Discounted deposits boost January sales

A RECENT trend of discounted
deposit promotions has
emerged among operators
looking to spur sales during
January, a traditionally slow
booking month.
Early last year, Intrepid
Travels introduced a global
discounted deposit promotion.
It allowed clients to secure
a tour space for only R25
per person, a much lower
commitment that the usual
R4 000 deposit that the
adventure company usually
required. Similar promotions
ran concurrently around the
world where deposits were
reduced to GBP1 or AUD1 for
a limited period.
Caroline Tinsley, business
development manager of
Intrepid Travels, said the
company had decided to
reintroduce the popular ‘Travel
More, Deposit Less’ special
again this year.
She said the marketing
campaigns had created a lot
of interest in their products
globally and, although initial
commitment required by
clients was very low, the
2017 campaign had resulted
in a global cancellation rate
of only 6%. Caroline said,
in South Africa agents had
generally tied their clients
into the bookings with prebooked
flights that they
were able to afford earlier
due to the reduced deposit,
and that there had been no
cancellations from the market
for bookings made during the
promotion.
Product and contracting
executive for Mauritius and
Zanzibar from Thompsons
Holidays, Celeste Muir, said
the operator had recently
introduced a discounted
deposit special to Zanzibar to
encourage sales. The special
is in conjunction with Mango
Airlines and available for set
departure dates during school
holidays in March, April and
June at Dongwe Ocean View.
Celeste said it allowed
clients to secure their space
by putting down a R1000
deposit per person.
“A similar package would
generally require a family of
four to put down a R30 000
deposit to secure their next
holiday, while our current
special requires a total deposit
of only R4 000.
Celeste said this was the
first initiative of its kind that
Thompsons had launched and
that so far responses had
been positive.
Janine Pretorius, owner of
Encore Cruises, said Regent
Seven Seas Cruises had
introduced a reduced deposit
promotion for bookings made
in January.
She said Encore Cruises
had had a bumper January
sales month this year but
couldn’t confirm if the boom
related specifically to the
deposit promotion, as Regent
had been running discounted
rate specials concurrently
and had also recently added
more value to its fully inclusive
rates.