By Roger Bray
Beware the minefield of dynamic packaging, Richard Lovell, CWT's chief operating officer EMEA, warned delegates at the UK Advantage business travel agents' consortium conference in Copenhagen.
It is a problem more readily associated with holiday bookings but may be spreading to the business sector.
Dynamic packaging is essentially the bundling together of different elements of a trip – flight, hotel and maybe car hire which are then sold for a single price. It has taken off because of the recent proliferation of distribution channels. Agents are being plied with new software to make trawling easier.
The risk, Mr. Lovell said, is that it could bring business agents into conflict with Europe's package holiday regulations. These require package providers to arrange financial security such as bonds, and may render them liable for the poor performance of suppliers
"We are beginning to see requests for it. Clients want to be able to assess what returns they get for their investment in travel. In sales force management it is becoming increasingly important to work out whether it is worthwhile making all those business trips," he said.
Outside the conference hall he said CWT had received only a few requests and so far only in the Netherlands – but it had been enough "to set alarm bells ringing".
"I am treating this with kid gloves. I have sent a message to all locations to put dynamic packaging on hold for the time being until we are sure what the implications are.
“We have reviewed our group conference and incentive business in particular to ensure every element has the necessary insurance".
Advantage has set up a series of seminars to help members understand the problem.