Brush up on your training!

IN A recent poll conducted
on eTNW agents said they
needed training across all
areas of their daily operations.
TNW has sourced affordable
courses that will make
a difference to your skill
levels and can be done in a
reasonably short time.
Development & Training
Strategies
“ADMs currently plague the
industry and can often cost a
travel agency a good amount
of money,” says Cheryll Watt,
director of Development &
Training Strategies (DTS) in
Bedfordview. “Consultants
are under pressure when it
comes to understanding fare
rules, re-issuing and refunding
tickets. Best practice in these
disciplines will help reduce the
ADMs received by agencies.”
In this vein, DTS provides
three one-day seminars:
Unravelling fare rules and
reducing ADMs;
Domestic and International
Re-issues (content depends
on level of re-issue
expertise);
Domestic and International
Refunds Calculations.
These seminars are
presented as either scheduled
courses (check the DTS
website for dates) or as
in-house courses tailored
to clients. Costs are from
R1 560 per consultant, but
can be negotiated for in-house
training. In addition, the
company recently launched
DTS Online with a number of
courses.
Travelinfo Workshops (TIWO)
The online Travelinfo
Workshops available through
the Travelinfo portal, are free
and can be done in the travel
consultant’s own space and
are self-paced.
Agents who are Travelinforegistered
simply need to click
on the homepage link to start
the workshop. Each workshop
ends with a compulsory
evaluation, in which the pass
mark is 80%. Successful
graduates are automatically
entered into a draw for enticing
travel prizes.
Currently running are
workshops on Réunion Island,
Mauritius, Intrepid Travel,
Airlink, Fairmont Zimbali,
RwandAir, First Car Rental and
AKTV Resorts.
Global Business Travel
Association (GBTA) Academy
The internationally developed
Fundamentals of Business
Travel course is available
through the local GBTA SA
Chapter.
This is a one-day course
which can be presented to a
group of individual members
or as a corporate member
group initiative. Dates can be
obtained from the GBTA SA
website.
The core curriculum includes
topics such as managing
the supplier relationship,
security and risk management,
travel technology basics and
measuring success through
trends, forecasting and
reporting value.
The course is R5 000 per
person but, depending on
delegate numbers, prices can
be negotiated.
African Business Travel
Association (ABTA)
ABTA offers training through its
training partners, Nina & Pinta.
Courses cost between R1 500
and R2 500 per person for a
full day.
Among the more popular
courses are:
 The A-Z of corporate travel
(particularly good for new
entrants in the sector);
 Why RFPs fail and how to
improve your approach;
Negotiation strategies
Selling to procurement;
Customer service excellence
within the corporate travel
sector.
Some are available online
but most are designed
for a face-to-face learning
environment.