At 125, Brownell Travel is our
oldest agency, and among our
most progressive. 12
A
Sales of travel agencies are once
again on the rise — and so are the
prices being paid. 30
www.travelweekly.com
Section 1 of 2
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
OCTOBER 22, 2012
Cuba’s new visa policy greeted
warmly, but warily, by industry
Latin
The travel industry is striving to
understand the Hispanic market’s
unique characteristics.
By Kate Rice
Page 56
By Gay Nagle Myers
While many in the U.S. travel industry
were pleasantly surprised by the Cuban
government’s recent change in policy, lifting the widely reviled exit permits required
for Cubans traveling abroad, the move also
prompted some concerns about the possibility of a mass exodus of people long deprived
of the right to freely travel abroad.
Whatever the results of the new policy,
however, Cuba experts said last week that the
changes would not have much impact on the
current people-to-people programs offered
by companies licensed to operate extremely
limited travel from the U.S. to Cuba.
Nor does it change the visas required of
Cubans by the U.S. State Department.
“Our own visa requirements remain un-
changed,” said State Department spokes-
woman Victoria Nuland. “We welcome any
reforms that will allow Cubans to depart
from and return to their country freely, and
we remain committed to the migration ac-
cords under which our two countries sup-
port and promote safe, legal and orderly
migration.”
As of Jan. 14, Cubans will no longer need
exit permits, which cost $150 in a country
where the average monthly wage is $20.
[ JUST AS AGENTS BEGIN SELLING AIR AGAIN ]
Agencies see increase in debit memos
as airlines cede auditing to 3rd parties
By Kate Rice
Even as agents find new ways to make money selling air and are working harder at it,
many are reporting an increase in airline
debit memos.
A major reason for this, according to one
carrier, is that airlines are outsourcing ticket
auditing to vendors whose systems audit
tickets at much higher volumes than the
airlines did.
Agents say these third-party vendors
don’t know or understand the myriad complex rules that apply to ticket sales, resulting in an increase in debit memos issued in
error.
Debit memos, which can be as little as $4
or $5 but as high as $100,000, have fueled
adversity in the often-fractious relationship
between airlines and agents. They are the
bane of agents and agencies, because their
range and numbers represent the kinds of
unknowable liabilities that can quickly put
an agency out of business.
