Today had a very good
article in the LA Times by James Gilden. He has taken the same points I have been making for months and has brought them to the people of Los Angeles. Some excerpts from the article:
Whether it's soap or travel websites being marketed, the goal of multi-level marketing companies is to make commissions selling business opportunities to friends, family, even strangers.
In this case, the ones who prosper earn most of their income from the sale of travel websites to other agents, not from the sale of travel itself. In 2006, YTB made 72% of its revenue from the sale of online travel stores and monthly fees and 15% from travel commissions...
...J. Kim Sorensen, president and chief executive of YTB, said YTB had put into place systems to control its agents' requests for FAM trips, funneling them through its central office and verifying the agents were producing travel sales...
...Hewitt made a plane reservation on American Airlines' website, not his own, because "it was cheaper." Hewitt then traveled to his destination and presented his YTB-issued card to several hotels and requested a travel agent rate.
"They just snickered at me when they saw the ID card," he said
For once I agree with the Al Boek guy. Numbers don't lie. YTB just released their numbers, showing that over 88% of their money came from the recruiting of people and then charging those people for training. 88%!!!! That could be a reason that they have been pegged a "card mill", and have lost their IATA credentials.
ReplyDeleteAll of the travel MLM's have one thing in common. They are all MLM's. They are what they are. It is no suprise that YTB earns more money on selling the YTB business than it does from selling travel to consumers.
And the money that they make on travel... I'll bet that most of that comes from the YTB RTA's booking their own travel.
IATA can not endorse a "Card mill" or they loose credability... ASTA has called them a card mill.... Royal Caribbean has deemed them a card mill.
Wake up AL.... your barking at a parked car!!!!