Coming a fortnight after The Travel Network Group revealed a similar initiative, it made me think about TTG’s own mystery shopping concept – which we’ve been running in the magazine for 30 years.

As the travel retailing landscape has changed, we’ve adapted the mystery shopping process to reflect the way modern holidaymakers shop, comparing high street agents to web searches and call centres.

We encourage the shoppers to value the face-to-face service they get on the high street, and not necessarily be lured by a slick website or cheaper deal elsewhere – but they are asked to complete a very complicated assessment form, and high street agents don’t always score as highly as they could.

We know that agents winning TTG’s mystery shopper challenge can be a real confidence boost and something you can shout about to customers.

But we also know that doing poorly is demotivating for the team – especially when our model gives you only limited feedback, and when the review of your business appears online where potential customers might read it.

We care deeply about customer service, and it’s one of the biggest factors we consider when we personally assess the 95 branches and agencies shortlisted for our TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies list each year.

But in 2017, is it still relevant and helpful for TTG to use your consultants’ valuable time to mystery shop your business, without your agreement, and publish the results in a public arena?

We’d like you to complete a short questionnaire (here or below) to share your thoughts and tell us if we should do things differently – or whether TTG giving agents a weekly opportunity to shine is just as valuable as ever. Over to you!

Pippa Jacks,

Group editor, TTG Media