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Luzi Matzig in TravelAsia
TravelAsia, April 9, 1999
There are few surprises anymore in this business – mergers, acquisitions, management shake-ups, retrenchments – we’ve seen them all in our business, and more so last year since the July 1, 1997 crisis took hold in our region and its rippling effects felt. But the departure of Luzi Matzig from Diethelm Travel, after 28 years, is a surprise. Surprise because his name is synonymous with Diethelm Travel. It was his first and only job in Thailand since he arrived in Bangkok nearly three decades ago, and he has spent those 28 years blazing the trail for Diethelm, building up the Thai operation into market leader and then pioneering it into the new destinations of Mekong. Companies have their reasons for doing what they do – most are motivated by the profit motive, the people issue being secondary – a sad fact of life, but one that we have to accept as the business world becomes more vicious and competitive. One thing is clear – the series of changes which has rocked Diethelm Travel since last year, when the recommended changes were implemented, has led to many questions from industry observers and partners – why retrench staff when the company is having its best year? Why are the people who built up the company leaving? What is its future direction? Those questions, only the company’s top management can answer. For its competitors, they have been having a field day since the changes started, trying to grab prized accounts which have long been in Diethelm‘s grip. For Matzig, it must be time to move on – and continue blazing the trail as he always has done. We wish him luck in his future plans. The non-surprise this week is news that Cathay Pacific Holidays is scrapping the 10 per cent agent commission. The writing had long been on the wall, it was only a question of time. The airline tour operating subsidiary can afford to take the lead in this initiative because it is market leader – travel agents may want to switch to other tour packages, but if the customers want Cathay Pacific Holidays, there’s nothing they can do about it. The move is a harbinger of what is to come in Hong Kong, and across Asia. Travel agents, beware. Stop worrying about when commission cuts are going to come. It is happening. Do something about it. Be proactive.
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