Interesting interview from Eye For Travel with a large travel affiliate program. The questions concerning customer acquisition costs and the effectiveness of the affiliate channel in lowering these costs are particularly interesting.

Definitely worth a read, even if you’re not a travel affiliate…

In our market, as a wholesaler as well as a product owner, we face not only increasing customer aquisition costs, but also suppliers who believe the Internet offers an ‘easy/cheap’ route to market. Therefore the biggest challenge has to be one of efficiency. If you manage an affiliate programme in house, this carries it’s own costs, if you utilise an affiliate network with monthly network charges and commission fee’s you may face paying a higher unit commission than you desire to stay competitive and appealing to the affiliate market. The real question is do the affiliates produce incremental business and add value?

Do the affiliates produce incremental business and add value? - EyeForTravel.com