Let's review the current situation of the Travel Agent Distribution System and the people doing business with the devil.. On one side we have the traditional "brick & mortar" or retail agencies, the at- home travel agents who are totally independent and the at-home, independent travel agents that are affiliated with a Host Agency. Their total number is in the area of 70,000 of which 60% of this group may be considered the more serious travel professional.

On the other side of the Travel Agent Distribution System, which I like to call the "dark side", are the multi level marketing/card mill agencies.This group outnumbers the "legitimate" travel agent by 3 to 1. In other words they have over 200,000 travel affiliates most commonly referred to as "Referral Agents" which are really consumers except for a very few. However, due to the business model of the MLM/card mill agencies, they are not in the business of primarily selling travel but rather selling a business opportunity via referral fees and unrelated products.

This is how I see this growing problem and what might happen further down the road. The MLM/card mill referral agents are growing at a much faster pace than the serious travel professional which is probably due to their sheer aggressiveness. It reminds me of the tortoise, being the legitimate travel agent and the hare, the card mill consumer, except, not only is the tortoise moving slowly, it is not even thinking and even lacks the gumption to stand up and fight.(See separate article in this newsletter for those who will fight)

MLM/card mills offer minimum training and rely on the training programs offered by their suppliers while the other side takes advantage of the training programs offered by organizations, the print media, acknowledged training and education centers and the supplier. Most MLM/card mill affiliates take the minimum training to obtain a Fam or reduced rate opportunity. The classic example is in applying for the CLIA photo ID card where it takes a minimal course to qualify.

Can you imagine CLIA putting on a training course for a 1000+ YTB referral agents and then passing out CLIA photo ID applications? This is actually happening over and over again.We all need to tell CLIA that its primary business is being of service to its cruise line membership and the training and educating of the serious travel professional to sell cruises. It's embarrassing to be invited to a ship inaugural or event and find 100 MLM/card mill affiliates running around recruiting other passengers. I don't know if the CLIA Advisory Committee is just a token travel agent group or are serious advisors to the CLIA Board. I have heard that CLIA has issued as many as 28,000 photo Id cards to these Referral Agents/Consumers. Recently YTB had their annual convention in Orlando. There were 5000 people, mostly consumers, who attended with most taking advantage of the CLIA Training in order to obtain the card.

The sheer numbers of the referral agents are totally cluttering up the Fam and Travel Agent reduced rate opportunities. Suppliers are taking in these referral agents who only really care about a cheap vacation while the serious agents lose out on learning opportunities. Eventually the supplier will wake up, and many have, and nip this problem. It's costly to the supplier because the real agents are not selling its products.

One final note. There are no MLM/ card mills remaining from the 1990's save one, that I am aware of. MLM's generally have a 5 year cycle then names are changed or they go out of business. That's just the nature of most multi- level marketing companies. The only people making any money in this business are the management and those who got in early and persevered. They are a "house of cards" waiting to collapse.

If you want to do business with these devils, whether you are a supplier, consumer or travel agent, prepare to be burned tomorrow, next month or next year.