Agents tackle school holidays sales slump

SALES during mid-year school
holidays this year have seen a
strong decline due to budget
constraints, some agents report,
with clients enquiring about local
destinations to save money.
Princess Majiki, md of Khuseleka
Travel & Shuttles, notes a substantial
slowdown in sales and says more
travellers are enquiring about local
travel options to fit their smaller
budgets.
“Sales are between 50% and 80%
lower than they were this time last
year,” says Princess, adding that she
suspects the downturn in business is
a result of tougher economic times.
Ros Chimes, owner of Ros-4-Travel,
says business during the holidays has
been its slowest in 17 years.
Quinten Barnard, head of marketing,
Cruise Corner, of XL Travel Sandown,
agrees and says a changing market
requires agents to react to clients’
new preferences.
Matthew Fubbs, sales director of
The Holiday Factory, says the downturn
in sales and changing traveller
preferences provide agents with an
opportunity to find more value for their
clients than ever before.
“Often, travellers will assume that
local holidays are a lot more affordable
than international holidays, which is
not always the case. As a result, we’ve
seen good sales in affordable island
destinations,” says Matthew.
Ros adds that the best way to find
value for clients is by promoting allinclusive
packages so that they know
exactly how much they are paying
beforehand.
Agents should rather promote the
value of alternative destinations, or
find ways to add value to the original
trip by suggesting cheaper flights so
that better accommodation can be
booked, says Matthew.
However, some industry players
haven’t experienced the same drop
in sales. Joanne Adolphe, ceo of
Thompsons Holidays, and Annemarie
Lexow, sales and marketing manager
of Travel Vision, both say travel during
the school holidays is up, as most
of the sales for the mid-year school
holidays were made months ago,
before the economic downturn.