Over the years, we’ve been told by some very irate and irrational “travel agents” that travel vendors despise our company. It’s part of a ploy in an attempt to rid the industry of a business model they don’t understand and actually fear because they can’t wrap their small minds around a very basic and simple business concept.

Because they feel this way – everyone feels this way. It ties into their self worth and identity as a “travel professional”.

I hate to break it to these clowns, but I really don’t have to ask. I’ve seen and heard enough from vendors themselves to know that they not only “get” our company and our model – they’re actually very impressed with what we do and how we do it. You need to realize that these vendors are far more business minded than any of these independent critics that you’ll see floating around slamming our company in order to save their own independent business.

I’ve also been told countless times that our company would never make it in it’s current form. This mantra ties right into the many myths and legends that have choked logical thinking for decades when it comes to Network Marketing. Funny thing is – at this time of year (when another year is almost over) these same critics who have been spewing that we’d never make it past 2008 – then 2009 – and then 2010 – they all lay pretty low right about now.

Reality hit these guys pretty hard recently when they finally figured out after a couple of weeks what Sixth Scott, LLC actually was and what it meant for YTB Travel Network. Not only was this a big blow to their spin pointing at this notion that YTB Travel Network isn’t a legitimate travel business, it also threatens to overturn the one company that went out on a limb for these guys back in 2007.

Fast forward to the end of 2011 and we find ourselves with a brand new booking engine thanks to our new partnership with Sixth Scott – but we find yet another travel vendor who has recognized YTB Travel Network as a top producer in the travel industry.

For those of you who appreciate YTB the way I do – please enjoy the following press release.

For those who don’t – it’s yet another example of how you just can’t admit that you don’t have a clue about who we are and what we actually do.

And to Travel Impressions – Please remember that any backlash you may get from recognizing a solid, viable, and legitimate Travel Host is indicative of how badly we not only need new blood in this industry but updated minds in business in order to thrive in these changing times.

YTB TRAVEL NETWORK RECOGNIZED AS A TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS’ ‘BEST OF THE BEST’ TRAVEL AGENCY

FARMINGDALE, NY (Dec. 8, 2011) – YTB Travel Network was recognized recently by Travel Impressions (http://www.TravelImpressions.com), one of the country’s largest tour operators selling destinations worldwide, as a “Best of the Best” travel agency which is given to top performing agencies and consortia partners. YTB Travel Network was invited to attend Travel Impressions 16th annual “Best of the Best” gala event, held Nov. 30 – Dec. 3, 2011 at the Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach in Cancún, Mexico.

“Best of the Best” honors are bestowed on a limited number of agencies that are top producers for Travel Impressions, and that are considered to be its best partners.

“We are honored to be recognized as one of Travel Impressions’ Best of the Best travel agency partners,” said Shelly Coppersmith. “We are committed to providing our clients with the very best vacation experience and working with Travel Impressions ensures a high level of customer satisfaction.”

In attendance at the Best of the Best four-day event from YTB Travel Network was VP Shelly Coppersmith. She was able to hear an industry update from Travel Impressions’ President and CEO Steve Gorga as well as participate in round table networking sessions with attending suppliers. A golf tournament and spa pampering at the Coral Beach Gem Spa were also offered.

There were many sponsored events and activities including a welcome dinner hosted by the Cancún Convention & Visitors Bureau and The Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office, a dinner reception on the second evening sponsored by the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism, and the gala cocktail reception hosted by Mexican Tourism Board.

A performance by The Village People, best known for the disco hits YMCA, Macho Man and In the Navy, was a highlight of the “Best of the Best” gala celebration.

In the spirit of holiday giving, YTB Travel Network participated in Travel Impressions charity program by donating a variety of school supplies to the Palace Resorts Foundation’s Education Committee for distribution to school children in Cancún.

Travel Impressions
Founded in 1974, Travel Impressions is one of the nation’s largest leisure tour operators and a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express. The company offers FIT vacations to over 200 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, Dubai, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Islands of Tahiti, Canada, Hawaii and the Continental U.S., and features more than 2,800 resorts, hotels and luxury villas. Travel Impressions has received multiple industry awards for outstanding customer service, best overall operations, best technology, most knowledgeable reservations staff and leading marketing materials – all dedicated to better serving travel agents and their clients.

For more information about Travel Impressions, call 1-800-284-0044 / 631-845-8000, or visit the website: http://www.TravelImpressions.com. Find the tour operator on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/travelimpressionsvacations and follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/travelimp.

YTB TRAVEL NETWORK
YTB International, Inc.’s travel subsidiary, YTB Travel Network, Inc. was recognized as the 34th largest seller of travel in the U.S. in Travel Weekly’s 2011 Power List, based on 2010 annual retail value of travel services booked.

YTB, based in Wood River, IL, provides e-commerce business solutions for individual consumers and home-based independent representatives in the United States, Bermuda, the Bahamas and Canada. The Company operates through two subsidiaries: YTB, Inc. (formerly ZamZuu, Inc., YTB Marketing, Inc. and YourTravelBiz.com, Inc.) and YTB Travel Network, Inc.

Learn more about YTB at http://www.ytb.com or http://www.ytbi.com.

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I found a really a really nice article in Travel Weekly this weekend that highlights YTB and our Passport to Giving program.

If you don’t know about Passport to Giving, it’s one of the finest programs I’ve seen. Coach and YTB designed it for non-profits to help raise money by turning the non-profit members vacations into donations. I was actually trained in this program back in 2005 before I was trained as an RTA.

YTB donates a booking engine to the non-profit or association a custom site with their own logo free of charge, which includes waiving the monthly fee. Members of the association then turn to the non-profits travel web site to book travel and the commissions earned are paid to the association just like they are to the RTA’s, but tax free.

No strings, no catch, just our way to give back to the community by offering something totally unique to help raise money for non-profits.

According to the Travel Weekly article, the National Academy Foundation is operating an online travel agency for Freshman and Sophomores at Rochester’s East High using our Passport to Giving program and YTB Booking Engine to train students with real world examples and booking travel for real customers. Classes help prepare the students of East High for a potential carrier in the Travel Industry.

You can view their site at www.easthightravel.com. (Note: the YTB logo is replaced with NAF.org’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism logo.)

Now in it’s second year, the students earned about $2500 in commissions their first year. The facilitator of the program, Jim Spawton, is looking to boost that number to about $10,000 by asking the faculty, students’ families and local businesses for bookings that earn real commissions for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism. The commissions earned help pay for other student programs, all while teaching students what it’s like to run a real travel business.

East High is one of the 78 U.S. high schools with hospitality and tourism academies that are overseen by the National Academy Foundation.

Other big name companies such as Marriott and PepsiCo are also helping students of the academy. PepsiCo gave $7,000 to six graduates to further their studies, while Marriott offers internships to students to help them attain real world experience inside their hotels. A picture posted in the Travel Weekly article also has students working with the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

I applaud both YTB and the National Academy Foundation for offering these programs to our future business men and woman.

While researching this article, I found a great “about us” video from the NAF.org website that highlights this important non-profit and how it’s changing our youth for the better. A great example can be found at about the 3 minute mark with a young lady named Nathsha who apparently started as an intern with Marriott and is now an Assistant Controller at the Bethesda Marriott Suites.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Apparently, the constipation over YTB continues for one Anti-YTB Zealot. It’s been a long time since I’ve linked to anything this moron has written, but this one is just too classic to pass up.

Yes, John Frenaye has also found the Travel Weekly article, only to react with his own demonic twist and spin that no doubt matches all the classic myths, misrepresentations, and false claims we’ve come to know, but not quite love about this ignorant and constipated know-it-all.

I don’t know about you – but I’d love to take him up on his bet regarding the Facilitator being a member of YTB. Unfortunately,  we’ve learned John never delivers (just like he never properly researches) when shown point blank that he’s once again on loosing end of such unsubstantiated speculation and claims.

John, maybe the reason they didn’t pick you or any other “agency” is because you can’t get past your own dysfunctional behavior and limiting beliefs. Hell, you don’t even know the difference between a FAM and an internship. (Or who sponsors the internship you ignorant putz.)

Instead of being privileged like you were growing up – maybe a program like NAF could have shown you how the real world operates to provide you with the proper skill set to cope with life’s most basic lessons. Guys like me valued opportunities like this no matter who offered the tools or the opportunity. The internship I did with Pittsburgh’s number one radio station after college was invaluable to me back in the day.

After four years of blathering like a raving lunatic about MLM and YTB – it’s apparent that the travel industry desperately needs some fresh minds and faces that are capable of working instead of spiting at people and companies they don’t agree with, don’t like, and clearly are unwilling to accept as part of the solution.

Moron…

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For the fifth year in a row, YTB Travel Network makes Travel Weekly’s Power List of the top 50 Travel Agencies. Some will be a bit surprised. Others will be pleased. While I’m sure there will be others who will be (as they always are) frustrated with another year of YTB being included in Travel Weekly’s listing.

Personally, I consider this year’s listing as one of the finest showings from previous years for several reasons. This year’s listing dispels the skewed and misleading math formulas we’ve seen in years past from socialist pin heads. It also puts to rest any notion that the word “Travel” in YTB Travel Network is an afterthought.

Let’s not forget as well, all the mud that was thrown up in the companies face three years ago that has now been cleaned off, putting any claims of pyramid or ponzi schemes behind the company.

I’m quite certain that some had dreams and others feared that California’s Attorney General could actually put an end to the company. If California couldn’t get it done, surely Illinois or the opportunist ambulance chasers would. Yet, here I am three years later with the same capabilities in selling travel, and a better commission split to boot.

Clearly, YTB Travel Network has had its share of the spotlight. Some good – some bad – and some just completely bogus accusations. (Some have turned out to be rather comical.) Through it all however, YTB Travel Network has survived because of a very solid foundation laid by the Founders of the company and a few thousand loyal “Travel Agents” who appreciated a different approach in selling travel.

So, here we are – the numbers from the Travel Weekly Power List:

At number 34 – YTB Travel Network

2010 Sales: $221.7 million
Employees: 120
Previous Rank: 29

What is so impressive about this spot is the company has accomplished this number with a small fraction of people compared to years past. At the companies height (before the mudslinging and bogus lawsuits) YTB Travel reported 92,383 travel sellers who sold $424.1 million in travel. What “socialist pin heads” did was divide total sales by the total number of travel sellers. This year, the company reported 12,200 travel sellers who sold $221.7 million in travel.

So why the big jump in “average sales”?

Clearly, these “averages” we’ve seen (or are forced upon Network Marketing companies from our fine Government as “Income Disclosures”) aren’t what they’re cracked up be. You can’t possibly dictate to anyone what someone is capable of selling based on average numbers. Some will excel, while others won’t do a blessed thing to get their business off the ground. Travel sellers who weren’t making any money (because they couldn’t change their thinking or work ethic from “employee” to “business owner”) are now gone. Those who could grasp the thinking and habits of “business” were making money as travel sellers and are still around and producing numbers more consistent with traditional travel agents. It’s always been like this – but it wasn’t until now that we see how the real world actually works – not some mathematical theory.

We’ve heard over and over again that our focus isn’t travel. Again, you can’t dictate as an overall consensus (just like the bogus “averages” above) that’s true for everyone. I got into YTB Travel Network so I could get paid for telling people that a cruise was the best vacation money could buy. I’m still just as passionate about the industry as I was the day I signed up. Sure the other products offered via the ZamZuu shopping cart are nice. In fact, I was selling similar items here on this blog long before ZamZuu ever came about. Ever since I changed hats from employee to business owner, you become educated about what multiple streams of income can do for your bottom line.

While it’s a nice bonus, my focus – and what fires me up is still travel.

Well, that and the Pittsburgh Steelers. But just because I moved from Pittsburgh to Atlanta 19 years ago, I’m still just as much of a diehard fan than I ever was. (Okay – fanatical, but you get the idea.) You know damn well, you’re never gonna take the Steelers out of this boy. You’ll also never take the passion I have for travel out of me either.

While others in our industry would like our focus to be something else – it’s honestly not up to them to tell me, you, or anyone else what we should or should not focus on. Travel got us to where we are – and travel will continue to carry this company in the future. It’s a fantastic product that everyone still enjoys talking about and still the number one answer to a question I’ve asked for years.

“If you had more time and more money – what would YOU do?“

What makes this year’s list especially gratifying is that all the crap from California, Illinois, and a handful of ambulance chasers is now behind the company. All laid claim about being a pyramid scheme. Thing is, pyramid schemes are illegal and scams like that are ultimately shut down. Sure, there will be those who will continue to throw that out there – and that’s perfectly fine. Looks worse on them at this point than it ever will YTB, because it illustrates they haven’t learned a blessed thing. (And most likely, never will.)

I really could care less – because all I have to do is pull up my booking engine and look at another listing on this year’s Power List.

Nuff said.

YTB Travel Network will move on as it always has. Like I said before – travel got us here, and travel will continue to be a major asset for YTB International. If the company can do this with all the obstacles thrown up to distract everyone – imagine what it can do now with this core group of travel sellers.

Nothing like a little dose of reality to get things cranked back up again now is there? The way I see it, there’s nothing stopping this company from climbing back up this list to even higher levels once reached in years past. Difference is, there were lessons learned from the first go around that will make it all that much easier to accomplish if everyone pitches in.

Based on what this year’s list has shown us, the company is leaner, meaner, and battle tested for another great run.

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I had originally scheduled a post on the new struggles of Royal Caribbean today, but one of the lesser known critics commented that I should write about them again. I decided that not only would it be a good idea, but a lot of fun to point out how they’ve completely botched another attempt to point the finger at YTB, but ended up pointing three back at themselves.

It never ceases to amaze me how low some people will stoop in an attempt to slander our fine company and our people. We’ve written at length about the lies, the misinformation, the false speculation, and how they love to distort and deceive in an attempt to tell the general public what’s wrong with YTB. Why they are so afraid of our company, I’ll never know. But even with all the evidence that proves them wrong, they continue to come back for more punishment.

As someone who has been calling a spade a spade for two years now, I make no apologies, nor do I feel the need to excuse how the lies, myths and false information goes against every fiber of my being. What I find most interesting is that instead of answering direct questions or accusations, I’m called names, they poke at my physical appearance, or try to tell me that I’m overreacting and being defensive. Reality is; that type of behavior is designed to get me off the subject at hand and put the focus on me instead of the real issue.

If you don’t like the heat, you should stay out of the kitchen. The hotter it gets, the more I know how much I irritate and frustrate our critics. That’s worth every slanderous comment, false accusation, and punch below the belt, which in turn reflects more on them than it ever will me. While they would love to have me join in the fun, they appear to be doing just fine without my participation. Besides, I would never want to distract them with actual documentation and facts that would highlight how clueless they are on their own turf. 

You may remember today’s subject from a battle won here just last year. While it frustrates our critics that Candi May has remained deaf and mute to any of the critics claims and false accusations, ignoring the jealous crowd of critics has enabled her to continue to build her business and remain quite happy with YTB. Like me, her self respect and self worth isn’t tied to a bunch of overzealous critics who can’t seem to get a life. Those who were at this years Convention probably remember Candi May and her “Travel Like a Rock Star” presentation. She has that same speech on her new blog and when the critics found it, they needed to mix things up, and I got to tell you…they botched it up.

If you either listened to her speak or take the time to read her post, Candi is abundantly clear about her experience in the traditional arena. She’s been travel agent for 24 years and gave examples of her experience as a traditional agent. For the traditionalist who want to keep these perks private however, they took issue with her stance and decided to attack her ethics, intelligence, and character to make it sound like she was deceiving everyone. (Much like they attempt to do with anyone else associated with YTB.

In her post, she states,

“I’ve been in the travel business for over 24 years now and for the 21 years before I was in YTB I was a traditional travel agent and eventually owned three travel agencies in Downtown Louisville. But, 24 years ago I was young, broke and inexperienced in the travel business. We took our first “agent rate” trip to a place called the Don Cesar in beautiful St. Petersburg Beach Florida.”

Sounds pretty clear to me…how ’bout you? Sorry to say, not everyone got that message. According to No Travel MLM’s Candi is called out for deceiving the general public. John writes:

This does sound wonderful, but there appears to be some serious sleight of hand going on here. Is anyone surprised? Well, John Travolta turned 50 in February 2004. And according to another post on Candy May’s blog:

I joined forces with YTB in June of 2006 and that is how this journey began.

John believes he has one of his infamous “gotchas” here with proof that one of our leaders is lying. He’s extracted one line from another post that is totally unrelated to her traditional agent journey and used it in an attempt to throw it back in the face of YTB. But take a look and read her first post in it’s entirety. You’ll find the following statement which can be found smack in the middle of her first blog post when she states:

“I started in the travel business a little over 24 years ago as a traditional travel agent.”

A statement that our critics hope you don’t find in the first post so they can pound their chest and slander someone so they can feel better about themselves and the traditionalist who got away. The only slight of hand here is by John. Either that or he has some sort of disorder that causes memory loss. (More evidence of THAT below.)

Candi also talks about a booking contest with a company that specialized in Mexico. She won that trip by booking lots of travel. She went completely free including round trip air to a beautiful resort called the Royal Hideaway in the beautiful Mayan Rivera.

According to John, Royal Hideaway will not accept a YTB agent on a FAM because YTB has lost their IATAN accreditation. The IATAN requirement for Royal Hideaway might be true…might not. I have to ask however why IATAN is relevant when you win a trip that’s provided by a company the specializes in Mexico? Small detail that again either escaped him or he was holding his breath in the hope that you’d miss that this was a contest provided by the supplier, not something she asked for as travel professional courtesy. But it just might work for the casual reader who is only interested in finding something negative, or a reason hate a company or poeple that are still sticking around after two years of pitching the same tired old line.

Remember the memory loss I eluded to earlier? I find it hilarious that John is trying this line again:

She claimed to have been flown to Minneapolis and wooed by Carlson who wanted her agency to join the conglomerate, yet no one at Carlson has any records of her name or her agency.

Are we to assume the this goof simply forgot that we’ve covered Candi’s affiliation with Carlson with two letters, one signed by Roger Block himself, and the other from Linda Fox that came with a Formal Agreement that was deemed by John as being authentic just last year? These two documents did convince him at one point, but he doesn’t remember that embarrassment now? I think it’s more accurate to speculate that we’re back to the denial phase now that it’s a year later and again crossing our fingers that nobody remembers how badly beaten and bruised he got the first time he pulled the same stunt.

If you say the same lie over and over, maybe it might come true? Maybe you can get someone to believe you this time. Or maybe you simply get caught for the same tired old story because you’re too thick headed to admit you’ve ever been wrong even once.

Not this group. They go on the attack and attempt to deflect in order to save face. We’re overreacting. I’m coming to Candi’s aid as her knight in shining armour to defend her. I’m wearing a man bra!

One of the other chums, who’s can deflect with the best of them attempted to turn the tables and put the burden of proof back on me. The pitch here is hat you actually need an IATAN in order to get an agent rate and since YTB does not have IATA accreditation, we’re not eligible for FAM’s.

Ainsworth tries this little line to intimidate and demand an answer:

Doug, you’re the once coming across as stupid. You’re right in stating that the first paragraph is speaking of Candy’s years being a TRADITIONAL travel agent. The whole blog post is about her years as a TRADITIONAL travel agent, and all the things she got to experience. None of the things she mentions here happened since she joined ytb! What has she gotten to experience like these things in the 3 years that she has been with ytb, hmmmmm? Answer that, Mr. Know It All.

Okay chump, since you asked, I do know of an offer Candi received from YTB THIS year:

Hey my special friends…I have an incredible opportunity for my distinct travel professionals: Check this out…

I am looking for a few of our Travel/Group specialist to join me on a FAM in Cancun late next week. The only cost is for the flight…THAT”S RIGHT!…ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGE IS FREE!

Oasis Hotels and Resorts is one of my finalists for our Riviera Maya/Cancun and Dominican Republic destinations. They have a scheduled FAM to view 5-6 of their resorts…

If you know of others that focus on Groups, I could extend this to them…

And just how do I know that Candi got this special invite for being a Travel Pro with YTB? Because I got it too.

That’s right! Those of us who produce and book lots and lots of travel like the moral of Candi’s story still get offers.  And note, no magic IATAN is required, no calling the resort, no worries about if we could get in…YTB was invited and for those of us who work hard and book travel, the invitation was passed along to us.

That’s something that Traditional Travel Agents don’t want you to know. Suppliers actually invite YTB just like they do any other agency regardless of accreditation. What suppliers look for is productivity. Suppliers actually consider YTB a valuable source of revenue because we produce. While IATAN certainly provides proof of that with a minimum of $5K in commissions earned, it isn’t really required for the VAST majority of the trips that are offered.

And what would a post from these critics be without the personal insults that Candi couldn’t make it as a “real agent”. I suspect that before long the insult will be that Travel MLM has come up with a far superior product offer for those that are serious about staying in the travel business. (Which is what Candi saw years ago because she’s smart, not some dead beat.)

To prove my point, I have a challenge for the smarter than average critics out there that like spout off that a traditional host is a better alternative.

Provide me documentation of just one Host, one Agency, one single Brick and Mortar that:

• offers 80%-100% commission contracts.
  
• pays cash bonuses of up to $10K when you hit performance levels for travel commissions earned.
• AND completely covers the cost of your Medical Insurance and provides a $150,000 Life Insurance policy.
• Oh, and you need to give me that “hat trick” for less than $500 start up and $49.95 per monthly overhead.

Fact of the matter is that they can’t and that my friends scares the livin’ daylights out of some of the traditionalist who live in La La Land that these traditional host are a better deal. That’s why we have deceptive posts like John’s and the loyal band of thieves to keep up with the charade about YTB being a flawed business model and that Candi couldn’t make it in the traditional arena.

In this current economic climate, coupled with how badly beaten the traditionalist have been from suppliers the internet, and the change to self service, YTB has a safer, more profitable alternative for those who are serious about selling travel bar none.

Spout off all you want about me, Candi, Coach, Scott, Kim or anyone else associated with YTB folks. We already saw this model for what it is. We’re already in and enjoying the best compensation the industry has ever seen. If you want to come along, feel free.

But if you want to spout off, lie and slander based on jealousy…can it. Like so many times before, it’s only going to show that nose of yours is getting bigger by the day.

Oh and John, since you’re big on being the spelling ace…it’s Cand”i”, not Cand”y”. ;-P

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I have to wonder why nobodies talking about AmEx becoming a bank holding company? From what I’ve read about this in Travel Weekly, this idea of any Travel Agency being owned by a bank would be considered an unfair business advantage.

AmEx is asking to borrow $3.5 billion which means that the largest travel agency in the world will now be owned by a bank. Shares of American Express fell $2.35, or 10.5 percent when news first broke, to $20.05 November 11th. Shares continue to fall as the stock closed at $19.64, its lowest point since 1998.

“For decades, from the late ’60s into the ’90s, travel agents fought to keep state and federal banks out of the travel business, regarding them as sources of unfair competition. Agents were often concerned about the competitive impact of cross promotions, whereby a bank might offer a travel benefit to someone opening a new bank account.”

All this fighting, for now at least, seems to have been forgotten. It’s been more than a week, and while I’ve been attempting to follow this story, there’s been not one word spoken about this on any forums or boards I could find. Even after this stories been printed.

Stephen Feeley, director of communications for American Express Business Travel, said the change in status would have no effect on the company’s travel agency business. “It will be business as usual.” However the tax dollars given to American Express could produce an unfair advantage over any other agency, like possibly credit needs to expand, and that I’m sure won’t sit well with the rest of the industry.

American Express, which operates two banks in addition to its travelers check, credit card and travel businesses, won approval to become a bank holding company subject to regulation by the Federal Reserve.

Joanna Lambert, vice president for corporate communications for American Express Co., declined to comment on the report or even confirm that an application had been made or American Express would “build a fence” around a loan to the company to prohibit the agency from having access to the billions it “bank” now has access too. In addition, there’s a concern about the competitive impact of cross promotions of how a bank might offer a travel benefit to someone opening a new bank account.

Yet, not one word from even one travel agent.

Nice to know some have their priorities straight.

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I keep on hearing how other hosts have better commission splits. Its one of the mantras for our critic’s in an attempt to disqualify Travel MLM’s as legitimate Host Agencies. I imagine it helps them support this idea they have about it all being about recruiting, since recruiting happens to be their main focus.

It’s amazing to me how YTB Travel Network President Kim Sorensen participated in Travel Weekly’s Leisure Summit last week, which I assumed was designed for leisure travel related topics. As soon as the switch was flipped to Kim however, the entire mood and focus turned. One of the very first questions asked was related to recruiting numbers. The conversations going on around the internet focus on recruiting numbers as well. Yet not one of our critics has acknowledged that YTB has doubled their production with Carnival over last year. (And we still have almost an entire quarter to go.)

Ignoring travel sales is nothing new. We endured all kinds of excuses concerning our #35 ranking and still have a few who attempt to disqualify our jump to #26 this past year. Ignoring this documentation however will not make it go away, only delay the inevitable that YTB is a real producer of travel in this industry.

For critics, can’t be about travel or commission splits, and the perception being painted splatters this myth that we in YTB don’t really care enough about the travel side of the business to figure out or become productive sellers of travel with an MLM as a Host Agency. Even if we do have the desire, the splits from other hosts are far better than what YTB or any other MLM out there will give you.

Imagine the grin on my face when I found out the truth via a Travel Weekly Article early Tuesday Morning. I constantly hear numbers around 80/20, 90/10 and even 100% commissions being made via other Agents but according to a survey done by NATCA the average split is 74/26, just a mere 4 clicks north of what I currently make with YTB. (70/30)

I also find it interesting that 65% of the Agents surveyed stated they didn’t need a GDS with their business model although I and others have been told otherwise. Somehow, without the proper education and knowledge of the various GDS systems out there, I can’t do business in the same fashion they do. While true, a GDS is a different animal in this industry, to state that it’s a requirement to be considered “real” is a complete fabrication.

Here’s the rundown from the report:

The NACTA report tracks sales, revenue, demographics and other data from 2007, and its findings are based on 449 responses to an email survey distributed in June to NACTA members by ASTA Research.

The report went on to state that 37.9%, were “fully independent,” (meaning they were not affiliated with a host agency and that they dealt directly with suppliers) and hosted agents followed at 29%, while 20% stated they were a “combination independent and hosted agent.”

Of the Host Agencies or Franchise model most use, 20% are with Nexion. Travel Planners had the second-highest percentage with 7.8%. Other Host Agencies included Joystar who claimed 3.4%, America’s Vacation Center who claimed 3.7% and YTB with 1.5% of the Agents surveyed.

Funny how both Travel Weekly and NACTA included YTB as a Host Agency isn’t it?

Yeah yeah…I know all about the current management not being “qualified” and YTB will never be considered a “legitimate” Host by the few stragglers who can’t keep up with the times. You need to realize however, that’s their problem, not ours.

I have to wonder how many more years YTB will have to wait until some consider them “qualified”. For goodness sake, we’re going on 8 years now, and I wouldn’t consider an 8 year old company who’s smack dab in the middle of all the other Agencies in America unqualified.

And apparently neither does this trade publication or the NACTA.

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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!”

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!

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