Press Release

Excessive Commissions will Undermine Struggling Domestic Tourism Industry

August 17, 2006

Excessive commissions on holiday units will further undermine Australia's struggling domestic tourism industry, leading holiday destination website totaltravel.com has warned. Queensland Government's Office of Fair Trading is investigating claims of excess commissions being charged for renting out holiday units.

Paul Fisher, spokesman for totaltravel.com - ranked the number one site for Australians seeking information about destinations – said recent surveys by totaltravel.com confirmed that holidaymakers have become increasing price sensitive with rising petrol prices and interest rates.

"Allegations of price gouging at holiday apartments will only deepen the concerns of Australians about whether they are getting value for money from their shrinking dollars," Mr Fisher said.

"And for apartment owners it is a double-whammy because not only are they paying exorbitant commissions, they are also suffering from a lack of domestic tourists willing to rent their apartments."

Mr Fisher said it was extremely important the tourism industry delivers strong value to holiday makers and there was a crack-down on the commission system to ensure it was fair for all parties.

"At the same time, at totaltravel.com we are increasingly seeing holidaymakers and tourist operators avoiding commissions by cutting out middlemen and using sites likes ours to contact each other," Mr Fisher said.

ENDS

Media enquires:
Paul Fisher
Global Marketing Manager
totaltravel.com
Phone +61 (0)2 6680-8755
Mobile 0404 057 367