The news comes nearly two weeks after the operator announced it was going direct sale, a decision that sparked a storm of protest among agents with some taking to Facebook’s Travel Gossip page to protest and bemoan the loss of their trips.
However, a spokesperson for Virgin Holidays insisted that fams, with at least one other taking place within the commercial cancellation period (typically 30 days for a company), were being honoured, as were prizes, although any fam trips after the cut-off date had been cancelled.
She added that agents who had been expecting to go on a fam trip and were out of pocket as a result of the changes would be reimbursed. However, Global Travel Bamber Bridge travel consultant Janette Ashby said: “It was a bit mean to cancel the fams. A lot of people said they won them as prizes.” But she argued the operator’s trade withdrawal will have little impact on her own business, adding: “To be honest we don’t really use them. If we need to call them we can’t be bothered in trying to get through to them and when you do, you can’t understand what they’re saying to you.”
Elite Travel Group chief executive Neil Basnett added: “I can understand the logic of Virgin abandoning their trips and also understand the disappointment of the agents.” He argued agents would have used the trips as resort fact-finding missions, before using their new-found knowledge to sell the destinations to customers via rival operators.
“I also have no problem with them going direct if they have decided that is the best way for their business. “But I would much rather that they had been honest in taking that decision rather than the pretence over the last few years that they had wanted to grow their business via the trade.”
Basnett also questioned the reasoning behind the decision which managing director Mark Anderson defended last week as allowing the operator to work more efficiently with the customer. Quartz Travel managing director Paul Smith said he was already considering Virgin Atlantic’s rival airlines.
