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www.travelweekly.com
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
MAY 7, 2012
[ REFLECTS CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY AND HOSTING MODELS ]
With agency input, ARC revises
its Agent Reporting Agreement
By Johanna Jainchill
ARC has rewritten its Agent Reporting Agreement (ARA) for the
first time since it was introduced
in the 1980s, significantly changing
rules governing ARC number allotments, agency transparency and
the settlement remittance cycle.
proved, the revised ARA will take effect on
Jan. 1.
ARC has spent most of the last year interviewing about 30 travel agencies and airlines
about potential changes to the ARA, focusing
primarily on identifying terms, restrictions
and rules that no longer make sense.
Mike Premo, who took over as CEO of
ARC last June, made overhaul of the ARA a
priority of his tenure, and he made collaboration with both agencies and airlines a cornerstone of doing so.
The revamped
ARA, the contract
between travel agencies and ARC, was
approved by ARC’s
agency advisory panel, the Joint Advisory
Board-Agent Reporting Agreement, last
week.
It is still subject to approval by the ARC
board, which will vote on it June 7. If ap-
Lauri Reishus,
ARC’s vice president
of operations, said
a key concern for
agents involved in the
revision was having
more flexibility over-
all and getting rid of
rules that were adding
a lot of overhead and expense to their busi-
nesses.
ARC spent most of the last
year interviewing about 30
agencies and airlines about
changes to the ARA.
See ARC on Page 48
In the aftermath of
political upheaval, a
tourism industry once
built on the traditional
safari is re-emerging
as an exotic luxury
experience.
Despite lower profits for lines, agents
reporting healthy summer cruise sales
BY MICHELLE BARAN
PAGE 18
By Donna Tunney
The two largest cruise companies have reported hefty drops in net income for the first
quarter of the year and sluggish bookings
for the second and third quarters, but that
hasn’t dampened the spirits of some frontline cruise agents, who say their summer
business is solid.
“Summer 2012 is strong for me this year,
though mostly with bookings made prior to
Wave season,” said Amber Blecker, who owns
a CruiseOne franchise in Aurora, Colo.
“I found that many who deferred inter-
national travel last year planned ahead to
this summer,” she added. “Consequently, my
close-in business for summer is a little quiet,
but the overall season is still very strong.”
Blecker said that since her client base con-
sists of “a high number of relatively frequent
Ken ya re s u rg e n t
cruisers,” they tend to be less price-driven
than those making last-minute decisions or
those who “don’t understand the value of
cruising.”
Virtually all cruise agents, she noted, have
been affected by the “rolling sales” from
many of the major lines.
She said she did have to counsel clients
about closer-in fare reductions, “but for
those looking for [cruises] this summer, oth-
er life events seem to be driving the decisions
rather than specific price points. If they want
to go, and I can find them what they’re look-
ing for in the range they expect to see, they’re
booking.”
If Blecker sounds pleased with her sum-
mer volume, agent Jason Coleman could be
called ecstatic.
“If I could sum up my first quarter in one
See CRUISE on Page 45
PHO TO BY ANNA OMELCHENKO / SHU T TERS TOCK. COM
