (Big surprise, I’m sure.) Nor did any one sector in our industry lead in the categories I checked. About the only sector I was not able to check thoroughly at this time were other Brick and Mortars. (Most according to the Travel Weekly Power List are privately held.) I also tried to pick stocks that most everyone would know, even if you’re not “in” the industry. (Hogg Robinson Group, being probably the one exception.) Since there were so few public Brick and Mortar Agencies, I did use both American Express and Boeing who do own “Agencies” but obviously have diversification which neither look to either help or hinder their performance over the last year.

Here is an overview of the industry representing Airline, Cruise, Brick and Mortar, and On-line Agencies.

Indstry Snapshot

YTB (as noted by the blue dot) ends up pretty much “average” compared to the other stocks in the industry. Since there are so many in this sample, I’ve taken each industry and broken it down into segments for ease of reading.

Our first sector is how YTB compares to the Airline Industry. Companies are color coded and YTB will remain blue. Companies sampled with YTB are Continental, Delta, US Airways, and Northwest Airlines.

Airline Industry

Next is a one year snap shot of Brick and Mortar Travel Agengies, which include American Express, Boeing, and Hogg Robinson Group.

Brick and Mortar Agencies

Would a one year snap shot of on-line agencies look any better? Take a look at how YTB compares with Expedia, Priceline, and Orbitz.

One Year Snapshot of On-Line Agencies

And our last sector is the cruise industry as we take a look at both Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

Comparison of Cruise Lines

After looking at this again, maybe Royal Caribbean should be the one in red…

So what gives? Why all the focus and fuss over YTB’s stock when obviously YTB appears to be on par with all the other companies in the market?

Because that’s what critics do. It’s something for them to talk about to give the perception that the Network Marketing business model is flawed or inferior to what they consider a tradition business plan. It’s all about perception to add fear and doubt about your choice in the industry.

They want you to go back to something more “legitimate” or “secure”.

So let me ask you. When it comes to the stock market, which one of these stocks above look to be more secure to you?

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
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Behind Closed Doors…

Monday, October 13th, 2008
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We see and hear all too often how Travel MLM’s are hurting the travel industry from the Travel Agents and Host Agencies themselves. Trade Associations have popped up in increasing numbers over the last few years in an attempt to combat the pariah known as YTB. There are other Travel MLM’s, but the focus for all the problems in the industry has landed squarely on the shoulders of YTB. They all have a unified message of ridding the industry of the unprofessional likes of…

Well…ME!

Somehow they have this perception that because I associate and work with a Travel MLM that I damage their reputation as a Travel Professional. I’ve seen these folks do and say just about anything to warn you that I’m up to no good, my only interest is picking your pocket by recruiting you, and I couldn’t possibly have any interest in selling and servicing travel.

If you happen to be one of the ones reading this making those claims about me, I would argue that you are doing an outstanding job of damaging your own reputation and you certainly don’t need any help from me in that regard.

We also hear all too often that suppliers are cutting YTB off left and right. They hate us in much the same way they do. The vendors and suppliers appear to side with these overzealous Travel Agents and also want to rid the industry of our like.

I had an interesting post sent to me last week, and while I know very little about this individual, his quote speaks volumes about how the suppliers really feel about YTB but more importantly how they feel about these overzealous Agents and what they REALLY want to tell them.

Responses to this individual’s complaining to his employer were as follows:

“The MLMs don’t bring in enough business to worry about them.”
“We don’t treat them the same way as our traditional agencies.”
“We will take their bookings (money) and supply them our product.”
“Stop worrying about them.”
“You are not to discuss the MLMs with the agents or agencies.”

Of course these answers from the overzealous employee aren’t what he wants to hear and this cat can’t seem to get out of his own way to relieve his fears and misconceptions about Network Marketing. Thus you find this employee hanging out on a forum with other zealots that support his views. All while the employer remains unaware the employee refuses to abide by the employers wishes.

I’ve heard for a number of years that suppliers and vendors would cut YTB off. It wasn’t until last year, almost to the day, that one supplier decided to side with PATH (Professional Association of Travel Hosts) and terminate its relationship with the largest of the Travel MLM’s. Other than Royal Caribbean, I’m only aware of a Perillo Tours and another company called Celtic Tours, both of which never really did any business with YTB to begin with. (Neither were listed in our back office as a supplier.)

I find it difficult to terminate a relationship when there wasn’t a relationship to begin with, but that’s just me.

As I look back at the one public company who did side with the overzealous Agent Associations and this termination, the VP of Sales was moved over to Hotel Services, and shares of RCL stock has fallen from $42.24 this time last year to a 7 year low of $14.00 at the close of business Friday.

Not a very auspicious move for the company.

During this same period of time we have seen another cruise line come up with a very solid solution in minimum booking requirements concerning FAMs while maintaining its relationship with the 26th largest travel company in the country.

If you take a look at Carnival, they just announced they’ll be dropping their fuel surcharges moving forward, and provided a HUGE jump in Net Income for its 3rd Quarter results.

Hmmmmmmm, interesting.

I’m well aware of all the personal views and opinions that are circulating out there on the Internet about YTB and Network Marketing in general. Fortunately for the vast majority of the suppliers and vendors out there it’s not personal.

Its business.

For the overzealous and obsessed agents out there that read this blog on a regular basis, you may want to take note of how obnoxious YOU appear to the suppliers and vendors you’re attempting to recruit to your side. Based on how few have actually pulled the trigger and terminated their relationship with YTB and other travel MLM’s it appears that your concerns and misgivings about YOUR industry are falling of deaf ears.

While I’m sure they take the time to listen to you, and provide the lip service you’re looking for, behind closed doors they only care about their bottom line.

Don’t they?

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Book Your Travel & Vacations With


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MNF Not What It Use To Be…

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
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I was watching Monday Night Football last night on ESPN, and was thinking that it’s been over a year now that the switch from ABC to ESPN has been made, and it still just doesn’t feel right. It just doesn’t have the same aura about it.

I found my mind wondering on other random thoughts and decided to put them down on…my blog. (Remember when it was paper?)

Say what you want about John Madden, he’s one of the most entertaining and charismatic commentators in the NFL. I will give you this, he’s lost some of his edge over the years, and as I’ve told the folks down here in the south the “Immaculate Reception” like the Civil War has been over for decades.

Get over it already.

If someone runs into either Ainsworth or Travel Lisa on the Internet, would someone PLEASE give them a tissue? They’re crying (again) about what an idiot I am. I’m sorry I included American Express Travel in with 9 other companies yesterday. If you don’t like or if what I have to say bothers you that much, don’t read this blog.

It’s that simple.

What does it say about the Direct Selling Industry when a company like Mars Snackfood Inc. decides to use “word of mouth” (pun intended) advertising to distribute one of it’s product lines? A website was created to support Dove Chocolate Discoveries’s recruiting efforts and offer information on the exclusive line of Dove Chocolate Discoveries products.

M&M’s go MLM…who knew?

I realize everyone likes to talk about how badly YTB’s stock is doing these days. Just wondering if anyone will ever mention that Royal Caribbean’s stock is now at a 5 year low? This stock hasn’t been below $18.00 since April of 2003.

Don’t hold your breath.

Did anyone else have coffee come out their nose when they read that NoTravelMLMs is “fair and balanced”? You may need to go out and get an entire box of tissue and offer up a couple for John and Richard Earls while you’re at it.

You’ll need the rest of the box to clean up your computer screen.

We’ve all heard how Baby Boomers are starting to retire to the tune of one every 8 seconds for the next 20 years. A big reason why most of us are in the travel business right? With the majority of the 15,000 travel agency owners in their late 50s or older, it appears we have another reason why travel agencies are shrinking.

Ever hear the term “old hens”?

I mentioned the Royal Caribbean stock a minute ago, and see that the company has sold off its share of Island Cruises. While they still retain the ship, the early termination should show a small profit for the cruise line in these hard economic times.

Gives new meaning to “Repositioning Cruise”.

Gas here in Atlanta is finally getting back to normal. No more wasting a half tank of gas driving around just to find a station that has some, and then spending the next 30 minutes waiting in line. Even noticed that the price has dropped about a dime today.

Down to $3.81…Whoo Hoo!

And speaking of “hard economic times”; now that the band aid, rescue, bailout has been approved it’s my understanding that there will be a new currency in circulation. I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but look for this new currency to be in circulation in the next few weeks.

You can always count on me to provide you with all the late breaking news and events. ;-P


PS – If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker

Phone: 678.458.5812


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Thou Shalt “Do The Dance”

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
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Every once in a while I do “The Dance”. My kids think its funny (just wait til they get older) and yesterday we had a lot of fun. I had a couple of reasons for doing the “The Dance”, and the kids pulled out “Evan Almighty” yesterday afternoon while I was busy on the phone and outlining the post for today.

Do you remember back in January when Carnival made the announcement concerning minimum booking requirements? It was speculated back in October that suppliers would follow Royal Caribbean’s lead and pull the plug on Travel MLM’s. Now almost a year later, it looks as if throwing “the problem” overboard proved to be costly. While another Cruise line solved “the problem” on January 9th when new CEO Gerry Cahill eliminated the abuse yet saved the account for future growth and profits.

Now it’s important to keep the supplier problem verses solution in mind as we move on to today’s topic. (Success leaves clues.)

Yesterday afternoon, CLIA stepped up to the plate and offered a very solid solution which I believe will have long lasting and very beneficial effects for everyone in the industry. (Well, almost everyone, but more on that in a minute.)

I first caught the story in Travel Weekly, and after doing a little research I found the new policy directly off CLIA’s web site. I’ll let you read both stories on your own, but I want to get to the meat of what this is all about.

“2009 ID Card applicants are required to be enrolled in, or to have achieved a designation (ACC, MCC, ECC, ECCS) in CLIA’s Cruise Counsellor Certification Program. Attainment of an ACC designation requires a program of mandatory and elective training options as well personal cruise experience, shipboard inspections and 25 cabin sales within the two year enrollment period.”

How do you like them apples? Just think. Nobody has to double dog dare anyone any longer about whether or not they actually know what their doing, if they are taking unfair advantage of the industry without giving back, or pretend that we’re only referring people to a simple web site to book a cruise without any support.

This solution clearly separates the pretenders from the players in the Travel Industry, and with the new Certification requirements that everyone will be able to follow and understand, suppliers will be able to tell exactly who is serious and who is not.

We’ve gotten to know CLIA or rather The Academy quite well since October of last year when YTB launched E-Campus with Dr. Marc Mancini, one of the most respected and admired trainers in the Travel Industry. I’d also like to point out that the minimum booking requirements in California in 2007 worked so well, that YTB Travel Network rolled these same requirements out for the entire company earlier this year.

The emphasis on actually training the RTA field is apparently working, and to see an association such as CLIA roll out a solution like the one yesterday should put an end to this illusion that someone like me or you embarrass and anger those that admittedly earned their rights and privileges in this industry.

These new requirements do raise a couple of rhetorical questions for me however. (Remember, comments here are now cut off to those who couldn’t communicate in a civil and respectable manor concerning their views and opinions.)

What will the few Traditional Travel Agents do when these requirements have been met? They can no longer claim that we are untrained and uneducated. They can no longer claim that we don’t support the industry. With all the time and energy now wasted in posting day after day, to have the major beef pulled right out from under them, what will they do with all the extra time on their hands?

Second, now that there will be whole new crop of trained agents in the field, how will that affect their bottom line? MLM’ers will have the same knowledge and Certifications most of them boast about. There will be far more of these new, hungry, and educated Certified Agents in the field who can now compete at the same level. Will this take away even more market share for them?

Third, how will this be viewed by suppliers? Can you think of any suppliers who are in a bind right now that need some extra revenue coming their way? If just 20% of YTB’s RTA’s go after this Certification requirement it will produce close to $100 Million in revenue and that’s just to qualify for the Certification. What happens when a company the size of YTB is moving that type of revenue to only 21 of the 24 Cruise Line Members?

This is a HUGE step forward in eliminating the illusions and myths out there concerning “Card Mills” and “MLM’s”, and I’m thrilled the CLIA came up with a solution to clean up it’s good name, much like Carnival did. From what I could tell, the Carnival move back in January certainly curbed the accusations against them for supporting a company like YTB.

From what I can read at this early stage, it looks as if the few boisterous Traditionalists who are bitter, angry and shamed right now also think this is a good move. (They are however having a difficult time in expressing their view without belittling those who will be helped most in this move.) It may not keep both sides happy, since one side never appears happy, but it does take away at least one of the excuses they use to attack an industry and people they clearly know nothing about.

I’m quite certain more about these new requirements will be discussed during some of the YTBU courses, (my first course is with Ann Sedgwick first thing next Wednesday morning) and also during Friday and Saturdays National Convention when new features and announcements will be made.

Which reminds me; my second reason for doing “The Dance” yesterday afternoon happened when UPS came to the door with my documents for the National Convention. It’s almost like
doing “The Doc Dance” when boarding docs arrive for a cruise!

Care to join me?

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
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TSO #588629
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Backpedaling ….

Monday, July 28th, 2008
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Last Tuesday I posted about Royal Caribbean’s troubles concerning their second quarter earnings. Some major changes are going on right now down in Miami in attempts to right a sinking ship. Of course we found out that the layoffs have begun, with 400 jobs being eliminated. Something else was posted in Travel Weekly last week, which I had scheduled to post, but due to other events, it’s been bumped and a little more information added for today.

If you recall, Royal Caribbean announced that they will be giving the “Royal Shaft” to some 472 Agencies by upping the commission threshold, in some cases doubling the threshold starting in 2009.

After the result of a 34% decline over 2007 numbers, it appears that Royal Caribbean has either done an about face, or Vicki Freed simply got tired of the cries and whining by those pesky Traditional Travel Agents who do tend to be rather boisterous. (As we’ve come to know all too well.)

I have to hand it to Vicki; she’s ALWAYS handled things very well and is the ultimate professional. I love her quote about this new gray area concerning exceptions and tweaks depending on how loud these agents were.

“All along, when agents were emailing me or calling me after our initial announcement, we were customizing our 2009 commission deals, and sometimes giving agents more time to reach the new levels, to ‘fit’ the circumstances”

To be fair, I’d be upset too if a cruise line increased my threshold some 36% to 76%. Royal Caribbean told these Agencies back in October that they were going to support THEM by terminating the growing competition that keeps getting bigger and bigger no mater what they do to try to curb it’s growth.

So, with Royal Caribbean in dire need of support right now, it’s not surprising that there’s been some “special arrangements” made concerning the commission tiers announced just a few months back.

At this point in time, I could really care less which side you want to pick here. You could side with this notion that Royal Caribbean is backpedaling due to financial reasons, or you could side with how the Agent community loves to cry so loudly that they just gave in. Either choice is fine; because the water just keeps getting churned up the further away we get from last October.

It’s clear that the Suppliers in this industry need help and support, not the bickering and whining that I see all over the internet. A few Agents clearly have way too much time on their hands, and if they don’t buckle down and get to work soon, some suppliers won’t make this crunch they are experiencing right now.

We’ve already seen what it’s done to Royal Caribbean, and news of Dynamic Leisure ceasing operations was also reported in Travel Weekly. While I have not seen anything about this in the trades as of yet, YTB’s very own Travel Compass, (you know the one, it’s that “Travel Newsletter” we get) reported the Rockwell Tours has also decided to close its doors, effective last Friday.

On a side note, and I’m guessing it’s alright to mention this now since Rockwell’s web site is already down and not accepting any further bookings, I noticed while doing my Newsletter this weekend and after attaching a link to the notice sent out from Rockwell something very strange at the bottom of the page.

“All Travel Agency commissions due will be paid by Rockwell Tours as per the normal schedule, that being upon completion of customer travel.”

So while we’ve been told by the Agent Community that YTB is holding our commissions, we find that at least one supplier pays just like YTB says they do, upon completion of the customer travel.

Yep…the truth always has a way of coming to light.

But I digress. Not everyone in the Agent community is obsessed with spinning things, and there ARE organizations who are stepping up to the plate and understand the real issues at hand. ARTA has decided to postpone its launch of their special ID cards in an effort to actually help suppliers in this crunch. It’s been reported that TRIP has advised its key marketing and sales personnel to focus on sales.

“The industry has been clear that a new identification program is sorely needed, but with the current oil crisis, its direct impact on routes and lift changes to destinations, and a significant downturn in business travel, suppliers from all sectors of the industry have indicated that they must let there issues overshadow others at this time.”

Good for them. I just wish everyone would focus on the task at hand.

After all, we ARE Professionals, and can sell this product better than anyone else. (Right?)

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Doug & Ronda Bauknight
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Book Your Travel & Vacations With


TSO #588629
Share