Payment Friction Prevented Early Travel Agents From Booking Local Activities
Rod Cuthbert · Viator: Rod Cuthbert · Oct 14, 2024 · at 21:06
Viator founder Rod Cuthbert explains the structural settlement and trust issues that historically prevented travel agents from selling global sightseeing tours.
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“They weren't able to book the on-ground activities that you often would want to do when you get there, but there was also another more fundamental reason why they weren't doing it, and that is that the operators say the Moulin Rouge or the Eiffel Tower, etc., you know, if they get a single booking from a travel agent, is he ever going to pay them? The client has paid the agent. Has the agent paid the operator? That was the key question. The operators would have to follow up and follow up, and it was difficult in those days for an operator in Paris, for example, or Rome, or wherever, to follow up with an agent in, you know, Sydney, or San Francisco, or wherever.”
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