THE MEDIA, ORGANIZATIONS AND YTB

Many of you who have been reading my articles these last few years have a pretty good understanding where I am coming from with many of the topics I write about. I rarely "mince" words and tell the story in plain, simple English and hopefully leave nothing to the imagination. So is the case writing about this next topic.

Whenever an MLM company such as YTB gets into trouble as they have recently with the States of California and the the Federal Court in Illinois etc, the media quickly writes an article about the incident. For example, James Shillinglaw, the Editor of Modern Agent and Agent@Home magazines wrote a very good article about YTB. He was neither defending nor really speaking against YTB's business model, but rather took what some would say the "high road" in regard to the MLM business models. I support most of his comments however, the article is three years overdue.

Where has the media and organizations like OSSN and NACTA been these last three years while the YTB/MLM problem has escalated to new heights bilking many naive consumers and travel agents? Richard Earls, Publisher of Travel Research Online (TRO) recently said, " Until the travel industry defines for itself and the public a precise definition of who is and is not a travel agent, a legal way of defining who can call themselves a travel agent (think "Realtor"), the issue will crop up again and again." Similar comments have been made for at least the last three years by myself and others.

It reminds me about a dangerous intersection in a small town. There were auto accidents almost every week at this particular intersection. The neighborhood cried out for something to be done but it fell on deaf ears. One day someone was killed at the intersection. Within a week stop signs were erected. Why does it take so long for someone to react and take action against a problem that needs a resolution?

The media, for the most part, has said nothing. OSSN, NACTA and PATH have said nothing. None of them even have an awareness program that spells out the difference between the MLM model and legitimate hosting models. OSSN and NACTA, besides creating awareness to their members, also must increase their requirements for their TRUE and TRAVEL SELLERS ID numbers. They need to follow CLIA's example of change. PATH, who is supposed to represent the host agency segment, has been silent on the whole issue and prefers to comment on MLMs only when asked by the media.

We know that OSSN and NACTA have YTB and other MLM members as participants in their ID programs. These members are probably part of the few serious travel sellers that joined the YTB/MLMs and have every right to join these organizations. It is the MLM agency with its corrupt business model and the other 97% of their affiliates who we must continue to make known to our industry.

When I see well known industry trainers such as Phil and Doris Davidhoff praising the MLM model, I can understand why the travel agent community is so fractured. It's unfortunate that some so-called industry leaders base their comments around the amount of money they receive from the MLMs instead of common sense and doing what is right.

I realize greed and complacency play an important role in the way the media, organizations and suppliers approach the MLM subject. However, we must put something back into this industry to help clean it up or travel agents will be rated lower than politicians, used car sales persons and lawyers while State licensing will raise it's ugly head. Whatever the outcome is with the YTB lawsuits, we must proceed to make others aware of this problem. YTB is just the largest of these MLMs in the travel business. There are many more.

And yes, Travel Agents must stop asking "What's in it for me" and look at the big picture and the future of the profession.