Supplier workshops on the decline
DESPITE being an effective
educational tool, workshops
organised by suppliers for
the local trade have been declining
gradually over the past few years.
Those that are still being held often
overlap, resulting in poor attendance.
Ester Currie, who is responsible
for sales and marketing for KZNbased
Amalfi Travel Promotions, says
workshops are still a cost-effective
training method, especially for
suppliers with out-of-town reps who
wouldn’t get access to the number of
agents during a sales visit that they do
at a one-day workshop.
Lindsay Roberts, sales executive
of International Travel Promotions,
agrees: “With the growing trend of
ITCs operating from their homes, we
as company representatives can’t
get to see them all. It is a physical
impossibility.”
According to Derek Houston, md at
Houston Travel Marketing Services, the
value of workshops is immense, as
they remain the best tool for suppliers
to educate travel agents about new
products. “With the number of new
products coming out lately, travel
agents need to be updated continually.”
However, despite the fact that
workshops remain valuable to educate
and inform travel agents, suppliers
have started cutting back on this cost.
Ester says workshops that are solely
hosted by suppliers have declined a
great deal over the years.
Lindsay adds that workshops often
overlap, which tends to result in poor
attendance. “A huge problem is that
many organisers are not listing their
workshops on Travelinfo. This creates
a problem with too many workshops on
top of each other.”
Derek agrees that events tend to
clash as there is no central place to
co-ordinate them. He says in August
no fewer than five different workshops
were organised in Durban, all at the
same time.
Some suppliers argue that the
quantity of workshops has not
lessened but the format has changed.
Joanne Visagie, marketing manager
of Beachcomber Tours, says the
tour operator doesn’t host its own
workshops around the country any
more but instead teams up with other
suppliers.
Robyn Christie, Travelport gm
for South Africa, says traditional
workshops have changed over the
years and have taken on a more
focused and strategic approach. The
decline in generic workshops may be
attributed to the fact that these events
are costly to host and, if not supported
by the appropriate attendees, the
return on investment is questionable.
Travelport, however, has not reduced its
customer workshops but has increased
them.
Alet Coetzee, training manager
of Amadeus, says the success of
a workshop is not to have an open
invitation but rather hold them in the
agents’ offices. “Travel professionals
are under more pressure than ever to
be ‘on call’ to their clients 100% of
the time so are reluctant to leave their
offices unless they feel that it offers
value to them.”
She says globally there has been
a move away from the traditional
forms of learning (classroom training
and workshops) toward knowledge
management and a growing emphasis
on online learning and webinars. There
is also a different emphasis in the
outcomes and goals of workshops.
“They are seen as more of an
experience for the attendee rather
than an information-gathering
exercise. Agents want to attend a
workshop to connect with suppliers
personally, to be made to feel special
and to experience a venue that they
normally would not.”
