Pressures for contract renegotiation in travel sector

Accent Travel&Events travel agency, with turnover put at 21.6m euros last year, in the first six months of this year saw revenues go down by 27%, to 7m euros, from a year ago. "Generally, we are experiencing problems related to the cash flow, the longer period of bill payment compared with previous years, as well as with pressures from our corporate clients as regards the renegotiation of contracts in the sense of cutting rates and extending the bill payment period," stated Lucian Boronea, the company's general manager. Accent Travel&Events' corporate clients include companies like Orange, Petrom, Subaru, Romexterra, Asiban or Washington Group, with the agency deriving almost 95% of its revenues from corporate clients. The company's representatives did not specify which companies were asking for contract renegotiation. Moreover, Boronea said non-payment risks related to the network of reselling agencies, as well as small and medium-sized clients, have risen. Accent Travel&Events operates through three travel agencies it owns, two in Bucharest and one in Ploiesti.