Backpedaling….
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?)
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
Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Book Your Travel & Vacations With
Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635
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?)
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
Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Book Your Travel & Vacations With
Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635
Labels: ARTA, Royal Caribbean, Travel Agent Commission, Travel Agent Issues, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed
