West Bengal Sub-Agents Vent Their Airline Grievances

Sub-agents in West Bengal have host of grievances, that affects their smooth operations. Joy Roy Choudhury, speaks to few of them and highlights their concerns

The number of people visiting other states from West Bengal is on the the rise every passing season as the state generates the largest number of domestic travellers in the country.

To facilitate this kind of active movement of tourists within the state, a large network of travel agents, tour operators, agents and sub-agents work round the clock. Amongst them, the non-IATA accredited agents comprise of a large percentage. Operating from their small, often one-room offices these sub-agents have kept pace with the ever-evolving tourism industry, moulding themselves to the changing demands of the industry.

Sub-agents are an integral part of the travel business, withstanding the test of time by offering ‘value-added services’ to the customers.

A K Chatterjee of World Express Travels & Tours, Kolkata said, “We have survived and grown only through the value added services we offer. Several multinational companies and leading public and private sector banks have retained us only because of the personalised services we provide, which an IATA-accredited agency seldom offers. We have been successful in retaining our markets, through our own marketing initiatives. Today, we aggressively pursue clients. The onus of selling is definitely on us. We give the IATA agents their business.”

A section of the sub-agents alleged that inspite of their best efforts, large airline have not been too co-operative. “Sometimes, airline companies do not provide vital information about flight timings, airfares and routes. In some cases, we loose business. This affects our business prospects significantly. The rapid increase in the use of technology too has affected our business,” said one of Kolkata’s leading travel agents.

Most of them are not in a position to invest substantially to put up an IT infrastructure. Another important development has been the introduction of the Central Reservation Systems (CRS), traditionally considered a stronghold of IATA-accredited agencies. But very few sub-agents in Kolkata really access the system. Some of them even complained that select airlines do not entertain bookings made by the sub-agents. Commenting on the issue of ‘passive bookings’, a sub-agent mentioned, “This is a baseless allegation levelled against the sub-agents. In today’s competitive world very few can take such a risk and resort to ’passive booking’.

Soumen Biswas of Safar International further adds that, “Another problem plaguing us is the entry of inexperienced and amateur tourist agents into the fray. These travel agents with very little knowledge about the industry often fleece gullible clients earning disrepute for the industry. These agents often resort to unfair trade practices and quote prices, that is impossible for us to offer in turn damaging the market.”

On the issue of accreditation to IATA, most of the agents said that while the importance of IATA accreditation is undisputed, there is also little doubt that with the qualification comes a host of obligations and responsibilities. An IATA accredited agency has to be computerised, have to have a requisite number of trained staff and more importantly it should have a strong financial backbone, which many sub-agents do not possess.

Joy Chakraborty of Paplu Tours & Travels, which generally services clients in the district towns said, “There has been a steady increase in business over the last few years, but discounting in some cases by other Kolkata based sub-agents often hamper our business.”

With this fact that the sub-agents outnumber IATA-agents, it is imperative for the industry to look into the problems of the sub-agents and take note of them.