Retail Travel Operations

TASK THREE

Name: Rame Nasser

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Describe the working practices of retail operations. This should

include; office layout procedures and documentation for
sales, payment timetable, client file, brochure handling,
merchandising and displays, preferred operators, sales
targets, ABTA, incentive commission and commission rates.

Working practices and legislation

Agency agreements: Travel agents work on behalf of

principals or tour operators. If both travel agent and tour
operator are ABTA members they will be bound by the ABTA
code of conduct. The legal relationship between the tour
operator and the travel agent is based on agency law. An
agency agreement will lay out the terms and conditions of the
contract, including commissions. If a travel agent stock a tour
operator’s brochure and sells from it, there is an implied
contract between them, even if there is no written agreement.
The travel agent does not have a contract with the customer;
the customer has a contract with the principal or tour
operator. ABTA provides a model contract for its members to
use with their suppliers.

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The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package

Tours Regulations 1992 : These regulations impact on
retail travel agents as they corer not only the organisation of
package holidays but also the selling of them. Travel agents
need to understand and adhere to these regulations when
they sell, and also when they tailor-make package for clients.
As the regulations are aimed primary at tour operators, they
are discussed in detail in unit 11.
Contract law: when customer books a holiday with a travel
agent he or she enters into a legally binding contract with a
tour operator offering the holiday. Travel agents ask the
customer to read and accept the tour operator's booking
conditions before booking , but do not enter into a contract
with the customer themselves. They may ask the client to sign
a document allowing the travel agent to act on his or her
behalf.
Fair Trading Charters: These charters usually apply to tour
operators, who include them in their brochures. They amount
to a plain English interpretation of the package Travel
Regulations.
Trade Descriptions Act 1968: Descriptions given must be
truthful and accurate. This primarily affects tour operators as
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Name: Rame Nasser

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They have to be careful that brochure descriptions adhere to the

act. How ever, it affects a travel agent too, as any agent
making a false verbal statement will be liable under the
Trade Descriptions Act.
Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982: the section of this
act which is important is the one relating to a contract being
carried out using reasonable care and skills. Travel agents
have to ensure that they carry out the booking correctly.
Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999:
if customers think that any contractual term is unfair or
unreasonable, they have right to challenge it. The terms of the
contract should be written in clear, understanding language.
The office of Fair Trading (OFT) has written guidelines on
the interpretation of this act. The guidelines are aimed
primarily tour operators rather than travel than travel agents
as they enter into the contract with the Customer, but the
travel agent might have to liaise with the tour operator on
Customers behalf a situation where a contract is challenge by
the customer. In 2003 the office of fair Trading held an
investigation into travel websites. It found that almost half of
the websites surveyed were in potential breach of consumer
legislation because they contained Claims that public might
find misleading. Most examples were places advertised that

Name: Rame Nasser

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Were not really available. The investigators found more than 100
potential breaches under the E-commerce, unfair terms in
Consumer Contracts Regulations, Package Travel companies
that break such rules are pursued by local Trading Standards
Offices or by the OFT.
ABTA Code of Conduct: all members of ABTA, travel agents
and tour operators alike, agree to abide by ABTA’s code of
conduct. The code is available on the ABTA website. Below is
an extract, including elements of the code relevant to
consumers and travel agents.
Advertising: ABTA members must not mislead you with their
advertising and must include all compulsory charges in their
prices e.g. UK Air passenger Duty (Code 1.3).
 Booking Procedures: when you book with an ABTA
member they must give you accurate information to help you
choose the travel agent arrangements that are right for you
(Code 1.1).
 ABTA members must follow all the necessary legal
requirements such as the ATOL Regulations and must make
you aware of the terms and conditions that apply (code 1.4).
 ABTA members must also give you guidance about any health
requirements and the passport and visa requirements for

Name: Rame Nasser

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Your travel arrangements (code1.6).

 If you have any special requests concerning a disability or
other medical condition ABTA Members must ensure that
these are dealt with property and confidentially (code 1.4 (iii)
). ABTA members must also give you information about travel
insurance (code1.7).
 Before completing a booking, ABTA Members must tell you if
the Foreign and Commonwealth office has issued advice
about destination (code 1.6 (iii) ).
Once the booking is made:
 ABTA Members must notify you as soon as possible if it is
necessary to change or cancel your travel arrangements. An
ABTA Member cannot cancel your booking after the date for
payment of the full price unless it is necessary to do so for
reasons outside its control. If this happens, the ABTA
Member must offer you the choice of having all your money
back or choosing alternative travel arrangements (code 2.1 &
2.2).
 If an ABTA Members makes a significant change to your
travel arrangements they must offer you the choice of your
accepting the changed travel arrangements or having all your
money back (Code 2.2).

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 If an ABTA Member does cancel your booking or makes a

significant change to the travel arrangements after the date
for payment of the full price they must offer you
compensation unless the reason for the cancellation or
change was outside of their control (Code 2.1 & 2.2).
Complaints:
 If you have a complaint about your travel arrangements you
should write to the ABTA Member concerned. They must
provide you with a full reply within 28 days. If you remain
dissatisfied you should write again pointing out the areas of
dispute. Again the ABTA Member must respond within 28
days (see ‘complaining’) (code 3.1).
 If you fail to reach a satisfactory position with the ABTA
Member you can have the matter resolved through the ABTA
Arbitration Scheme (see ‘independent Arbitration’) (Code
3.4).
Procedures and documentation for selling travel services
We will go through an example of a customer making to show
what that travel agent would do at each stage.
The customer approaches the travel agent and is invited to sit
down. The travel agent has a computer screen in front of her
with the Travel Cat system, for example. The customer wants

Name: Rame Nasser

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To look for a late-availability cruise.

There are the steps the travel agent will follow:
1. Make notes on the customer’s requirements.
2. Enter details into the system and check availability.
3. Tell the customer what is available.
4. Give the customer information about the resort visited,
ship, etc.
5. The customer choose a cruise.
6. The agent confirms all the details with the customer and
completes the booking form provided by the tour operator.
The customer signs it. This form can be downloaded from
the computer or may be in a brochure. The agent also
enters all the booking details into the CRS. This computer
file is unique to that customer and can be updated and
altered if necessary.
7. The agent will also complete a booking authorisation form
and gives it permission to make a booking on behalf of the
customer.
8. As the booking is for a late availability cruise, the customer
must pay in full. The agent takes the payment and enters
the details of the payment into the system. Payment could
be made by cash, cheque or credit card. The customer is
given a receipt which has been printed.
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9. The agent must ensure that the customer has insurance.

This is sales opportunity and she might sell the company’s
insurance and earn more commission. However the cruise
customer says she has her own insurance. This is a sales
opportunities and she might sell the company’s insurance
and earn more commission. However, the cruise customer
says she has her own insurance.
10. The agent generates an insurance indemnity form from the
computer. This means that the customer promises not to
sue the travel agent if costs through lack of insurance.
11. The target is already thinking about this customer’s needs
and any add-on sales that can be made. She suggests that
the customer buys US dollars for the cruise. Theses are
ordered and the details entered into the system.
12. When the customer leaves, the agent makes a file of copies
of all the paperwork completed and files it manually. The
agency provides an envelope for this, printed with checklist
so that she doesn’t forget any details.
13. In the post five days later, the tickets arrive. The agent
generates a standard letter from the computer to inform the
customer. Then, as this is a late booking, she also telephone
the customer to ask her to collect her confirmation and
tickets. The agent updates her computer system nothing
what has done.
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14. The customer collects the tickets and agent notice this on
the computer system. When the customer comes back from
holiday she will be sent a ‘welcome-home’ letter to remind
her of the expert travel agent who sent her on the holiday.
15. At the end of each day a banking print can be generated
from the computer. This will state all the transactions that
have been carried out and should be reconciled against
cash, cheques and card payments. A daily sales summary
can also be printed.

 Payment time table: in the example above, the customer

paid immediately as she was leaving on holiday very soon.
The usual procedures is for the customer to pay a set
deposit on booking and pay the balance eight weeks before
departure. The travel agent then makes payment to the
supplier, minus their agreed commission. Any customers
who fail to pay will lose their deposit as a cancellation
charge. If cancellation is for a valid, insured reason, the
insurance company will refund the deposit or cancellation
charge.
 Client file: Customer files are duplicated – they are kept
on computer and in a paper file. The best way to keep the
paper files is in order of departure date; that way, it
becomes obvious if someone has not collected tickets!
Once client s have returned from holiday the files still be kept.
The client could make a complaint and then the files would
be needed. A complaint could be made up to three years
after a problem occurred.
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 Brochure handling and preferred operators: day to

day, the agent must make sure that there are enough brochure
on display and order them (usually from a central supplier) as
needed. Preferred operators are those who work closely with
the agency, perhaps providing staff training posters and better
commissions. Their brochures will be more prominently
displayed.
 Merchandising and displays: it is important that the
agency looks good and that the window display appeals to
passers by. Late deals are a common merchandising tool to
attract people and these are often displayed on card in the
window. Posters are easily obtained and often displayed on
cards in the window. Posters are easily obtained and often
used to advertise destinations. It is part of the job of the travel
agent to arrange attractive window displays.
 Sales targets: An agency has its sales target set by head
office or by its owner if it is a small business. The target is
subdivided between the staff. It isn’t divided equally; more
experienced staff are expected to sell more than juniors, and
part times naturally have smaller targets. In many agencies,
staff are paid a bonus when they reach their target. This
bonus is separate from the commission earned.
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Commissions: commission is paid monthly and it depends on

bookings made. The commission differs with each product or
company- higher commissions are paid on own-branded
products. Airline commissions can be as much as 9% for
example Emirates, or zero, for example low-cost airlines.
some travel suppliers operate a tired system where agents are
categorised. Top agents-those who do a lot of business for the
supplier-can earn high commission. For example, Virgin
Airlines pays 7% on economy sales, 5% on premium economy
and 4% on upper class to top-tiered agents. Other categories
of agents earn 3% to 4% on sales. Some retail travel agents,
for example travelcare, do not pay commissions to staff to sell
or promote one supplier rather than another. they say such a
practice is not in the customer’s interest.

Office layout:

Name: Rame Nasser

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Name: Rame Nasser