Travel Agents. Keeping things Fair with the Fare and commissions too!

Much of our business is done on a direct basis with clients. This is because we are not a normal walk-in of the street Travel Agency / Travel Wholesaler. We handle only Groups, (10 or more travelling) at both Wholesale and Retail levels. When we started more than 20 years ago, Travel Agents rarely prospected for clients requiring specialist services, eg. a school sporting or music tour, an educational tour for local farmers, a conference or incentive tour for local industry and so on.

We have invested in 'Special Interest Group Travel', particularly into and within New Zealand and Australia ex Singapore , USA , UK and Argentina . This started us doing business direct and much later with Travel Agents. 'Making Arrangements is Our Business' and for this we charge a fee which is included in our final costing.

The public probably believe that there are high commissions payable in the Tour and Travel industry. Travel Agents know this is not so. Some airlines and motels pay no commissions at all. We do not pay travel agents commission and everything we offer is at Nett Price. We are unaware of the true costs of a particular Travel Agency but if like us, it is significant. We have a defined policy:

•  If the client contacts us first, direct . We will advise the agent this has occurred and suggest they seek an alternative to assist them.

•  If a Travel Agent contacts us first, on behalf of a named client we will advise them if the client has had previous contact. If no contact has been established we will deal solely with the Travel Agent . In the event of the client being second to call, it is our policy to refer them to the agent with whom we have already commenced to provide client satisfaction.

•  It should be realised that the elected Travel Agent will need to charge clients a fee for service. The fee they charge will be in line with their additional administration costs. Our charges to a direct client will reflect within it, charges similar to that of a licenced Travel Agent as we both have the same needs for cost recovery when finalising the booking and administration of the tour.

•  Our policy, at the Agents request, is to provide a full information service regarding our prepared itinerary and the client's specific requests. This is an offer to provide added strength and satisfaction to the clients needs. Costs will not be discussed with clients dealing via a Travel Agent as this is an agent / client confidence that we will preserve at all times.

Through these simple rules, we aim to see that both agents and direct clients receive a 'fair go' with the 'fare charged'. This allows this company to maintain an open door policy with the agent and travelling client. Group Events is proud to operate their tours with one objective, “the satisfaction of the touring customer.”