ITC host companies have seen renewed interest and are actively recruiting at a time where retrenchments and unemployment have challenged travel agents.
eTravel ceo, Garth Wolff, says his company has been flooded with enquiries but its recruitment strategy remains unchanged. Tammy Hunt, md of eTravel, sees the opportunity for growth in the ITC market because agents are indeed facing an unemployment crisis.
Even with the growth potential, says Garth, the entire ITC market will shrink and be depressed for the next two years. “But we also feel that within a smaller market, eTravel will gain market share.”
Flight Centre Associates has grown to nearly 200 ITCs due to a “huge” intake recently, mostly from its own staff who were retrenched but also from a number of new external ITCs, says Chantal Gouws, independent brands gm of Flight Centre.
“I believe only the fittest [host companies] are going to survive this, it’s not going to be about who can offer what any more it’s more about the stability of the company you are associated with,” she says. She sees massive growth for the company in the next few months because it is a globally recognised name. “Clients are not going to want to deal with a one-man show that does not have the backing of a reputable company,” adds Chantal.
More than 50 enquiries for becoming an ITC at Club Travel have come in the last few weeks, Jo Fraser, franchise executive manager of Club Travel told Travel News. She says agents need to be aware that this will take them out of the comfort zone of ‘being employed’. “In a lot of cases they don’t have a choice as they are retrenched. They have a solid client base so it would be the obvious thing to do as companies are not looking at employing staff right now,” adds Jo.
Travel Counsellors is also willing to provide a home for agents facing unemployment during these difficult times and it reports a significant increase in interest. But gm SA, Mladen Lukic, says he is wary about the future of agents who may think that becoming an ITC is the easier alternative career choice. “We’ve never been an aggressive recruiter and we do have a rigorous process because not everyone can run their own business and, in fact, not everyone should. Some people have ‘it’ but some perform better in a managed structure,” says Mladen.
He says he is critical of host company competitors in the market who don’t take full responsibility for the future of ITCs, and who chase members and overrides. Says Mladen: “They attract people who don’t have the experience or the particular skills set and irresponsibly take them from an environment of security.”
