European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Room rates average based on room Revenue of reporting hotels and motels slightly. April-78 april 79 april 80 projected Iman pm Chicago my Iii Mayto Hay 78 Miyao special excursion am source greyhound uni inc new York to twi economic Impact including indirect consequences. The Bureau of business and economic research at Arizona state University for example estimates that 73,000 jobs in Arizona were due directly to the $4 billion that tourists spent last year in hotels restaurants food stores and the like. But an additional 122,000 jobs were indirectly due to the multiplier effect of tourist expenditures. Businessmen and Chambers of Commerce Ai Many resort towns however continue to insist that things hate Seldom been better. Advance reservations Are Strong for All is towns on the Cape said Michael Frucci executive Secretary of the Cape cod chamber of Commerce. Jack Lindquist vice president of marketing for Walt Disney productions said our projections Are for Good business at our Parks in California and Florida. Airline bookings Are Strong and All the indicators Are but while such indicators Are useful As expressions of Hope they Are subject to change virtually overnight. Much More meaningful Are Advance deposits and even where reservations Are reportedly running High As in the Pocono Mountain resorts of Northeast Pennsylvania and Vance deposits Are far behind those of recent years. A for gasoline James d. Harpster of Denver said my wife and i drove to Florida last december in our pickup camper and spent $400 on gasoline alone. That s when Gas averaged about 96 cents a gallon. It would be highly questionable whether we could or would make that trip be 11, 1960 travel agencies Ponder service charges by Paul Grimes new York Temaat he Day May be drawing to a close in the United states when travel agents perform most of their services at no charge to their clients. A conviction appears to be growing among agencies that hey can no longer survive on com missions alone. Many agents complain that the 8 to 11 percent commis Sion that they receive for Selling a plane ticket is not fair compensation for the amount of time they must spend on keeping up with constantly changing air fares placing reservations and making sure that clients get the Best Deal question of charging the customer has been a Long simmering Issue in the Trade but it comes to a boil again now mainly under the pressure created by today s confusing air fare Structure. It s a question of economics said Harriett Emerson head of Emerson travel of Manhattan and a former presi Dent of the new York chapter of the american society of travel agents. The Industry has to impress on its clients the reasonableness of our position and the fact that the free ride is going to have to come to a close. Our services Are the Only thing in this wide wide world that you get for actually it Only seems As if the services Are free. Travel agents make most of their living from com missions paid them by the airlines railroads hotels sightseeing attractions and other suppliers in the travel Industry whose services they sell. The Cost of such commissions is built into the prices charged Consumers. In some cases by Taw and in others by Industry prac Tice the consumer is supposed to pay the same Price whether he deals through a travel agent or directly with the supplier. For example the air traffic conference the Trade association that governs relations Between United states airlines and travel agents has mandated that airlines May not set lower prices for tickets they sell directly without paying commissions than for those sold through agents. Federal Law bars agents from adding service charges tothe Price of air tickets or rebating part of their commis Sions to Consumers. Agents Are permitted however to charge clients for some services that they consider extraordinary such As Long distance Telephone Calls and telex messages for hotel reservations. Some agents do impose such charges but under the pressure of Competition there has been a Strong reluctance to Institute the charges routinely for fear of driving business away. To the consumer this can be puzzling because it May be difficult to know which charges May be levied and which May not. Some agents advocate coming Forward with a published schedule of service charges but the Industry As a whole seems far from accepting the idea. Also even if travellers were to pay substantially for an agent s serv ices the Industry is so unregulated and the degree of professionalism varies so widely that they might not get value for their Money. Commission schedules can vary widely. Airlines Lour packagers and hotels commonly Promise to pay agencies overrides or Bonus commissions for steering a Large volume of clients in their direction. Although most agents will deny that this sways them unfairly it implies a situation in which an agent s Best interest May not always be the same As a client s. Much of the Agency pressure for scr Rice charges stems from the air ticketing turmoil. A principal source of complaint is cancellations. Before Long travel agencies May impose fees for services now provided i feel we Are reaching the Point where we should impose a charge on cancelled tickets said Marvin Ros Marin president of Edison travel of Edison . Sup pose i Book five or six people to Florida. I get them the Best available fare make the reservations and deliver the tickets to them by hand costing me time and gasoline. Two months later just before they Are scheduled to leave they cancel. Right now we refund everything. And we lose our time and commission As although the Trade is buzzing about proposed service charges and cancellation penalties individual agencies Are reluctant to Pioneer. Also according to Emerson and others Trade groups fear that any imposition of uniform Industry wide service charges might be a violation of the antitrust Laws. One Agency that has pioneered and As a result has attracted nationwide attention in the Trade is Siefkes travel East of Wichita Kan. Its late owner John Siefkes wrote a master s thesis for Michigan state University in which he advocated service charges. Time Means Money to us said his widow Jan who has run the Agency since her husband died last year. Some services Don t produce commissions. We decided that our time is Worth As much As a doctor s in in a Telephone interview mrs. Siefkes detailed some of her Agency s charges As follows v five dollars for making a hotel reservation in the United states or Europe. It does t matter if they have a toll free 800 number mrs. Siefkes said. It still takes 10 or Isminy Tessand sometimes ten to is percent of the Cost of an entire package in which a detailed extended and personalized itinerary is involved. V five percent of the total Billing for complicated hotel reservations. V two dollars to s3 for each foreign visa that must be obtained plus any fee levied by the government that Issue the visa. Ifa client requires several visas help May be sought from a company in Washington that specializes in obtaining visas its fee is passed on. V a nonrefundable fee of s10 to Start working on travel arrangements for a popular special event such As the Ken Tucky Derby for which reservations Are hard to get. If the client then cancels mrs. Siefkes said an additional charge of s20 to s50 will be levied the closer to departure the higher the penalty for the immediate future at least travellers can expect to be spared service charges when they ask travel agents to arrange transportation or make reservations at units of major hotel chains. Either the rules preclude such charges or guaranteed commissions eliminate a reason for them. You Are increasingly Likely to face a charge however for any Book ing that involves a telex message or Long distance toll Call or correspondence with a Small hotel that May not pay the agent a commission. Tomorrow if not today be prepared for a penalty if you cancel or make Many changes in your air ticket. The ticket itself May be at full fare and unrestricted but an agent s free time is Likely to have limits. Consider doing As much planning As possible yourself poring Over guidebooks timetables and hotel brochures and sketching out your own tentative itinerary can some times save your agent a lot of time and it can be fun. The stars and stripes Page is
