TTG 21.11.08

p19 pink nov21 18/11/08 17:56 Page 19
ttglive.com
city & finance news
Comment
Don’t look back in anger
XL Leisure Group helped
make money for many
people, so let’s remember
its merits, says Chris Photi
S
ince its demise, many people have for- their own failure to manage their risk.
gotten XL Leisure Group’s good points. Larger buying groups are never
At one stage, it was a thriving entity slow in coming forward to protect written and yet, what has risen
that in a short space of time made it to themselves by paying suppliers after from the ashes of ILG? Its chief,
number three in the travel company charts. departure: why not in the case of XL? Harry Goodman, is revered is
Many companies made very substantial profits I have asked many companies who an Industry Hall of Famer.
selling XL flights as part of their dynamic lost money on XL why they continued Manny Fontenla-Novoa and
packages for a number of years and are now to buy supply from them and pre-pay Peter Long are both ex-ILG ex-
bemoaning the lack of aviation capacity to their them, despite their widely known ecutives. Fontenla-Novoa said,
most profitable destinations. difficulties. The sheepish reply has when receiving a special achi-
Balance needs to be applied in relation to its always been “We bought on price”. evement award at the Travel
recent failure and the near hysterical utterances If you live by the sword . . . Industry Hall of Fame, that he
from larger agents and consortia. There is a gap in the market that “owed everything to Harry”.
It was no secret XL had been in financial will be filled by new start-up aviation Former executives of XL will
difficulty for many months. So why then did and airline entities. rise again. Will they succeed?
these organisations not apply stricter credit While some have surmised they will Only time will tell. But the ILG expe-
control in relation to their exposure to XL, rather be the XL of tomorrow, they will still buy rience suggests that they just might.
than blaming the CAA for everything? from them. Hopefully, this time they will
Why did they not put them on “stop sale” manage their financial risk better. ■ Chris Photi is senior partner
sooner? The cynic in me believes their constant In 1991 the industry was shaken by the at accountancy company
bleating is a way of diverting attention from collapse of ILG. Many column inches were White Hart Associates
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21.11.2008 19
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