Abstract
M.B.A.
The travel industry is a dynamic fast changing environment that is impacted by many
external factors. Travel Management Companies (TMC) need to align themselves to this
environment ensuring that they are learning organisations and are changing with the
times.
In an attempt to reduce distribution costs, a number of airlines internationally have
commenced with the reduction of commissions paid to travel management companies. As
a result, a number of TMC's have closed their doors due to them not being able to
convert their client base onto management fee or transaction fee models where the clients
pay the TMC for the service they render, rather than the airline paying the TMC.
The South African market is moving in a similar direction with airline commission cuts
being planned for within the next year.
The change in the manner in which agencies are remunerated would result in the need for
the introduction of service fees, rather than the current commission income. This would
result in the TMC's having to place increased attention on service delivery, aligned to the
new income source being the client rather than the operator. A true travel management
company needs to provide a complete travel management solution including statistical
analysis of trends, cost saving initiatives and improved service delivery inter alia.
With the onset of technology and the need for the airline distribution costs to be reduced,
a number of airlines are directing travellers to their online website booking engines thus
alleviating the need for the TMC. Airlines are utilising discounted airfares on the website as the attraction for travellers to rather make use of this cheaper form of distribution as
opposed to airlines having to pay agents commission for the business forwarded by
agents