ACTA, Ensemble urge operators to fix commission practices

[Bulldog]

ACTA continues to receive an increasing number of calls and e-mails from its member who are concerned about tours operator who are shifting and hiding commissionable fees “under the guise of taxes and surcharges” and it is demanding that those practices be changed.
David McCaig, president and COO of ACTA, said the association “has seen many of the tour operators and wholesalers reduce agents' commissionable fees by an astonishing 45% without industry consultation.”
ACTA’s boss continued: “The systematic plan to shift and hide commissionable fees under the guise of taxes and surcharges denies travel agents and owners access to their rightfully earned income.”
Lindsay Pearlman, executive vice-president and general manager, Ensemble Travel Group shares ACTA’s concerns and commented:
“We continually hear this problem being raised by our members as one of the main issues facing the industry today. This practice takes hard earned dollars away from agents and owners who continue to be the back bone of the leisure travel industry.”
Pearlman said further:
“We all understand the economic pressures in the business but not providing clarity in pricing undermines the industry's credibility with the consumer and does not recognize the work the agents provide in adding value to the products being sold. This needs to stop now as all it continues to do is erode the value of the products and undermine the ability to deliver them.”
McCaig used the example of a recent comment from one ACTA member who pointed out that “It is mind boggling that a product that was priced just 90 days ago is already subject to a fuel surcharge of $90 when the price of oil has only fluctuated less than US$10 a barrel -- a far cry from the highs of US$160 a barrel we saw 14 months ago.”
And McCaig is urging all “front line agents and owners to demonstrate to the wholesalers and tour operators the value and strength of the travel industry distribution model.”

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