• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 8

The proposed move by airline companies to scrap the five per cent commission to recognised travel agencies will badly affect the livelihood of an estimated three lakh people employed by some 40,000 small and big travel agencies.

Mr K.V. Muraleedharan, General Convenor, and Mr E.M. Najeeb, Chairman of the Travel-Tourism Coordination Forum, said here that travel agents are agitated by the move spearheaded by Air India.

Writing off commission in this manner would force at least 95 per cent of the travel trade houses in the State to close shop, rendering unemployed lakhs of educated men and women working in the travel, tourism and recruitment sectors.

An estimated 4,700 IATA-recognised travel agencies and recruiting agencies are operating in the country. They handle business worth Rs 40,000 crore in sale of tickets annually. This fetches a revenue flow amounting to Rs 1,000 crore to the Centre. Doing away with the commission will dry up this flow of revenue at one stroke, office-bearers of the forum said here.

Agents in the travel-tourism-recruitment sectors had met here in an emergency session and floated the coordination forum. In the first instance of direct action, the forum has planned a pilot demonstration in front of the Air India office here on August 26 to protest the carrier’s alleged discriminatory attitude against the trade.

Travel and tourism trade outlets in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta will down shutters to protest.

In the event of the airline companies not acceding to its plea, the forum would be forced to further intensify their agitation, they warned.

More Stories on : Airlines | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line