The annual Power List from Travel Weekly currently ranks YTB International #25 for 2008 out of a record number of agencies this year with 62 companies with travel sales of more than $100 million. All of the agencies in this years Power List faced a common enemy during the latter part of the year, that being the economy. As we are now at the half way point of 2009, many on this years list are not as optimistic as they once were about travel sales and expect a decline anywhere between 15% – 25% between 2008 and 2009.

The economy is one thing, but when a company such as YTB has to endure fear based attacks from a small, yet extremely loud group of critics who desperately need to control free enterprise and exaggerate every move the company makes, is another. With the legal attacks combined with the mud thrown up on the internet via blogs, forums, and message boards, a year over year increase of any amount should show the stability and resolve of our model for anyone who has two wits about them.

Regardless of which side of the fence you reside, the following numbers appear in Travel Weekly’s 2009 Power List.

– 2008 Sales: $424.1 million
– Employees: 317
– Previous Ranking: 26
– ARC sales of $2.76 million
– 85% of sales from leisure travel
– Hosts 92,383 travel sellers
– Owns Rezconnect Technologies Inc.
– Publicly held

True, some spent the last year focused on creating excuses and never gave YTB a chance to survive and/or make this years Power List. Accusations of bankruptcy or being prohibited from conducting business outright started the second claims were filed by the State of California which magically appeared the day before the YTB’s National Convention in August of 2008. Its sad, but some appeared to have missed or simply forgot that there was a legal process that needed to take place. As we’ve seen so many times before, relying on negative speculation rather than facts can damage ones credibility as some sort of expert.

Few have also knocked the legitimacy of the Power List with any excuse they could come up with. It was last years list with a huge jump from #35 to #26 and 84% growth that more than likely had something to do with the desperate pleas posted for anyone who would listen to in order to stop YTB from co-existing with names like American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.

With so much press and attention on YTB it’s not surprising that Travel Weekly once again made special note of our company in this years list.

One company that has seen its share of headlines recently is YTB (No. 25), a publicly traded multilevel marketer with and ARC appointment and a reported $424 million in travel sales, most of it through a network of tens of thousands of small hosted, work-from-home recruits.

A source of unending controversy since it first gained national attention a few years ago, YTB recently settled an action brought by the State of California that accused the company of operating an illegal pyramid scheme. Even if YTB succeeds in transforming itself into a franchise operation and fulfilling the other terms of the California settlement, the company is likely to remain a galvanizing force for friends and foes alike.

For the purposes of the Power List, however, only one thing matters: total sales. Although this number is not included in YTB’s annual financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it is consistent with a company statement to the SEC.

“During fiscal 2007, the aggregate value of retail travel services that have been booked by our RTA’s and independent franchises surpassed $400 million”. YTB reported in the statement.

The company has stated that the total represents retail travel sales and excludes revenue from other activities.

Like it or not, YTB continues to make headlines in this industry because YTB is a major player when it comes to actual travel sales. A few clearly don’t understand the difference between gross sales and actual income generated from those sales reported in our SEC filings. If some can’t comprehend that it takes $424 million in sales to generate $27 million in actual revenue in the travel industry, I’d question how much they truly understand thier industry. However, because there’s a very clear and distinct fear surrounding MLM and recruiting, all focus and attention points directly at revenue generated from recruiting compared to income generated from travel. Those of us that can make the distinction between the two revenue streams have understood for years how silly such comparisons are. Why the perceptions between apples and oranges and these fears persists after all these years is a question I’ve long given up asking. 

I couldn’t possibly tell you what type of excuses will come from this years list. You can be assured that like other years, something will be pointed out here that will attempt to question the validity and accuracy of this report when it comes to YTB. In order to come up with these excuses however, desperate critics will need to toss out the fact that YTB is one of very few that are publicly traded companies who answer to the SEC. They will also toss out YTB’s appearance on this list for it’s third straight year. And lastly, the special notes surrounding YTB in Travel Weekly’s introduction, like last year will be completely ignored and the beliefs and opinions of these few critics will appear to some as an overriding and dominant fact, instead of desperate pleas for attention to make all things right with thier own little world.

There comes a time when you should stop and look at the reports such as this and compare them with all the excuses we’ve seen over the years. Demands for clarification or additional questions directed at YTB and Travel Weekly have played out for far too long. Both YTB and Travel Weekly don’t appear to be all that concerned, and continue to stick with the same qualifications they always have despite the pleas and concerns.

Some will continue as they always have because changing thier beliefs would be far too upsetting and create too much turmoil. Others however, will begin to see things for what they truly are. If you’re of the latter, I welcome you to the idea of MLM and Travel as major player in the Travel Industry.

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One of the things I love about YTB is the industry recognition we’ve been able to attain. Of course, because it’s YTB, it’s also surrounded with what some might consider “controversy”. YTB has been a part of Travel Weekly’s Power List the last two years and there’s no reason to believe that we won’t be part of the annual publication again later this month. YTB has also gained recognition from Princess as a Top Agency Producer, Apple Vacations Platinum Award, and of course most recently YTB’s 4th Pinnacle Award from Carnival.

You might think it would be somewhat difficult to argue that YTB has made a significant impact as a Travel Agency. Unfortunately, some can’t get past the recruiting aspect of YTB Marketing to allow themselves to look at YTB as anything other than an MLM. Even more unfortunate, because they can’t look past that aspect of that business model, many have spent a considerable amount of time attempting to discredit or diminish YTB’s accomplishments as a legitimate Travel Agency model.

After all these years of awards and recognition, I’m no longer going to call this controversy however, I’m going to call it as I see it.

Nothing more than excuses.

Many thought that YTB’s first appearance in Travel Weekly’s Power List back in 2007 as the 35th largest Seller of Travel Services consisted of nothing more than “recruiting sales”. A variance of about $125 million between recruiting sales found in our SEC filings and travel sales reported by Travel Weekly. The variance didn’t matter much to critics. They only needed to come up with something to discredit YTB’s existence on the Power List.

When travel weekly came out with last years Power List with a jump to #26, Travel Weekly was kind enough to document that the numbers came only from direct travel sales, not referrals or any other nonqualified revenues.

The excuse we’ve heard in 2008/2009 is that half of the sales came from our RezConnect partners in New Jersey as “third party sales”. I’m hearing rumblings that excuse will also be put to rest this year in an attempt to educate and document keeping the spin from critics to a minimum. If what I’ve been told is true, you’ll realize just how little critics really know and understand about our company, the industry, and how Travel Weekly tabulates thier findings in this annual publication.

Travel Weekly has taken a considerable amount of heat over the last two years because they have accepted YTB as a legitimate seller of travel. Many have pointed fingers at Travel Weekly stating that Travel Weekly is being played for a sucker when it includes YTB in the annual Power List. Travel Weekly has given YTB an opportunity to respond to this criticism over the years, and has made several statements of thier own that YTB not only qualifies, but belongs right where it is on the Power List. There have been a number of articles which are linked to all over this blog from various travel publications that not only speak to YTB’s legitimacy in this industry as a Travel Agency but how productive our model truly is.

Most recently there have been attempts to spin, discredit, or excuse Carnival’s Pinnacle Award as nothing more than a simple recommendation from our BDM Ann Sedgwick. The fact that Ann was even asked via several e-mails and/or phone calls asking her to verify that this was in fact our 4th Pinnacle in as many years should cement how desperate (or just board) some critics are to find something they can use to take this recognition away. Ann, being smart, differed any questions to the Corporate Office and critics took the Corporate response and somehow twisted the response to mean that YTB’s Pinnacle was awarded based soley on Ann’s “recommendation”.

True, Ann did recommend YTB as a Top Seller in her area, which was then thrown into the mix to tabulate all agency sales from all BDM recommendations. All Agency recommendations were then selected based on certain sales criteria and ability to exhibit excellence in promoting and selling the Carnival product.

It’s getting harder and harder for critics to come up with excuses when there’s documentation like this that should stop them dead in thier tracks. Please note that I said “should” there, because in reality it doesn’t. They either move on ignoring any documentation, or attempt to throw out more questions in an attempt to take the focus of themselves. Nobody likes to be proven wrong and most will get extremely defensive when called out. You might consider it human nature, but from what I’ve learned over the years, getting defensive is nothing more than a “learned response”, much like the response they have towards MLM.

Monkey see…monkey do.

But it is getting harder and harder to keep up with their charade. The law suit that was filed in California to shut YTB down turned out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors when it was all said and done. (We are still in business in case you hadn’t heard.) Law suits happen. It’s part of being in business, especially when you change an industry the way YTB has. Heck, take a look at what happened to Expedia a couple weeks ago when they got slapped with $184 million judgment. Makes YTB’s $1 million settlement look like chump change.

But nobody talks about Expedia, nor is there any fear of Expedia going out of business. Most of Expedia’s clients wouldn’t have a the first clue about a judgment like this. (Why would they even care?) But with YTB, somehow it’s different because of the phobias surrounding MLM. Yet, in all the years I’ve been booking travel with YTB “MLM” has never been an issue. Why? Because I don’t recruit clients, and based on two years worth of Income Disclosure Statements, neither does the rest of the company. Recuriting is reserved for about 10% of the entire company based on the facts and documentation.

Most in YTB sell travel provided by the supporting documentation in Travel Weekly, and awards from Carnival, Princess, Apple, and also supported in our own Income Disclosures.

Thus the “controversy” that still surrounds YTB and it’s business model comes to a close. I can’t tell you how long we’ll have to endure the “excuses” in an attempt to make it look like “controversy”. About all I can tell you is that there is enough documentation out there right now to expose the controversy for what it really is.

Time will tell. For myself however, I’ve made the transistion and need to call this spade a spade.

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You just never know where the next round of “news” is going to come from these days. Of course when I say “news”, there is no news in the travel industry unless it contains three letters…Y-T-B.  The flurry of press this past month has been so immense that it can be difficult keeping up with it all. Two weeks ago when our financials were released and the final settlement was announced, there were 35 Google Alerts for YTB for the week. (News stories that wrote about YTB.) Everyone from industry publications to main stream media sources had something to say about a company that many thought would be written off by now.

The apparent “lock” on putting an end to YTB with Jerry Browns suit back in August and claims of a “gigantic pyramid scheme” had staunch critics giddy. It was abundantly clear that the goal of this suit was to shut YTB down. What was supposed to be a suit filed for all the Reps and RTA’s that lost out due to unfair and misleading marketing practices came up $14.9 million short of it’s intended goal.

In addition, I’m seeing some real frustration now in our critics over how were still recruiting people into the business. I have to admit, and I know it’s shallow, but I am enjoying seeing how frustrated critics are over their recruiting phobia.

California was suppose to put an end to all that. Yet, here we are, still in business and continuing to sell travel web sites as a “website seller” to anyone who wants one. Our booking engine continues to work without a hitch. (Keyed in a new cruise booking for a former co-worker last night as a “website owner”.) For those of us who have been working this business the right way all along, there really isn’t much that’s changed, except for the verbage we us.

Those that took my advice weeks ago when the settlement was announced and actually looked at the legal documents instead of the spin, realized how little has changed. Sure, we’re a far different company than we were 2 years ago. Much of that is due to the discussions we had with California when they changed some legislation at the beginning of 2007. Once we were able to work through the issues over credentials we continued to make changes with an income disclosure document. We also added a statement that you could be an RTA for under $500, and there was no cost to become a Rep with the company. You could be one, the other, or both. In addition, there has been a California statement that not everyone makes money with YTB in place for well over 18 months now.

I’m certainly not a mind reader, and by no means did I have any type of inside track when it came to what California was attempting to do with all these changes. My guess is that they wanted to slow the recruiting down, and because what they mandated didn’t slow the company in the least, the suit was filed as a last resort. Truth be told, the changes actually made the company better, and it’s no coincidence that California came to the forefront recruiting wise when the changes in credentials, income disclosure, the disclaimers about two companies, and the disclosure about income potential worked to our advantage instead of disadvantage. Who knew?!

In fairness, the suit worked to a certain degree. The mere mention of a law suit scared a lot of people and many left because of the uncertainty. Guys like me however stuck around to see how California was going to pull of this miracle of proving that someone pays YTB for the opportunity to recruit others into the business. A very tall order indeed. I wish I could say it was fun to watch, but that wouldn’t be honest. Frustrating was more like it. But as in everything that happens in life, the truth always has a way of coming to the surface. Because we’re still in business, I’ll take the settlement as a firm “NO” we are not a pyramid scheme.

While keeping up with the blogs and message boards, I see far too many excuses, and far too much spin for me to really stomach right now. I do wonder why so many of the critics need to put things into their own words instead of relying on the actual court documents to prove their point. My guess is that the documents don’t mean what they want it to, so they insert their own words so they can have their way. Now that we have the legal document to show folks, it makes little difference to me what they say. The court document filed is all anyone needs to be concerned with when it comes to what YTB is or isn’t, what YTB can or can not do. Critics who want to make excuses or make it sound like something else can go pound sand.

Sorry…

Now that the dust is starting to settle a bit and the flurry of activity surrounding YTB has died down, some are looking at our company once again. Some may be doing it because they were told we were shut down, but yet find me still writing about the company. Others have heard so many variations as to what this settlement means that their head is spinning and want to find out what really happened. Still others, got so sick of the trash talking that they wanted to remove themselves from all the emotion and wait until tempers settled before they took the time to look at what really happened.

Others are actual reporters who want to help set the record straight. I have to tip my hat to Nadine Godwin once again for a very fair and mostly accurate article she posted yesterday. I know Nadine was in the dog house during the week of the settlement with most of our company. To be honest, I was even taken a little aback with the way she reported during that week. She’s a reporter, and she’s going to write what she feels is the best way to report the news at the time. It’s not her fault that the information supplied by Jerry Brown and his press release was a complete fabrication of what actually happened. I can’t expect anyone outside of the company to have the same understanding of who we are and what we do. Nor can we expect everything reported just the way we want it to be. I happen to like Nadine and think both her and George Dooley from Travel Agent Central write the most balanced pieces out of anyone I’ve read who reports on YTB.

Do I agree with everything they say? No.

Do I like everything they write? No.

Have both of them pulled what I consider bonehead moves when it comes to reporting? Absolutely.

They’re human, and like the rest of us, they have the freedom to form their own conclusions about what they read and hear. Just because they write something I don’t like however, doesn’t mean I have to hate them, nor do I have to take ownership of what they write. Both Nadine and George have been around this industry for a long time. Nadine not only writes for Travel Weekly, but she’s also a published author, (Travia: The Ultimate Book of Travel Trivia) and the fair and balanced pieces she’s done far outweigh the one sided articles.

I invite you to read her findings, without edit or input from me. I would encourage you to steer clear of the comments that are starting to roll in at this time. When people can’t figure out that Travel Weekly reports “gross” sales numbers and the SEC filing report the “revenue” generated from those sales, the people commenting might not be the best source to consider taking advice from. (Not the sharpest tools in the shed.)

While I don’t agree with everything in this article, nor do I understand why we can’t compare $414 million in gross travel sales against $122 million in gross website sales as a barometer of what YTB focuses on, I’m not going to argue the point here an now.

There are many myths about our company, and we need to take baby steps when educating those who truly want to find out the truth about YTB.

Like the settlement filed with the courts, this article is simply one more step to help set the record straight. The Travel Weekly Power list will be out in late June for 2008, and I’ve heard of what was submitted to Travel Weekly to help clarify things even further for everyone. We’ll help clarify things for everyone once that is released and we see how YTB stacks up against the others.

For now, take what Nadine has written to help dispel many of the myths and lies we’ve heard about. But please, don’t worry yourself with pointing any of this out to the critics. I can assure you, they have no interest in being called out or corrected about what they’ve been spinning.

That’s a rock you can leave alone. Just know that the truth is starting to uncover the lies, myths and misconceptions that are out there and with a little more work and documentation that will continue to come out, most will have a clear understanding of who is spinning and who isn’t.

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Update: Traditionalists are now adding Delta to the list of “We don’t need no stinkin’“. As they have done back in the mid 90′s and turn of the century what one does, the others follow.

After reading the comments section once again, this time there does seem to be a good solution.

Drop airlines altogether and let them handle the service issues.

——————————————————————

When I saw this Travel Weekly article last week, I wondered if anyone else would pick up on this, and after going back this weekend and seeing over 300 comments, I think it’s safe to say that the CEO of American Airlines struck a nerve. I’ll get to the comments section in a bit, but first I’d like to highlight what could be the next move American Airlines may take to put a nail in more Brick and Mortar Travel Agencies around the country. It’s been noted elsewhere and even corrected here that American Airlines was the first to reduce commissions in the mid 90′s and finally eliminating them altogether early at the turn of the century.

Now in a very bold move…a pipe dream…a flash of insanity the CEO of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey sees a day when the roles are completely reversed to reflect Agencies paying for access to the American Airline product rather than American paying Agents to distribute their product. AA certainly needs to think of something to turn things around after a $375 million dollar loss and a 15% drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2009. Based on the reaction of so many Traditionalists, something tells me that American might be going from the frying pan into the fire with this idea of Agents paying American now, which for the moment has gotten more attention than YTB. (Trust me, that’s hard to do.)

When you look at the comments section of the article you find (yet again) a very bitter, angry, and demanding group who needed to tell this CEO that they don’t approve. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few well spoken and creative ideas mixed in among the 311 comments, but the vast majority of the comments are simply spouting off how angry they are at this idea of getting shafted once again by the airlines.

What’s surprising to me is that I found several comments (if someone wants to count how many feel free) in line with “We don’t need no stinkin’ AA” which is often thrown up as an excuse by YTB when it comes to RCL and NCL. A boycott of American Airlines appears to be the move most Traditionalists seem to favor to combat this “dream” as a united voice of “Well show you who controls this industry”. I for one found it interesting that the same terminology was used by many from the Tradionalist crowd as a way of making them feel important.

I also found it interesting that this CEO doesn’t know how the travel industry actually works. There seems to be some sort of magical algorithm in place that only Traditionalist know about in order to be accepted into the fold. In this case Gerard is made out to be some snotty MBA type who is paid millions off the back of the hard working foot soldiers who pay his salaries. (Agent themselves who promote and sell his product.) And while we’re on the subject of “wealth envy”, which is what this is all about anyway, Agents praise a bailout for themselves, which was finally passed after a second push, but it’s pointed out as nothing more than greed and wasted expense when it comes to the airlines.

When you lose $375 million in a quarter, they do have a point.

Honestly, some of the comments are extremely entertaining, while others make me wonder how some have been able to survive as long as they have. Still others beg the question why they’re still in the industry with all the injustice going on that makes them nothing more than victims. When margins fell below what I thought was acceptable to live off of in the Home Entertainment Industry, I got out and moved on to something else, while others stayed on to the very end when the company finally went bankrupt.

These are very interesting and difficult times in this industry, and I’m sure venting about such things like this make some feel better, but after looking at majority of the comments I have to question where any solution can be found to help any of these agents stay in business or be happy.

But as we have seen so many times before with YTB, the best answer to solve one’s problem is elevating your temper and spouting off with threats and empty promises. While I haven’t checked, like YTB, I suspect that none of Traditionalists actually own American Airlines, and this is a free country.

Unfortunately, all that is thrown out the window when you work in the Travel Industry. You simply don’t have the freedom to think about or choose to do things any different from the way some believe it should be.

Heaven help you if you do because like I’ve seen so many times before you’ll feel the rath of a very bitter and angry segment of this industry.

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I think it’s save to say that we all like things that are familiar to us. When I go to the grocery store I usually go to the same one because unlike other stores I know exactly where to find my Heinz Ketchup, where Breyers Ice cream can be found, along with my favorite blend of Arabica Premium Ground Coffee. A few months ago, they changed a few of the front isles around from running vertically to horizontally and I must have stood there for 5 minutes just wondering how I was going to find things.

What happened to the way it was?

Part of the reason I struggled with the move from Blogger to WordPress was because I wasn’t comfortable with change. Blogger was familiar, I knew how to drive it, and I liked the template design.

But the template I was using was outdated, and couldn’t take advantage of all the new toys and features that are now available with updated Blogger templates. Plus I knew that this new format here on WordPress would be much more powerful, being able to host many features I knew were important in order to continue to grow and expand my visibility on the World Wide Web.

Logically, I knew the change would be good, and I’ve certainly been extremely pleased with the functionality of my new home. It’s was a simple matter not being familiar with what I was about to dive into.

With technology rapidly changing, with better tools and resources, and the internet becoming more and more of “The Source” for news, entertainment, and socializing, it’s not surprising the Travel Weekly just got an extreme makeover.

Like most everything I come across that I’m familiar with and find that’s changed, my first reaction is “Ack! How do I find what I want?!” But after taking the time to look around I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was all the “stuff” I look for in Travel Weekly was still there, but a lot easier to find. (Again, change is often “good”.)

All the industry news that I like to read is now on the front page. Down at the bottom of the site are all the industry channels that I try to keep up with. I like reading about these different destinations and offers and find I can scan the entire section now and only read what catches my eye. There’s also a ton more content to browse over which I really like, and while Travel Weekly may not be the first to break important news, they have always had a history of reporting on stories I find elsewhere.

The Industry News section has also been expanded on the front page giving me a better idea of what’s going on around the industry. (Found Apple Vacations and Travel Impressions have also terminated it’s relationship with Joystar.)

Something else you may notice at the bottom of these articles is a comment section. Yes, you can now input your own comments and discuss what you think about the news and events that are being reported. However, like here, the comments are moderated. (I can’t imagine why?) If you’d like to get an idea of what Travel Weekly might expect in proper conduct to enable you to add comments on their site, you can find them here.

Other features have been introduced as well, a new multimedia section has been introduced for things such as uploading photos. Photo will be categorized in three areas, “Destination Albums”, “Recommend Trips”, and “Experiencing Cruising”. Readers will also be able to comment on photos that are uploaded. Video’s can also be uploaded for those that like that medium. (Hopefully, it will be a step up from YouTube.)

There is also an expanded area for hotel information, travel deals, and Fam information. (An area that was honestly lacking compared to other sources I read on a regular basis.) The Travel Weekly site is also introducing something called “5 Minute Guides” for key destinations, along with non-destination guides such as car rentals, and technology.

Overall, this is a huge makeover for “The National Newspaper of the Travel Industry”. I’ve seen many changes and upgrades over the years from sites like Travel Weekly. Travel Trade upgraded a few years ago, and Travel Pulse use to me Modern Agent back in the day. One of the best features I like about Travel Weekly however, is that unlike the upgrades I’ve seen in the past, the hundreds of links I’ve used as supporting documentation here on this blog from Travel Weekly, are still in tact.

Thank You – Thank You – Thank You!

Probably the best feature out of all since my goal here is to help educate and provide you with documentation of what’s REALLY going on in this industry.

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I wanted to post something on Friday concerning Travel Weekly’s Preview 2009 and one presentation in particular. Before I did however, I wanted to make sure that what I thought I heard and my notes from the presentation were in fact accurate. So I decided to hold off until I could listen in again with the On Demand feature which is available for the next 90 days.

It shouldn’t be that big of a guess that the one presentation I was interested in was Thursday’s “What Proves You are a Travel Pro”. Questions were asked by agent groups looking for answers from association heads about – you guessed it, “credentials” as they explored just who should be recognized as a travel agent, and who shouldn’t be.

The presentation was kicked off with a brief presentation by Bob Sharak from CLIA, Kelly Chiusano from OSSN, Scott Koepf from NACTA, and Bert Rivero from IATA as they clarified their roles in the industry.

After the overview presentations, the Q&A started with Kim Sorensen who asked the first question to the panel. The question can be summarized in two parts:

With the industry in “a perfect storm” with agents and agencies closing down, what are these associations doing to not only attract but train new blood that enters the industry? Secondly, what type of training, qualifications and documentation should an agency provide for the new blood in order to guide them to obtaining the roll as “Travel Professional”?

We’ve documented here before, fairly recently as a matter of fact, that the industry as it stands is struggling. I’ve written about Liberty Travel closing a number of its locations, and Cruise Value Center closing overnight without warning. Those that are left have resorted to embezzlement, and defrauding airlines to make ends meet. Even the current leader in the Travel Industry is looking for a $3.5 Billion bailout.

Based on what we’ve seen in recent weeks, any illusion that the traditional industry is doing well, is just that; an illusion.

There’s no question in my mind that the industry is in dire need of attracting not only new blood but new ideas into this industry. To be fair, it’s not that the industry hasn’t changed, although it appears to be with a considerable amount of resistance. The industry does eventually adapt. (As I suspect it will with MLM’s.) Scott Koepf did a great job in summarizing all the changes with the age of internet bookings, cruise only agents, and home based agents who were at first frowned upon and met with resistance. Today, these entities are not only accepted, but respected.

The face of the industry has also changed from being viewed as an “Agency” to that of an “Agent”. I’m often asked by Traditional Agents how I maintain any type of bookings with all the negativity critics produce about YTB. The answer is simple; the relationship is with me, not YTB. When clients look to make a booking, they look at me, not my host agency. Pricing, service, and professionalism are a direct reflection on me, not my agency. You might want to read Chris Andersons, “The Long Tail” for better clarification on how our entire capital structure is changing in this way. Another reason why I believe YTB and Network Marketing is on the right track.

Even with this shift in capitalism, Agents and Associations look to be more concerned with complaining and how companies like YTB make them look. More importantly as we’ve heard time and time again, is their illusion that we only get involved to take advantage of industry without giving back in the form of travel sales. The solution for them of course doesn’t rest on their shoulders, but on the suppliers themselves. It’s suppliers who ultimately decide just who they want to do business to produce income and gain market share.

Especially with the current economic conditions.

So how do these Associations help the new person who wants to get involved in the industry?

Bert Rivero (IATA) wouldn’t take any responsibility to ensure agents are trained properly. IATA is designed for those who have already acquired not only the knowledge, but skill set to sell a minimum amount of travel in a calendar year. IATA seems to be more interested in educating suppliers on how much money they’re loosing because of “card mills”.

Bert may need to take a lesson from Gerry Cahill with Carnival, who produced a very sound solution that was brought to light almost a year ago to curb this perceived problem of “card mills” taking advantage of FAM’s without giving back to the supplier. Of course, the relationship between YTB and Carnival has flourished, even with the new requirements, which doesn’t match IATA or the Travel Industry agenda.

Kelly Chiusano was much the same, in that OSSN really doesn’t have a current structure in place to guide, train or educate the new person who enters the industry. It’s up to the host to provide this type of training and education. She did mention that the larger host agencies did have training and education in place to help bring them into the fold and help them become a professional.

It wasn’t until we heard from Scott Koepf from NACTA who I think was the first to really understand the question in its entirety, and does provide both training and continuing education for those of us who aspire to become professionals in the industry. It looks as if YTB may be on the right track now that it has an entry level with Affiliates, Referring Travel Agent, and Travel Agent program in place. Each of the YTB levels produce a better understanding, better commission splits, and enhanced privileges within the industry.

CLIA, was by far the best equipped to answer this question, and Bob Sharak did an exceptional job of explaining how their association works hand in hand with host agencies and individuals to educate and train both the new recruit, but the seasoned professional in the industry. Not only does CLIA provide various training experiences, from on line to more intimate classroom training. CLIA provides various levels of qualifications starting with a brand new Associate Cruise Degree (ACD) along with various Cruise Counselor levels which stars with Accredited (ACC), to Master, (MCC) and even Elite (ECC) levels.

Like Carnival back in January, CLIA has come up with its own solution to the Agent ID cards with new requirements that include training and minimum booking requirements in order to obtain the privilege of carrying their credentials.

Instead of complimenting and giving CLIA credit for these new requirements, critics (as they always do) tend to twist and create problems within a solution, and are now obsessing over a loophole they claim to have found. Instead of highlighting the loophole from our critics, I would instead suggest that you chime into YTB who will be providing an overview of these new requirements with CLIA on tonight’s “Getting Started Call” with Jeannie Sharpless. This way you’ll be guided with an overview of how to qualify the right way. (If you miss the call, you can find it archived in your back office.)

By following the guidance of both CLIA and YTB, who knows, you too could qualify for that elusive roll as a “Travel Pro”.

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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Travel Weekly is certainly taking advantage of the popularity of it’s new online format with it’s second Virtual Summit slated for today and tomorrow. You know how much I love these types of events and enjoyed participating in the first annual Leisure Summit back in October. The current summit is the second of three scheduled in less than 6 months, and it appears that Travel Weekly may be on to something here.

The conference runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and attendance is free, and has all the trappings for being yet another blockbuster event. It’s riddled with mystery as industry experts look into their crystal ball and tell us what to expect in 2009. Preview 2009 also features educational seminars and keynote speakers with a superb agenda embracing valuable industry topics. Of course, not to forget the chance to mingle with travel agents and travel industry leaders and get a sneak peak of their products for 2009.

Both days will feature hosted chats with Travel Weekly’s award winning editorial team and access to visit pavilions from the industries leading suppliers. Educational Presentations will include.

• The 2009 Travel Consumer in the 2009 World Economy
• A Crystal Ball Session: Industry CEO’s Predict 2009 Trends. Featuring Travel Weekly Editor-in-Chief, Arnie Weissmann; Mike Batt, Travel Leaders; Steve Tracas, Vacation.com; Doug Bower, AAA National; and Lynne Biggar, American Express.
• How will Luxury Be Defined in 2009?
  Featuring Kristi Jones, Virtuoso; Jack Mannix, Ensemble; and Ignacio Maza, Signature Travel.
• Keynote: Peter Greenberg: Travel Talk on TODAY For 2009
• A Crystal Ball Session: The Cruise Market of 2009
  Featuring Brad Tolkin, Cruise One, Cruises Only and Cruise 411; Charlie Funk, Just Cruisin’ Plus and a Vacation.com agency; Roger Block, Cruise Holidays and Travel Leaders; and Jeff Anderson, America’s Vacation Center.

There is one other element that will once again prove this to be a widely viewed event.

Controversy.

Much about 2009 is uncertain, but one thing unlikely to change is the controversy surrounding the ever-vexing question of just who is a travel professional. Travel Weekly has assembled the leadership of the organizations that hand out credentials — Bert Rivero of IATA; Bob Sharak of the Cruise Lines International Association; Kelly Chiusano of the Outside Sales Support Network; and Scott Koepf of the National Association of Career Travel Agents — and leaders of agency groups that have a vested interest in the issue of certification: Chris Russo of ASTA; Jan Miller of the Travel Institute; Andi McClure-Mysza of the Professional Association of Travel Hosts; and Kim Sorensen of YTB.

And now because of a name, a company, it appears that our traditional counterparts have have had just about enough concerning Travel Weekly not only asking Kim Sorensen and YTB to participate in this summit but the mere name of YTB should be banned from being mentioned in any Travel Industry publication. After the last summit in October and the “Meet The Press” style interview that was held, a number of articles surfaced condemning Travel Weekly for including YTB. One even went as far as compairing YTB to nothing more than a glorified AARP type program. In reality, the article was written to do nothing more than shame the publishers of Travel Weekly for providing the credibility to YTB who now has what it needs to succeed.

To look at this in a perspective that might state Travel Weekly is mentioning and including YTB because YTB IS successful would surely be considered blasphemy.

Instead, the attention, various emotions and frustration surrounding our company continues to escalate. The longer YTB continues to exists, the higher the emotions climb and the more heated the conversations and arguments get. Now, you have a document from the Attorney General that appears for the time being, to be backing you up. Yet here we are, 5 months after the initial filing, and the President of the MLM your attempting to run out of town is given a voice from “The National Newspaper of the Travel Industry”.

I’m sorry, but that’s got to be one of the most frustrating and awkward realizations staring you right in the face. A good reason for some to dig in their heals even further providing more resistance towards the one thing that if eliminated, would solve all your problems.

I’ve heard some won’t be attending the show simply because Kim Sorensen is associated with the program. In this difficult economic time, I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea, but it’s not my decision to make. Of course, I’m not emotionally attached or obsessed about a single issue, nor do I focus on problems. Solutions no matter where they come from are far more productive. I’ll take what I find useful, and use it. The rest can be left where it is without having to own any of it.

Seems unrealistic to some, I’m sure, but then again, most who feel that way have never even so much as tried. Much like the business model they are certain doesn’t belong in their 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!

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