InteleTravel warned of potential ban from booking Touchdown holidays

InteleTravel agents have been warned they could face a temporary ban from using Touchdown Travel Industry Services if they sell the operator’s holidays to their clients.

Travel industry discount tour operator Touchdown said it was forced to act after fears grew that InteleTravel agents planned to book the reduced rates – which are only available to travel industry professionals for their own holidays – for their clients.

Touchdown managing director Nigel Smithson said it had not in fact enforced a suspension but would have done so if the issue had not been resolved.

He blamed a lack of awareness and misunderstanding among some InteleTravel agents, who had thought Touchdown was a supplier they could book for their own customers.

He said: “We thought there might have been a potential issue. We communicated this to InteleTravel and then escalated it to the managing director to get it sorted out.

“We were just worried that some of the agents had not got the message that this was not how we operate. We work very hard to ensure the benefits are upheld for the travel industry.”

Industry professionals who book with Touchdown are asked to give identification to verify they work in the sector before they can book holidays and take advantage of the operator’s discounted rates on package holidays, cruises, hotels and resorts.

InteleTravel UK and Ireland managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes said the group was now in talks with Touchdown. She initially told members there had been a temporary suspension from booking but Touchdown later clarified it was a threat that had not been actioned.

She said: “We are in dialogue with Touchdown to get more details on this so that we can resolve the issue.”

An internal post by Handley-Hughes on InteleTravel UK Agents, an internal closed group for InteleTravel members, and seen by Travel Weekly, said the matter was being taken “extremely seriously”.