Bauknight, YTB's Cheerleader-In-Chief May Be Calling It Quits

A consistent cheerleader for YTB for nearly six years, Doug Bauknight has alluded that he may be moving onto different ventures.  While professing that YTB had consistently allowed him to earn a large income, he states in his newest newsletter that indeed he needed to look into another business--selling books; which he claims has grown significantly.

Now, it appears he will be moving onto a different opportunity in 2013.  He says he will still maintain his booking engine with YTB, but will no longer be leading the charge of cheerleaders with his newsletter and blog.
While we still plan on keeping our booking engine up and running, and continue to sell travel for years to come, I've struggled with this decision since this summer over maintaining our YTB Blog and this Newsletter - Just Picture It Now.While he does not come out and state that he is leaving YTB, he certainly alludes to it. You can read the full context of his newsletter here.  I am not sure that his YTB booking engine will yield any measurable income. As we have demonstrated over the years, they tend to be more of a liability than an asset. The few that have made money in YTB did so by recruiting new members to participate in the Multi Level Marketing scheme. And the fewer still that made money in travel, did so by booking affinity groups.  Of course, the main allure was the discounts which amounted to commissions earned on self-sold travel.

As Bauknight shuffles away from YTB, I am confident that the $600/year he will pay for the booking engine may pay off for discounts on his personal travel.  The question remains, will  Jeff Scott, the new owner of YTB's travel division, now called First Travel Alliance, allow people to maintain websites for their own discounts.

In other YTB news, just last night I heard that the number of travel selling RTA's (Travel Agents) has now dipped under 2,000.  At one point, YTB boasted close to 150,000.  With 2,000 agents selling at the levels of the old YTB, First Travel Alliance will not come close to being the powerhouse host agency they likely had intended.Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookPosted byJohnat12:09 PM