ASTA Is Building a Blacklist of Habitually Late and Non Paying Suppliers

When Zane Kerby, president and CEO of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), takes to the stage at a conference, his presentation is usually pretty standard. The importance of the Verified Travel Advisor certification program, the legislative fights ASTA is waging on behalf of the industry, upcoming events, etc..

But at this year’s annual CoNexion conference in Orlando, Florida, Kerby also introduced a new initiative designed to get the attention of suppliers – primarily hoteliers – who are habitually late when it comes to paying commission, something that’s been a problem for far too long, he said.

“We’ve been walking by a problem here in our industry for a really long time, and honestly I’m getting tired of it, and that has to do with slow and no pay suppliers,” Kerby said, speaking to more than 700 travel advisors, industry supplies, and Nexion and Internova staff. (Internova is the parent company of Nexion.)

When ASTA asked its members who the worst offenders are, one company quickly rose to the top of the list. “So, we asked our friends at Onyx to come to Salt Lake City and answer for their crimes,” he said. (Kerby had teased this during ASTA’s Travel Advisor Conference in Salt Lake City in May.)

As it turned out, it isn’t Onyx that’s holding up the money.

Nexion president Jackie Friedman was at that meeting and told TMR that learning more about the process behind Onyx was enlightening.

“A lot of folks were blaming Onyx for holding on to these hotel commissions for longer than they had to. And they were able to come and they shared their challenges. They shared how things work,” she said.

Onyx put the blame squarely on the individual properties, so Kerby asked them for the names of their worst offenders.

“They kind of laughed me off, but I wasn’t laughing,” he said.

Mark of Shame

Since Onyx was unable – or unwilling – to share which specific hotel properties are the worst offenders, ASTA will compile a list instead, Kerby shared.

(Friedman pointed out that there are almost no chains that are habitually late in paying commissions. When it is a chain, it’s often a franchisee who is not adhering to the parent company’s policies.)

By the end of the month, ASTA will have a tool built that travel advisors can use to report a no or slow pay hotelier.

“You’re going to be able to search for these slow and no pay suppliers, and we’re going to sic our lawyers on them too,” Kerby said. “This is an important thing. We want you to be paid fairly.”

As ASTA considers the ways in which it will publish the list, Kerby added that he hopes the blacklist is “a mark of shame” for these hoteliers.