A lot has happened recently in the discount travel netowrk marketing industry. They raise fundamental issues of trust - particularly with regard to affiliate marketing. I discuss some of my feelings about these developments.
Filed under Blog by GRNLady
Global Resorts Network (GRN) continues to thrive. Your Travel Business (YTB), not so much.
It's really a sad situation for those who invested and were unable to make a go of it. They lost more than money; they lost their dreams. GRN, however, helps people like you and me to achieve our dreams. It operates in the travel arena, but the company is not public. It is headed by experienced executives, and its web site gives access to their names and to the business address of the company. Perhaps what recommends it most highly is that it is the marketing arm of a company which has been successful in the travel business for over 20 years - way before the Internet.
YTB is being sued by the states of California and Illinois. Both states claim that it is an illegal pyramid scheme. Even before the suites were launched, YTB management was considering a move from a Multi-Level Marketing approach to a franchise model, which indicates that it must have had an inkling that these lawsuits were in the works.
I live in St. Louis and read the St. Louis Business Journal. YTB's corporate headquarters are located not far outside of St. Louis in Wood River, Illinois. The following article has generated many comments on the SLBJ website. The link is here.
Ana Temple wanted to make some extra cash to supplement her income as a finance and human resources director for an architectural firm.
So when a family friend told her about YourTravelBiz.com and how she could set up her own online travel agency, she jumped at the chance in April.
She paid nearly $500 to set up a Web site through Wood River, Ill.-based YTB International. The company told her she'd make 60 percent commission off every trip she booked.
But then she got her paycheck: $3 per airline ticket.
That's when the company told her travel agents make 60 percent of what YTB makes, she said.
"I feel so deceived," said Temple, a Copiague, N.Y., resident. "They told us people could retire off this and take free trips. It's all a bunch of bull."
On Monday, the California attorney general sued YTB, calling it a "gigantic pyramid scheme" that swindled an estimated $103 million out of as many as 200,000 people nationwide in 2007 alone. The majority of members make most of their money from recruiting new members, not from selling travel, so only a few see the promised profits, Attorney General Jerry Brown Jr. said.
More than 90 people over the past three years have complained about YourTravelBiz.com to the Better Business Bureau of eastern Missouri and southern Illinois.
YTB denies any wrongdoing.
Several YTB agents vigorously defended YTB at the company's national convention in St. Louis this week, saying they had made money and received discounts on personal travel.
"That's because they got thousands of suckers underneath them and they're making money off us," said Temple, 38.
When she tried to cancel, YTB refused, saying it was past the five-day cancellation period. But Temple said she didn't receive her packet informing her of the cancellation policy until after the five- day period expired.
YTB denied this and she was still required to read the online terms and conditions before paying.
"They gave us so much false information," she said. "Total, total lies."
kvolkmann@bizjournals.com
Filed under Blog by GRNLady
The Hotel Residence Toscana Verde is a beautiful, skillfully renovated complex. The impressive building was once used for drying tobacco leaves and making cigars, the hotel is surrounded by a 35,000 square meter park in the midst of a protected nature reserve.
Surrounded by trees, Hotel Toscana Verde has a view of farmhouses and the rolling hills typical of Tuscany, which has much to offer whatever the time of year.
On the Road of the Chianti
The Roads of Wine are paths within wine growing areas characterized by vineyards and farms with wine cellars and by natural, cultural and historical attractions. Within a short distance, you can explore the rich history of Tuscan art and culture and visit the wine cellars where some of the most famous wines of the world are produced.
Toscana Verde Hotel is situated in Laterina, in the heart of Tuscany. There is a great variety of landscapes: thick forests of oak and poplars, plains where sunflowers, grain and corn are cultivated. The Arno river creates moist areas where you can see a large number of different birds.
Continue reading at Holiday Vacation! Thanksgiving for 2 in Tuscany.
Filed under Blog by GRNLady
