WASHINGTON -- ARC plans to offer a registration service and assign
identifying numbers to travel agents who don't have and don't want
ARC accreditation.
The goal is to help airlines, hotels and other suppliers
identify the estimated 3,000 to 4,000 nonaccredited agents selling
their products.
Once their names and addresses are known, the suppliers' sales
reps would know where to direct their pitches, and the agents could
get on the list for product news, fam trips and seminars.
By the same token, the supplier would know where to go if the
agent became involved in some questionable sales activity. "There
is absolutely no accreditation to this," said Barry Lemley, ARC
director of accreditation and database management.
The agent would provide ARC with items such as name, contact
person, address, phone and fax numbers and e-mail address, he said.
In turn, ARC would provide an identifying number called a "Non-ERSP
Booking Office Number."
The registration service is expected to be available in the
third quarter, Lemley said.
The pool of nonaccredited agents seems to be growing as agency
owners and managers give up their ARC accreditation and the
attendant obligations, but continue selling to their clients, often
out of their homes.
Their airline tickets are issued by a friendly accredited agency
for a cut of the commission or a fee, so the nonaccredited agent
does not get "credit" for the sale.
The agents have access to suppliers' inventory through a
computerized reservations system, which may give them a pseudo-city
or 999 number. "But based on the [CRS] tracking data, the suppliers
couldn't tell who these people are," Lemley said. "The carriers
made clear they want to do business with the majority, but they
have a problem seeing who they are."
Although details of the registration service are still sketchy,
Lemley said it would be optional for suppliers. That means an
individual airline or hotel, for example, could choose to require
all its nonaccredited sellers to register.
An agent would pay a fee to register, and a supplier would pay a
fee to get the list, with prices yet to be determined.
The entire project was reviewed by ARC's joint agent-airline
advisory board. ARC said members liked the idea, although ASTA
wanted to make sure it would meet the needs of nonairline suppliers
such as hotels.
Lemley said that "we welcomed" the effort to broaden the
initiative, added Marriott to the task force and will talk with
other nonair suppliers.
The name "Non-ERSP Booking Office Number" was selected to
differentiate the program from an existing ARC registration service
for people who offer consumers access to airline inventory over the
Internet. These people are called Electronic Reservations Service
Providers (ERSPs).
The major U.S. airlines require people who tap their inventory
over the Internet to register as ERSPs so they can keep tabs on
them. For example, the airlines set varying numerical limits on the
number of passengers allowed per passenger name record over the
Internet, and they also have different commission policies.