By Martin Kelly, Editor, Travel Trends
Smart or dumb? Opinion is split on Singapore Airlines’ (SQ) decision to abandon Flight Centre, Australia’s largest travel agency group, as a distribution channel. Flight Centre, which has more than 600 local outlets, put a “stop sell” on SQ after the airline reportedly refused to pay overrides of up to 3% on its base 5% commission.
It’s a massive move by SQ, believed to derive 15% to 20% of its local revenue from Flight Centre, at a time when other big carriers are boosting agency commissions. SQ is talking tough, saying its customers are loyal and will instead book through its website or other travel agencies. Smart or dumb?
I’m leaning toward the second option.
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Events
Hot topics, great speakers, big brands and excellent networking - No Vacancy 2010 has got it all in just one action-packed day.
It's the perfect place to get the latest on Australia's accommodation industry, a compelling mix of opinions, facts, debate and data.
It features an excellent program and speakers include:
- Yvonne Bristow, Chief Operating Officer, FreeSpirit Holiday Parks
- Robbie Cooke, CEO, Wotif.com
- Bernadette Dennis, Managing Director, HSMAI Asia Pacific
- Dean Dransfield, Managing Director, Dransfield Hotels and Resorts
- Sebastian Fontanarossa, Marketing Strategist
- Mike Ford, Managing Director, SiteMinder
- Grant Hunt, Chief Executive Officer, Anthology – The Traveller’s Collection
- Alan Long, Research Director, Hitwise
- Luke Jamieson, GM Distribution, Mantra Group
- Chloe Lim, Managing Director, HotelClub
- Simon McGrath, Vice President Australia, Accor Hospitality
- David Oliver, Chief Executive Officer, Roamfree
- David Perry, Chief Executive Officer, The Windsor Hotel
- Prashanth Radhakrishnan, Area Director of Revenue Management, Starwood Hotels and Resorts
- Dr Jerry Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer, Schwartz Family Company
- Yury Shar, Managing Director, Hotels Combined
- Kirsty Shaw, General Manager, Stayz.com.au
- James Shearer, General Manager Operations, Big4 Holiday Parks
- Paul Southey, Vice President Asia Pacific, TravelCLICK
- Peter Topping, Social Media Strategist
- Liz Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Tourism Data Warehouse
Key themes are Inspiration, Innovation, Technology.
It will be a great day, make sure you get along.
Please contact Martin Kelly if you have any questions about content, speaking or sponsorship.
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Sydney, August 31, 2010
TRAVELtech 2010 will return to Sydney on August 31.
If you've got any ideas for speaking or would like to sponsor, please get in touch.
TRAVELtech is Australia's leading online travel marketing and distribution event.
It's also home of the TRAVELtech Website of the Year Awards.
More news in the coming months.
Meanwhile, here are some images from TRAVELtech 2009.
If you have any queries about TRAVELtech, please call Martin Kelly on (02) 9882-1575.
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