A host of
problems
Four travel advisors share a cautionary tale about their first host agency, one that was regularly late with commission payments, was opaque in communication and still owes them money.
By Jamie Biesiada
Jaime Dutkin, Jennifer Elsworth, Lane Valentine and Samantha Williams are four travel advisors whose stories mirror those of so many in the industry today.
They’ve always loved to travel. They were their friends’ and family members’ first stops when they were looking for travel recommendations. They even planned some trips. Eventually, a lightbulb went off: They could make money doing something they enjoyed doing in their spare time.
When they started researching careers in the travel industry online, they came across a host agency, World of Wishes Travel in Rio Rancho, N.M., and signed on. At first, things were good, but slowly, communication with the owner became less frequent. Commission payments were late, then stopped coming altogether.
Each of the four advisors is owed at least a few thousand dollars, and they have since found another host, one that values transparency and on-time payments, but they want theirs to be a cautionary tale.
Valentine said of World of Wishes owner Shayna Keene, “We just want her to not be able to take anybody else for granted and take them for a ride and get their money.”
It is rare for host agencies to cease commission payments and essentially go out of business. Stephanie Lee, founder of the website HostAgencyReviews.com, said she usually hears about one or two hosts going the way of World of Wishes each year.
But the problem takes on a new sense of urgency with the coronavirus crisis looming over the industry.
It’s already happening, according to Vanessa McGovern, chief sales officer of the host agency Gifted Travel Network in Mooresville, N.C. The network is already getting calls from advisors whose hosts have not paid their commissions or whose payments are late. She likened the situation to a Warren Buffett quote: “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”
“That’s what’s going to happen,” McGovern said. “The tide has gone out, and we’re going to see who’s been swimming naked.”
The World of Wishes story
Of the four travel advisors who told their World of Wishes story to Travel Weekly, Valentine had been with the host the longest, since June 2016. She and her fellow agents all told similar stories.
Valentine had worked in child care for years, but she decided to join the travel industry full time and signed a contract with World of Wishes.
At first, the advisors reported a positive atmosphere at World of Wishes, with monthly Facebook Live meetings and what appeared to be a caring owner.
“They would check in on me, and it just felt very much like a family,” Williams said.
‘World of Wishes would check in on me, and it just felt very much like a family.’
Keene would pair new advisors with more seasoned advisors who could help with basic questions.
Keene did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment for this report.
In her first months with the host, Valentine had sent a few messages to her “buddy,” as they were called. But eventually, her buddy told her she was no longer with the host. Valentine wished her well, and that was that.
The years went by. Commission payments were always late, but Valentine and her fellow agents didn’t realize that. World of Wishes had been their only host agency, and they assumed the host’s behavior was normal.
Keene said that suppliers paid on different schedules and through different methods, according to Valentine. The owner told advisors they couldn’t even ask about payment until three months after the client’s travel dates. She also blamed technical difficulties on the suppliers’ ends.
At one point, Williams used a form World of Wishes made available so agents could ask questions anonymously. She asked how commissions work, feeling like she was missing something about why her payments were so late. Shortly after, a post appeared on the agency’s closed Facebook group.
Williams recalled that it “basically said it’s very rude to talk about commissions, and we shouldn’t talk about commissions with other people. I was really beat down over that. I was, like, oh my gosh, I did something I shouldn’t do. Maybe it’s just me and I am stupid. So I just went about my merry way.”
Valentine called the situation “a slow fade — it was not black and white.”
Eventually, though, suspicions continued to mount among the agents. With their questions to World of Wishes largely ignored, they started to talk to one another.
Elsworth recalled, “It kind of snowballed from there once we all realized we were really all missing a lot of money.”
Valentine had also seen a post on an online travel agent group stipulating that there’s something wrong if a host isn’t promptly paying commissions. Many commenters called it a red flag. It was all too familiar a story for Valentine.
By January of this year, all four travel advisors had left World of Wishes. The agency’s Facebook page and website have been taken offline, and messages left at its phone number go unanswered. None of the agents have heard from Keene.
They are considering taking legal action against her, but those efforts have been slowed, at least in part, by the Covid-19 crisis.
Despite their first experience in the industry going sour, all four remain sellers of travel. They have joined a new host agency, one they called transparent and, importantly, prompt with payments and answers to any questions.
“Now we actually get to see what [a host] agency really can be like,” Dutkin said. “You can ask anything, and everyone will help.”
Over the course of the World of Wishes saga, Valentine again got in touch with the “buddy” she worked with when she started in 2016. That advisor told her she and a handful of others left World of Wishes for the same reason as Valentine and her contemporaries.
“This time around, we decided, look, [Keene] does this all the time,” Valentine said. “She’s going to do it to other people, and we just want her to stop.”
The former World of Wishes advisors said they would like to see some kind of industry oversight put in place to police host agencies and prevent this from happening again.
“I think this industry needs to change,” Elsworth said. “Something needs to be put into place to protect and maybe regulate it a little bit. I don’t know if it’s certification. I don’t know what the answer is. But something should be done.”
ASTA senior vice president and general counsel Peter Lobasso said the Society can and will step in when members experience similar issues. But World of Wishes was only in ASTA’s database as a “prospect,” meaning they had contacted ASTA but never actually joined. The agents were not members.
World of Wishes was an affiliate member of Travel Leaders Network’s consortium division, a spokeswoman confirmed in February, but she said those agencies are “independently owned and operated, and Travel Leaders Network is not involved with the contracts that owners create between their agencies and their independent travel advisors or staff.”
Research and look for red flags
While there is no formal accreditation or similar requirement for starting a host agency, certain signs can suggest a bad actor.
HostAgencyReviews.com’s Lee, like McGovern, said she anticipates that more hosts will hit rocky financial periods as a result of Covid-19’s impact on the industry.
“It’s very attractive when they have money sitting in there — if they need money, even if it’s not their own — to use it for things,” Lee said of host agencies.
‘It’s very attractive when a host has money sitting there — even if it’s not their own — to use it.’
She recommended that travel advisors do thorough research before signing on with a host.
While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with newer host agencies, there is something to be said for more established hosts that have been in business — and paying agents — for years. They tend to have more stability.
Lee also encouraged advisors to review contracts.
“It can help you get a feel for how organized the agency is and how serious they are about it,” she said. “If it’s someone that has no contract, that’s a red flag for me in that there are going to be problems.” Moreover, the problems might not necessarily mean that they’re not going to pay commission but that “your relationship isn’t spelled out, so there’s going to be, in the future, at one time or another, disagreements on what’s happening, because it was never clarified in the beginning.”
Talking to currently hosted agents is also a tactic for prospects, she said. Posting on travel agent message boards is also a good way to get information.
Andy Ogg, co-owner of the website FindaHostTravelAgency .com, agreed that research and reading host reviews are key. Ogg also concurred that a host’s history can lend to its credibility.
“A host agency that has been around for 10 years would seemingly be a much more credible option in comparison to a new host agency that is just getting started,” he said.
‘If the host is trying to tell you what to do and how to run your business, that’s a big red flag.’
McGovern recommended looking for a host that is a member of the Professional Association of Travel Hosts. The association’s members adhere to its standards and have to meet certain criteria to join, including having written contracts.
Once an advisor has found a host, there are a number of red flags that could signal it’s time to move on.
The biggest, McGovern said, is payment.
“Are you getting your commissions on time, when you’re supposed to be?” she asked. “Not even one payment should be missed. Nothing. Everything needs to be documented.”
Host agency
red flags
While there is no surefire way to determine if a host agency is financially sound, there are some telltale signs that might signal trouble ahead.
When you're looking for a host:
• Look for a member of the Professional Association of Travel Hosts
• Talk to the host’s current ICs about their experiences and whether they get paid on time
• Get a feel for how transparent the host is
• How long has the host been in business? Longevity is often a signal of stability
• The host’s contract
• The host’s commission-tracking process
• What kind of suppliers do they use? Size does not guarantee profitability, but larger suppliers tend to be less likely to go out of business
• How big is the host? Again, size does not guarantee profitability, but it does offer some safety nets
• If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is
When you're already hosted:
• Late or missing commission payments
• Unwillingness to answer questions about payments
• General lack of communication
• Unwillingness to let advisors form their own communities or unwillingness to let advisors attend industry events where they will encounter other advisors
Sources: Robert Joselyn, Stephanie Lee, Vanessa McGovern, Andy Ogg
Agents should also be aware of how collaborative and transparent the host is and if it tries to restrict its independent contractors in any way — for instance, McGovern said, from going on fam trips where they might talk with other agents.
“If the host is trying to tell you what to do and how to run your business, first of all, they’re not complying with government standards of independent contractor laws,” McGovern said. “Second of all, that’s a big red flag.”
Robert Joselyn, president and CEO of the Joselyn Consulting Group, said there is no foolproof way to ensure that a host will remain in decent financial shape. With the added stresses of the coronavirus crisis being placed on businesses, he warned agents against signing on with hosts that are offering deals that sound too sweet.
With the added stress of coronavirus, if a host’s offer ‘sounds too good to be true, it may be.’
“If it sounds too good to be true, it may be,” he said. “You’ve got to be aware of things that look desperate right now.”
Built with Shorthand