World of Vacations was rebranding as Nolitours, and it was cutting commission to 8%, raising the ire of travel agents.
The headline for this edition of ‘It Happened This Week’ is: ‘Quebec agents discuss Nolitours move to cut commission to 8% as WoV rebrands as Nolitours’
While Quebec travel advisors were the first to sound the alarm, as Travelweek’s story noted, agents in other provinces were on alert too after news of the commission cut.
“A group of Quebec travel agents has met to consider everything from forming their own tour operator, to inviting in outside wholesalers in the wake of an apparent move by Nolitours to cut commission to 8% and to go more aggressively after direct business,” said Travelweek.
The story added that agencies in English Canada may face the same issue as that week Nolitours’ sister company World of Vacations was set to be rebranded as Nolitours.
The makeover for World of Vacations / Nolitours was aimed at attracting more budget-minded travellers with two- and three-star resorts. The 8% commission strategy was designed to keep prices down.
Transat at this point owned 100% of World of Vacations, after first acquiring 35% of Canadian Holidays / World of Vacations back in 1996. Less than 10 years later – when this headline ran – Transat rebranded World of Vacations / Nolitours Vacances to Nolitours. In the intervening years the Nolitours program was integrated into Transat Holidays.
Did the headline appear in Travelweek in 2005, 2012 or 2020?
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