RATIONAL APPOINTMENT OF BOOKING AGENTS.
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How Matters Have Developed in this Respect in the North of England.
1-1 NEof the most' pointed ,indications IL/of the growth ofi Ihe-t motor-coach industry in Northumberland f and Durham is the remarkable.; increase in the number of sub-booking agents. Their existence is so marked that even in the smallest villages it is impossible to escape some connection with long-distance road services.
Whilst the functions of the specialized coach booking agent are naturally confined to the more thickly populated areas, the operators adopted a wise course when they made arrangements for covering the outlying areas which hitherto had not been served.
In the early days of long-distance motor coaching in the north of England, when services were few and competition rare, the operators depended for bookings mainly upon the novelty of the new mode of transport. All the traffic was drawn from the cities serving as the termini of the various.-services. But competition in a particularly strong form brought about the neces
aity covering, either directly or by feeder services, the scattered districts within 20 miles.
Consequent upon this extension arose the need for the appointment of representatives in each of the villages and towns now served. This step was carried out, but to such an extent as to necessitate in every case a careful organization to avoid over-booking. Throughout Northumberland and Durham there is now a veritable army of booking agents. For instance, at the same tince as residents purchase their daily newspapers they can arrange for a journey by road to London or Scotland. Even tobacconists are acCredited representatives of various coach concerns, whilst, amongst others, agencies are held by cafés, emigration and estate agents and provision merchants.
In one colliery town with a population of over 30,000 there are no fewer than 10 agencies, including only one business which bears any resemblance to a travel bureau.
Whilst this wide extension is obviously a useful means for increasing custom, operators, by the wholesale distribution of their advertising posters, have opened the door to irresponsible booking agents *hose actions may not be in the best interests of their operators. It would, in some respects, be preferable to appoint only a few with a specialized knowledge who would be able to offer reliable information to potential passengers, than a large number whose interest in the affair is determined by the percentage of commission which it is to receive from the proprietors of motor coaches.
The indiscriminate appointment of sub-agencies has always been one of the greatest causes of over-booking at rush periods, and a consequent shoal of complaints and even claims against operating companies—besides damaging the reputation of the industry.