ATN: TMCs are calling for a clampdown across the industry on the credit terms given to corporate clients. Could DTTAG work with TMCs to implement this?
The one thing I always say to people is: never give credit. If you’re going to give credit give 30 days.
If they want more than 30 days put in a penalty clause, an extra two percent interest if it’s over 30 days, five percent if it goes to 60 days as that way at least if you ever don’t get paid from companies that are delaying and delaying, at least you’ll make money, but don’t give more than 30 days. Don’t accept it.
The impetus is to get accounts but why get accounts is you’re not going to get paid and your servicing them? The problem is because of the lack of professionalism in the industry. It goes back to the fact that it’s a discount driven market which wasn’t such a problem when airlines paid commission.
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ATN: Could DTTAG work with agents to bring in those standards?
Again in Dubai it’s difficult if you can’t mandate that. But that’s something that if they think we could succeed in that it would be worth attempting – we have not done that in the past but definitely we should raise it.
ATN: What do you ultimately hope to achieve with DTTAG?
I’d like the business to be regulated. I want it to be fair. I am very passionate about it, but I believe that you can’t affect change from outside.
You have to be within the movement to affect change. You’re not going to do it by standing on the outside. To make it work, you all have to stick together and travel agents here have found it impossible to stick together over anything over the last 25 years.
There is a solution; there is an answer to it. If the agents would just for once get themselves together: DTTAG isn’t the best that it could be, but let’s make it the best that it could be.
Let’s have our say, let’s all get together and join – let’s have an organisation that comprises the majority of the travel trade and let’s mandate the travel agent heads to go to Civil Aviation on behalf of 200 or 250 agents and represent them – not 50 or 60.
DTTAG is so much stronger than any single travel agent here, because we have 60 of the biggest on board. But 60 out of 300 doesn’t have the same impact compared to 200 out of 300.
To join Dubai Travel and Tour Agents Group visit www.dttag.com and complete the online form.
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