Know who your friends are: savvy travel agencies know that partnering with wholesalers can expand their bottom line. (Hawaii: Kauai).

Travel Agent, February, 2003 by Foster, Camie

Agencies look to relationships with wholesalers as a way to augment the services and market knowledge they can provide to their clients. One of the obvious benefits of tapping a wholesaler's inventory is economy of scale: Because of the sheer volume of business a wholesaler sends to Hawaii, it can negotiate volume discounts that benefit both wholesaler and agent, while still providing attractive prices for travelers. Another is the ability to capture commission on multiple elements of a client's trip.

Wholesalers also develop premium relationships with their loyal agency partners that can mean overrides and other benefits that either go into the bank or help agencies set themselves apart from their competition. As for market differentiation, wholesalers...