Michelle Baran
It kind of makes sense: a booking site retailers can use to search the products of as many tour operators and packagers as possible, rather than having to sort through and search each individual tour operator or wholesaler.
It's not a simple task, but that is the vision that technology provider VAX VacationAccess has been trying to execute for years for the fragmented tour operator landscape. There is just one problem: VAX is owned by the Mark Travel Corp., itself an owner of several of the tour operators and wholesalers available through VAX.
Despite an obvious need for such a service in the marketplace, it's a bit of a tough sell to competitors that are worried that VAX might somehow give a competitive advantage to some of its sister companies.
As anyone who works with tour operators knows, the rivalries can be fierce.
I recently visited VAX in Minneapolis to get an update on the business, and the company remains determined to persuade more tour operators to get onboard. At the same time it's aware of their hesitations -- and is adamant that it does somehow give an unfair advantage to any of the suppliers it hosts. To circumvent those hesitations, VAX is trying to come up with a menu of packages for tour operators and wholesalers to opt into depending on the kinds of services they want and how they want retailers to book their product.
But there is one other fear tour operators and wholesalers have, as well. And that is the race to the bottom a searchable service can induce. While it's great to be able to search all the different tours and packages available out there by destination or time frame, what often happens is price comparison shopping -- the Kayak.com effect.
So, it remains to be seen whether there will ever be a comprehensive way to search tour operators and wholesalers. Retailers out there, weigh in: Would this help or hurt the industry?
Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.