A chain reaction to a new style of agency

You could easily be bowled over by the new MyTravel Megastore in Norwich. In atmosphere and appearance, it's about as far removed from your dreary, bog-standard High Street travel agent as you could imagine.

The store, in a retail park opposite the railway station, is a vast warehouse of a space. Giant blow-up photos of pristine beaches, cavorting children and sexy young things, coupled to the sounds of catchy Cuban rhythms, put you in the holiday mood.

In one corner you'll find a smart cafe, in another a children's play area complete with PlayStations. At the back is a 'globetrotting lounge' for big spenders, with leather chairs, ethnic ornaments and shelves full of guidebooks.

There are other good ideas. As you come in, you're welcomed at the ' justask' desk. The store's layout is refreshingly clear: one side is geared to selling mainstream summer and winter sun holidays, the other to cruising, skiing and UK and city breaks. City breaks can be bought as 'holidays in a box' gifts: you're given, on the spot, a box of kit that includes a guidebook, ticket wallet and disposable camera, travel dates are fixed later. Sales desks are arranged so that customers and staff can look at the computer screens together. Staff do not take phone calls, so you're never disturbed in the middle of a booking.

Some ideas - the absence of phones, for instance - have been copied from other out-of-town agencies such as Holiday Hypermarket, but overall the MyTravel Megastore comes across as less gimmicky than its rivals. At present there are only two - the other is on Teesside - but the plan is to open at least a dozen more in the near future.

Even if you don't frequent retail parks, MyTravel is a name you're likely to become familiar with very soon. It's the new title of Airtours plc, and the holiday giant has decided to rename all 720 outlets of its travel agency chains Going Places and Travelworld as - you guessed it - MyTravel.

Therein lies MyTravel's major flaw. Agents that are part of what they call in the trade the four 'vertically integrated' travel companies are very likely to try to sell you holidays with tour operators that are part of their own company. In agents linked to MyTravel - Thomson, Thomas Cook and First Choice - packages with 'in-house' tour operators now account for anything from 65 to 90 per cent of sales.

This means that, all too often, the customer is being directed towards a particular holiday and tour operator, purely for commercial reasons. The customer rarely realises this, though there should be signs in agents' stores pointing out their connections with tour operators which are not always easy to spot - see the list below for links.

Dave Harris, MyTravel's UK retail managing director, admits staff in Going Places shops have in the past been encouraged 'to sell Airtours holidays, and say thank you and goodbye'. But he says the philosophy will be different in MyTravel outlets. More importance will be placed on what the customer is actually looking for, and the megastores will stock the brochures of twice as many tour operators as typical High Street agents.

Sounds good but, after my visit to Norwich, I'm not convinced. While there was a reasonable range of brochures for faraway places and cruises, the most prominent racks were filled exclusively with Airtours Summer Sun and Holidays For Less (another MyTravel company) brochures. One stand labelled 'our special brochures and offers' and 'the best' turned out to be racked with only MyTravel companies. Also, holidays with MyTravel companies are promoted on giant screens around the store and on an Internet terminal which lets you access only the MyTravel website.

So, what's the alternative? If you're looking for impartial advice and a wide range of holidays to choose from, you may be better off going to an independent agent.

I say 'may' because finding a good independent is hit and miss. To improve your chances of ending up in good hands, consider trying out one of the 180 agents dotted around the country associated with Carta - the Campaign for Real Travel Agents.

Carta members pride themselves on providing informed, independent advice and choice. Last week, I visited Edwin Doran's Travel World in Twickenham. It has been in business for 28 years and its desks are manned by a team of - how shall I put it? - mature ladies who inspire confidence.

Mr Doran, who happens to be chairman of Carta, expects his staff, where possible, to offer customers three different holiday options and he reckons that his shelves display brochures for 150 tour operators. That's around double the number of companies offered in the MyTravel Megastore, even though his shop must be about one-twentieth of the size.

Many of these companies are high-quality, independent operations that are members of the Association of Independent Operators. They trust the likes of Edwin Doran's Travel World to sell their holidays, but most won't have anything to do with the bigger travel agency chains.

At the same time, Mr Doran refuses to put the brochures of the mass-market operators out on the racks. When I was in his shop, I witnessed a member of staff trying to steer a customer interested in an Airtours holiday towards other operators.

'We're not interested in selling discounted Airtours packages,' says Mr Doran. 'If that is what the customer is after, we often send them round the corner to Going Places.'

So Going Places and the new MyTravel stores do serve a purpose. If you're just after a cheap deal, these kinds of travel agency chains are going to be usually your best bet.

If, however, you're more choosy and want unbiased advice, track down a good independent agent.

? MyTravel Megastore, Norwich, 0870 609 3101. Carta: a list of agents is available on www.realholiday.co.uk or by calling 020 8607 9080. Edwin Doran's Travel World 020 8891 4646.