MATTA should regulate travel agents

TS,Friday, 10 December 2010 

I refer to “Travelling advice for a fee” (The Star, Nov 26) and “Travel advice fee not a must” (The Star, Nov 27). 

As society matures, we should discard our expectation of getting goods or services for free. Instead, we should accept products only when they are needed, and pay fair value for them, just as we expect to be paid for our labour. 

When asking for the price of an air ticket or the fare for a packaged tour, there should be no charge for such enquiries. 

However, productive hours are required to map out a detailed itinerary involving travel to many destinations. It would be wise to obtain quotations from several travel agencies, as the differences can be quite substantial. 

According to MATTA’s guidelines, the consultation fee would be absorbed by the travel agency should the client take up the offer. 

Ironically, this would effectively allow unsuccessful travel agencies to charge consultation fees for offering uncompetitive or inferior quotations. 

There are 3,657 licensed travel company offices nationwide, but not all have the professional expertise to safeguard the interests of their clients. There is no system in place to identify which travel agency has qualified staff with the necessary expertise to warrant charging a consultation fee. 

Consultants are normally experts in their field and are referred to by their peers. On the other hand, travel consultants are those seated behind the counter and attend to customers. Some of them are truly experienced but quite a number are junior staff who may struggle to understand what you are trying to tell them. 

Currently, Tourist Guide is the only licensed profession in the travel industry and the guidelines for their fees have long been practised. Similarly, travel and tour planners together with event managers and professional conference organisers should also be licensed and consultation fees introduced. 

The travel industry has expanded only in terms of quantity with the proliferation of travel and tour companies. As in many service industries, the quality of employees has actually taken a dive. 

Due to the dearth of industry skill courses, the majority of people working in travel and tour companies are not trained for the work they do other than on-the-job exposure. 

MATTA should therefore obtain training grants from the Tourism Ministry to upgrade the professionalism of travel industry personnel. It would then be appropriate for travel and tour companies staffed with professionals to charge consultation fees. 

YS Chan 

Kuala Lumpur