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Luzi Matzig in TravelAsia
For and Against, TravelAsia, January 31, 1997
FOR
Teddy Halim, executive director, Vayatours, Indonesia:
In Indonesia, we have a voluntary system. For our
company, we give the information about bad debtors to Association
of Indonesian Travel Agents and also to our BTI partners. But
all this is just internal. An industry-wide system like Australia's
would be very good.
The problem we have faced with some bad debtors in
Europe and the US is that they change their names to avoid paying
up their debts, making it more difficult to track them down.
Danai Wansom, senior vice president, Century International
Hotels, Hong Kong:
An informal credit alert system is actually in place
in Hong Kong. Hoteliers meet informally from time to time to share
information regarding the financial standing of the local agents.
Hong Kong hotels normally deal with local agents and not direct
with overseas operators.
There is a need to set up a more formal system. There
are so many new operators coming up everyday that they wouldn't
exactly know who they are dealing with.
Luzi Matzig, group general manager, Diethelm Travel,
Thailand:
I would not participate in a system which requires
me to pay a fee to have access to the information. I won't spend
money to lose more money. In Thailand, the Association of Thai
Travel Agents has a similar scheme and I thought the service was
free but it is not. Members of associations with such schemes
should be given the information without having to pay for it as
we are already paying subscription fees.
I have to say the intention is good and may help
certain agents.
Diethelm does not really need such a service as we
are big and we have collection agents to chase bad debts. However
this does not mean we are not affected when an overseas tour operator
goes bust. We worked with four operators who had good record of
payments but they went bankrupt and we were hit. There is no guarantee
that such a roll of dishonour will help agents get payments. By
the time they get the list it may be too late as things change
pretty fast.
I believe that the best way to prevent us from being
hit is not to give credit but deal on a cash basis.
Kitty Sum, manager leisure, American Express Hong
Kong:
I'm for a more formal system but I'm not sure if
it will work in Hong Kong where competition is so tough. Will
agents actually give information about their creditors?
The Hong Kong Society of IATA Passenger Agents sent
out a form for its members to list down delinquent payers - overseas
counterparts or corporations - but this was not successful because
agents didn't want other agents to know who they were working
with.
Agents will not want suppliers to know they have
a number of bad creditors because the suppliers may think they
are in trouble.
Simon Chung, assistant general manager, Inter-Pacific
Travel and Tours, Kuala Lumpur:
It should be set up because a lot of our so-called
counterparts overseas who send tourists here take so long to pay.
The Arabs, for example, would take maybe a year to pay. The system
will be a guide for us who are not looking for that kind of business.
Susan Chong, general manager, World Express, Malaysia:
Whether we will participate in such a system depends
on the membership fee and the information available. I think the
respective national travel agents association should be the body
to handle such a project as it is directly involved.
However I believe the best way not to be owed bad
debts is to ask overseas operators to pay up first and not to
extend credit.
Anthony Wong, managing director, Asian Overland
Services Tours and Travel, Malaysia:
It's a good idea but whether I want to participate
in it or not depends on the level of the fee. Such a scheme will
only be effective if it is on a regional basis, such as within
ASEAN, as the rat has no borders. However one has to be careful
when compiling the list as there are legal implications.
AGAINST
David Cheah, senior sales manager, Dynasty Hotel
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Such a system may be open to abuse. Some people may
use the credit alert system to badmouth others. They may wrongly
declare information and cause people to be blacklisted.
Some operators may not have paid up their debts for
good reasons like of non-provision of services and they should
not be blacklisted.
Jenny Tan Poo Eng, product development manager,
Siam Express Singapore:
I don't think this should be taken up by an association
or implemented industry-wide. I believe credit problems should
be settled between the two agents themselves.
If I know that a certain agent is not a good paymaster,
I myself should take extra care in dealing with this particular
agent in the future.
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