An interStella deal?

For a nice change, the talk is not about the previous night's frivolities, but quite serious.

Stella Travel Services chose the ABTA Convention to get journos together to announce its deal to buy Global Travel Group.

This kind of thing gets the travel industry here frothing at the mouth as it involves travel agents and some big personalities.

It's all very interesting - but in reality indicates how fragile the independent travel agency market has become - where consortia (GTG runs 800-odd agencies in the UK) can seemingly attempt to buy one another or merge on a weekly basis.

At the Triton conference earlier this year we wrote how disappointing it was that its main event of the year hardly mentioned what any major consortium of agents should be doing to improve its presence to online channels. Which is vital.

Let's wait and see what Stella decide to do...

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Travolution@Triton - Don't just say it, do it

Andrew Dickson, chief executive of The Wow Factor, was speaking earlier during an industry leaders roundtable on the main stage.

Much of the debate had been about improving sales in shops - agents saying how so very hard they are working to clinch a deal. Blaming the web and it's undercutting of agents. The usual thing...

Dickson, who has a thick Lancashire accent, then caused a bit of a stir in the audience when he noted how often readers of Travel Weekly's Mystery Shopper would often see how "pisspoor" the service of the agents had been in a shop.

"And that's a word we use in Bolton!" he said.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Technorati tags: triton

Travolution@Triton - Talk about the real world

The proposed merger between the three organisations that make up Triton – confirmed yesterday – has been flowing through so many of the conversations over the course of the weekend.

“We need to be bigger and better at what we do in order to win the battle against Thomson and Thomas Cook,” someone said last night.

Another: “The Big Two need a new challenger.”

This is hogwash. Of course they need a new challenger - and Triton could be in a very good position to do so - but the problem with all this is that people appear to be scared to talk publicly about the real competition.

In fact, as in so many other sectors of business the “traditional” marketplace no longer exists – so why kid yourselves that it still does?

It is, of course, important at an event such as this – with delegates numbers made up mostly of retail travel agents – to talk about the old environment, but it isn’t the reality.

The competition for Triton and the members of its three consortia shouldn’t be talked of only in terms of Thomson and Thomas Cook.

Expedia, for example, is dynamically packaging holidays and is effectively a tour operator as well as a travel agency.

The methods of contact with customers might be different but they are all doing the same thing – trying to sell travel products.

For retail travel agents to compete in an increasingly congested world they need to stop thinking about who they thought were their old rivals and acknowledge the new marketplace.

The likes of Triton and other industry consortiums should explain this new marketplace to those working for them in the High Street and advise them how to use the web as well.

Vertically integrated travel companies – and those that aspire to it – MUST add the web as a key component to their distribution.

Unfortunately the web, amongst so many of the people here, is still seen as a threat. It really shouldn’t be – it should be seen as a golden opportunity.

With just a few reasonably simple projects, results can come pretty quickly.

One of the slides I use during this weekend’s presentations shows how a small online travel site appears in first position in Google for an incredibly basic search result “travel benidorm” – and, crucially, above Lastminute.com and way ahead of Thomas Cook.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Technorati tags: triton

Travolution@Triton - Mergers ahoy

The Triton conference is being completely overshadowed by what was just industry gossip yesterday and is hard news today that the UK travel consortium is considering a merger.

This is big news.

The trio of companies that make up Triton – Advantage Travel Centres, Global Travel Group and Worldchoice – are in active talks and have, there is no doubt about it, Big Plans.

We have ambitions to be “one of the top three groups,” says George Begg, chairman of Global Travel Group and an advisor to Triton.

Big Four to Big Two to Big Three perhaps…

In simple terms, the mergers elsewhere in the industry (Thomas Cook-MyTravel and Thomson-FirstChoice) have forced Triton’s hand.

The plans, which are being discussed by the Triton board but are clearly well advanced, will see Triton become a multiple, using stock (air and hotels), tour operating (holidays) and distribution (shops, call centres and the web).

Begg reckons the difference between a potential Triton powerhouse (“virtual vertical integration,” he calls it) and the other giants will be distribution controlling supply, rather than the other way round.

The Long Tail in action...

To top it all off, there are plans for a floatation in three years time to raise £20 million in capital to assist in what are clearly ambitious growth plans.

From a corporate perspective, a fellow hack and I have already been speculating as to who will take the top job.

John McEwan (boss of Advantage Travel Centres) and Andrew Botterill (CEO of Global Travel Group and a Travolution board member) would – most suspect – be vying for the top job.

Begg finished outlining the merger plans. A quick Q&A gleaned nothing (understandably the Triton board are trying to remain pretty tight lipped).

Cue a quick rush to the doors for coffee break and discussions that will clearly dominate the weekend.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Technorati tags: triton