NEW YORK — The flurry of consolidation among travel agencies that marked the last few years will slow down, according to Ellen Bettridge, vice president of the American Express Retail Travel Network.
Speaking on a panel at the New York Times Travel Show on Friday, Bettridge said consolidation had helped the industry.
"It's actually good for our industry to bring some groups together because they become stronger and they leverage their strength together," Bettridge said.
However, she said that now that travel agencies' revenue is up again, "I don't anticipate the activity will stay on the same trajectory it’s been on."
"I think it will slow down a little bit," she said. "Business is back. At American Express we had our best year ever in travel last year, and this year we can't even keep up with our bookings. And I hear the same thing from everyone I’m talking to. When business is really good, you don't see the same level of consolidation."
Michael Batt, chairman of Travel Leaders Group, which has made several acquisitions over the last few years, was also on the panel.
Declaring that "consolidation is a good thing," Batt noted that with suppliers consolidating at the rate they do, and citing Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and United Continental as examples, travel agencies also needed to band together to create an equal playing field.
"You can't have suppliers consolidate and then have the distribution base fragmented," Batt said.
He explained that agencies with "no ability to negotiate" are at a disadvantage. "They will take whatever you give them. ... That's why we want to get bigger and bigger: So we have that balanced relationship with everyone."
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