Tour Operators and Excursions

Does this belong here? I am not sure but I put it here.

I've taken the liberty of quoting "Bodders" from another thread. We met this week and spent the afternoon together. He & his wife told me some things and I encouraged him to report it in the Holiday Village thread. But I think it deserves its own thread! Here is what he said:

"First Choice are being VERY heavy handed & ruthless on the subject of excursions here. They have stopped ALL other excurion companies from collecting clients from the reception area. One has to walk out past perimeter security now to meet these tours. In their list of trips First Choice state the following too: 'we cannot accept any responsibility for illness, injury or death caused as a result of participating in a PIRATE excursion'. This comes after a long passage of text designed to scare you off all other tours & there is even the hint that your holiday insurance will be void if you don't use their tours. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS & BACK IN THE UK THEY COULD BE SUED FOR THIS APPROACH!

We booked tours through Martin Espinal. Isaira Tours - Dominican Republic & got Martin to send his list of tours, prices, etc before we left the UK. He is a very helpful & honest man who appears to have a very good reputation here for carrying out good works for needy causes. His tours are insured & I would recommend anyone to use him & boycott First Choice so far as tours are concerned"

He gave me more details when we were out but this is more then enough to get some discussion going.

I personally am appalled by this behaviour. I understand the need to make money and earn your commissions but I strongly object to the way it is done. I visited many times as a tourist and heard different versions of this from tour reps from a variety of companies. Let's not just pick on First Choice and Signature - the others do it too.

What do others think? To our recent visitors - what were you told in your briefings?

The competition for the tourist dollars is so intense but they are going about it the wrong way. Service by the tour operators is declining as well as pay to the reps. They only way for them to make money - so I am told - is to sell tours! All the focus is on selling and little customer service which is supposedly what they are there for.

I personally know several reps who are excellent at their jobs. They really care and do the best for their clients but they are under the thumb of management!

It is pathetic and does little to enhance the tourism industry here, an industry in heavy competition globally!

Maggie - That is good information to have posted here, thank you.

I agree with the difference between fully licensed and insured tours and "pirates". It is in every visitors interest to make sure they understand what they are buying and who they are dealing with.

I have two comments on this:

1. If a client buys "Freestyle Catamarans excursion" via First Choice (for example), then they are insured. IF a client buys "Freestyle Catamarans Excursion" via any other distributor suddenly they are not insured? I think not. That does not wash with me. The excursion operator is the same company. Only the distributor has changed!

2. Clients who buy tours and excursions at destination are supposedly subsidizing the prices of all packages sold? Again, I think not. It is just another source of revenue to the Tour Operators. To suggest they use this revenue to keep prices down I believe is incorrect. Are they in the business of selling vacation packages or are they in the business of selling excursions? IF they are in the business of selling both then they need to operate on an honest level - not fear mongering but competing for business in an upstanding way.

I also want to comment that I really understand what you say about the Representatives having to deal with the fallout of clients being injured, sick etc. NO matter how or where those illnesses or injuries or god forbid death occurs it falls to the reps shoulders. However, isn't that the reps job? OR at least a large part of it to provide services to the client who bought the vacation?

In my opinion most reps do a good job and are underpaid for what they do!

Lambada - I believe you are correct. They are still covered by their insurance. If you read the insurance - it normally states you are not covered if you are doing certain "risky" things -like hang gliding or parachuting. I've not read a recent policy from the UK.

Maggie - question for you - does the tour operator post a list of approved excursions? IF so it should not matter what channel you buy the excursion thru then. If it is approved it is approved. I can assume that if the tour operator sells it then it is approved thus it would not matter if a client went direct.

Yes there is a lot more to all of this. My opinion is the Tour Operator acts as if they OWN the client. In fact they don't. Clients have choice and they need all the information to make smart choices. Fearmongering and passing on BS to clients does not make for informed choices.

Another point - excursion prices are very high. The main reason is the huge commissions demanded by tour operators in order to sell the excursions. This in my opinion is not good for tourists or the local economy!

Of course they are insured, I"ve seen their paperwork. Tour Operators can't stand the competition so they have to create ways to give themselves the edge.

There was no intent whatsoever to limit this to First Choice. Just the original poster quoted talked about the First Choice presentation. THis applies to almost all the Tour Operators.

Anyone going on vacation and not purchasing or having coverage for medical needs is definately taking risks. I would advise any traveller to have proper insurance personally!

It is my understanding that to get an excursion operators license you must have more coverage then that. I will check on it. Again Maggie, I appreciate the info you bring to the table. You did say you no longer work for a Tour Operator. Can I ask how long you have been out of the business?

maggiemay said:

I gave facts and the rest is up to the clients who want to book excursions...it's their choice...at least this way they can make an educated decision.

Maggiemay

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This is appropriate, too bad everyone doesn't do this! That is also one of the things we try to do here - give all the info so people can make up their own minds.

It is also interesting to note that this country pays way more commission then many other countries. IN many ways this country has been held hostage to these outrageous commissions. IMHO it is time it is stopped!

And on another note - little of those commissions actually go to the representatives. This is not about the hardworking individuals on the front lines but rather the decisions and heavy handedness of higher ups.