Affiliating With OTAs: Look Before You Leap
by Dr. Robert W. Joselyn, CTC, and Eric Marynov, CTC /The following guest commentary examines the wisdom of travel agents affiliating with OTAs.
This is a cautionary view of OTA travel agency affiliate programs, from two perspectives.
I. ABETTING THE ENEMY?
First, the strategic considerations.
As tempting to travel agents as OTA partner programs such as Expedia’s TAAP might seem, you need to pause, step back, take a deep breath and consider all the potential negatives.
In a recent survey, TAMS members ranked OTAs as the their second-most serious competition in the next five years. If you agree, why in heaven’s name would you even consider providing an OTA any level of client information?
Wrong message for clients
Perhaps even more disturbing is the subliminal validation or seal of approval you are giving your clients about OTAs if you partner with them.
I recently did an agency in-office training session during which I asked frontline travel counselors to sell me on their value proposition versus that of the OTAs. I didn’t need to be sold, but I wanted to make certain they were comfortable and articulate enough to sell their customers.
They responded with considerable and convincing passion, and they convinced me that they would have little trouble conveying that message to their clients.
But what is the message that agents send to their clients when they bring an OTA into the mix?
There is an old saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.” Really? I don’t think so.
– Robert W. Jocelyn, CTC
II. BAD PRACTICAL MOVE
Now, the practical concerns.
Beyond the strategic issues, working with OTAs carries the risk for travel sellers of substandard client service and agency inefficiencies.
Spelling it out
The key issues are these:
• A lack of system integration can lead to agent error. With an OTA transaction, there has to be a manual entry of all data into the GDS, ClientBase and/or accounting.
• OTAs typically promote the flights that are hardest to sell, such as those involving connections between airlines.
• Many itinerary changes can only be done by phone.
Customer relations risk
The greatest risk of all to your customer relations is this – the implication that the rates shown by the OTA are the best, when often they are not.
In sum, an OTA affiliation has no real advantage for you or your client.
The downsides are that you have partial control, transactions are more labor-intensive, the risk of mistakes goes up and the client is misled about the best deal in the marketplace. Is this really in your best interest?
– Eric Maryanov, CTC
Dr. Robert W. Joselyn, CTC, is president & CEO of Joselyn, Tepper & Associates and Travel Agency Management Solutions (TAMS). Eric Maryanov, CTC, is president and CEO of All-Travel, a Signature agency in Los Angeles, and co-facilitator of TAMS.