Industry moves to address training challenges
INDUSTRY experts agree that
the current courses available
at tertiary institutions are
not adequate in preparing
aspiring agents for a career in
the travel industry.
The biggest challenge
is that travel makes up a
small part of a travel and
tourism qualification, says
Robyn Christie, gm of
Travelport South Africa. There
seems to be the common
misconception that a tourism
qualification provides you
with enough training to enter
a travel agency, she says.
“So when prospective agents
leave college there’s very little
that they can take into an
organisation. They then need
to begin the real life, on the
job training.”
In order to make up for
the lack of training and
preparation at tertiary
institutions, companies
need to spend time and
money on the training of a
new agent, says Kim Botti,
director at Lee Botti &
Associates. “Unfortunately,
when companies are under
pressure and times are tough,
they don’t necessarily have
the resources to do training
and the agency starts to feel
the impact of that later rather
than immediately.”
The industry is working to
find solutions to this problem.
Asata is currently working
with the Culture, Art, Tourism,
Hospitality and Sport Sector
Education and Training
Authority (CATHSSETA) and
travel industry members to
update the curriculum for
travel qualifications at tertiary
institutions and make them
more relevant.
Flight Centre also has plans
to open its own Flight Centre
Academy to train graduates.
The academy will offer an
accredited certificate in travel
with both theoretical and
practical components.
Junior consultants are not
the only staff members that
need to be trained. There
is also a need to upskill
experienced staff, says Marco
Cristofoli, md of Harvey World
Travel SA. This training needs
to move beyond the basics
of taking a phone call and
making a booking. He says
the right training interventions
can generate skilled agents,
who can then move into a
consultative role. “We are in
the people business. We sell
dreams, and to be able to sell
a dream, you have to have the
right people.”
“Finding the right person is
not just about experience and
skill, it’s whether they fit into
the culture of the company
and have the right attitude
to do their job,” says Kim.
Agents need to have the right
attitude and willingness to
learn to make it in the travel
industry, she adds.
Marco says that the Bid
Travel group has employed
people who do not have the
technical skills but have the
right mind-set. “They’ve been
such gems that they’ve then
fulfilled roles that they weren’t
employed for.” He uses the
example of senior consultants
who have moved into sales or
account management roles.
Photocap:TI adds new workshops!
Important for any training platform is that the content
be kept fresh so that agents are not wasting their time
processing the same information over and over again.
This is part of the reason why Travelinfo is constantly
updating its workshops. Divisional head, Linda van der
Pol, says a number of new suppliers have signed on to
run TI workshops, one of which is aha. Agents can now
learn all about aha’s wide range of properties across the
country’s provinces. Pictured here: aha’s Ruzandri Stoltz
(left) partners with TI’s Gina Richter (right) to bring agents
effective online product training.
Identify the gaps
AN IMPORTANT part of training
is making sure it addresses the
agency’s needs.
When there is a lack of training,
gaps occur that can cost an agency
money, says Yolandé Bouwer, gm of
Agentivity Southern Africa. “Our tool
allows agencies to identify where
there are training gaps.” Agentivity
provides feedback to agency
managers and bosses based on an
agent’s behaviour when using the
GDS.
Agentivity has identified two areas
where additional training is needed.
The first issue is that agents do not
use the corporate rate codes when
making a hotel booking on the GDS.
Without the corporate rate code, the
booking will not count towards the
agreed target between the hotel and
corporate company.
The second problamatic area is the
pre-paid hotel voucher. When agents
do not generate a voucher, the client
will have to remake the booking at
the front desk when they arrive and
pay a rate that is not pre-arranged.
This is dependent on whether there
is a room available. “What if the
traveller was the ceo, and there
wasn’t space for them at the hotel?”
Yolandé asks.
Both of these scenarios can be
avoided if agents are trained correctly,
she comments.
Plugging the skills drain
THERE is a trend
within the industry
for agents to become
ITCs, which drains
agencies of their
skilled agents.
“A lot of our
consultants have left
and become ITCs,
so we have lost
consulting experience.
People want the
flexibility of working
from home and not
necessarily in formal
employment,” says
Vanya Lessing, ceo of
Sure Travel.
One way to avoid the brain drain
is for agencies to establish their
own ITC model. HWT has done just
that. Besides evolving the Harvey
World business, Marco Cristofoli
says the model is a means of
retaining experienced staff, while
also offering them the freedom to
be their own boss.
But what about agents who are
looking for stable employment?
How can employers encourage
their staff to commit to their
organisation in the long-term?
Kim Botti of Lee Botti
& Associates says that
one way of retaining
staff is feeding their
passion for the
industry: to travel.
Having incentives
where staff can obtain
these opportunities is
important.
“Along with this
are the career
opportunities for
promotion,” says Kim.
It speaks volumes to
staff if this happens
within an organisation
as opposed to having to leave a
company to gain that opportunity.
“Internal promotions are very
powerful for an organisation.”
Promotions not only help to
recognise and reward the efforts
of staff, but also create loyalty,
says Kim.
According to Kim, training and
developing skills are often key
factors in keeping a staff member.
“People always want to learn and
grow, and if given the opportunity
this creates less need for them to
go looking for it elsewhere.”
ITC's still need training
AS ITCs operate
remotely, it’s
particularly
important for
them to make
sure they stay on
top of industry
developments.
Tammy Hunt,
operations director
of eTravel, says
that it is important
for any specialist
in their field to stay
current with industry changes.
Even with experience, ITCs
cannot simply say they know
everything and those that
do are at risk of being left
behind, she warns.
Thankfully, there are courses
and workshops available to
agents in order to stay current
with the latest changes in the
industry.
At eTravel, the team hosts
ITC meetings two or three
times a year to discuss
changes in the
industry and offer
information to
agents that will
guide them in the
running of their
business. Tammy
says that this
can range from
operational and
industry changes
to new technology.
ETravel also
organises
workshops with its suppliers
on various topics, including
air, car rental, hotels,
tour operators and travel
insurance. ITCs also benefit
from training with eTravel’s
fares specialists.
Even though ITCs come with
a wealth of experience, it is
vital to stay up-to-date, agrees
fares manager and trainer of
Club Travel, Michelle Viljoen.
Club Travel offers web
training that focuses on
the company’s preferred
suppliers. “We show our
various ITCs what suppliers
we have, what deals we have
with them, and where they
can find any additional special
rates.”
Michelle says that if agents
have joined, or are planning
to join a consortium, it is
important to stay abreast of
the negotiated deals available.
“They’ve got their own fares,
rates, and specials.” Club
Travel, therefore, offers its
ITCs courses on fares and
dynamic packaging as well as
an advanced fares course.
The fares and dynamic
packaging training helps
agents find the cheapest
fares and build it into land
arrangements. Instead of
going through tour operators
all the time, the course looks
at various online tools agents
can use to build their package
from scratch, says Michelle.
The added benefit of this
training is that agents not
only make more commission
but can also pass the savings
onto their clients, she says.
Following this, agents can
progress to the advanced
fares course. The course
covers how to find and build
more complex fares that
include multiple destinations.
This is offered across all GDS
platforms.
In order to fully understand
the full functionality of its
travel commerce platform,
Travelport offers beginner,
intermediate and advanced
courses for Smartpoint. “It
is a bit like a mobile phone.
You know how to make calls
and take photographs but
do you know how to get the
maximum benefit of all the
functionality that you’ve got in
the system? There’s so much
more to SmartPoint than
just a basic booking entry,”
says Robyn Chrsitie, gm of
Travelport SA.
The inspiration to sell
EDUCATIONAL trips offer
agents the opportunity
to experience what their
clients do when travelling.
These trips equip agents
with the knowledge
to suggest the best
attractions to their clients
based on experience and
not an online review or
brochure.
Jennifer Davis, travel
agent of ACT Travel,
attended an educational
at Mnarani Club in Kenya
in August. “Marketing
a destination across
borders is tough, she
says.” Jennifer had never
travelled out of South
Africa before and relied
on her own creativity and
imagination to sell the
destination to her clients.
The educational allowed
her to experience the
destination in the same
way her clients would.
For Jennifer, this was
also a great opportunity
to meet with the people
she corresponds with
on a regular basis. “The
difference that putting
a face to an email
address can make in any
professional relationship
still amazes me.”
On return, Jennifer
says she felt like she’d
been underselling the
destination and was
inspired by the trip. “I
brought back insights that
could never otherwise
have been obtained
otherwise. No amount of
explaining, photographs
or videos could ever
compare to the value of
being there to enjoy the
experience myself.”
Get suppliers involved
PARTNERING with suppliers
to remain up to date with
product knowledge keeps
agents at the top of their
game. Many brands offer a
range of different training
tools designed to cater for
differing training needs and
preferences.
Cruises International
offers product training
to agents across all
brands as well as general
cruising information.
Henuti Purhotam, product
manager of Cruises
International, says her
team offers everything from
face-to-face presentations
to online training manuals
and quizzes on all the
brands. “Training covers
all topics from ship facts
and information on how to
close the sale.”
Agents can find out
more about Cruises
International’s training by
visiting its travel agent
portal, Shipmates – a
one-stop shop for any
information regarding
cruise lines and upcoming
training sessions. “We are
in the process of preparing
for the next training
programme for 2017.”
These new sessions will
be made available on
Shipmates as soon as the
dates have been confirmed.
“We also arrange for
one-on-one training with
travel agents and their
teams, which we have
found is a preference
amongst the trade,” says
Henuti. Closing that sale
can be tough, which is
why Cruises International
also provides additional
support to agents during
this process and will meet
with the agent and their
client to clarify any details,
she says.
Beachcomber Tours’
sales and marketing
manager Joanne Visagie,
says Beachcomber also
offers training for agents
in a variety of forms,
including one-on-ones and
groups. “Almost every day
a rep of mine is training an
agent,” says Joanne. “We
do workshops every week
or whenever it suits the
agency.”
Training sessions focus
on the Beachcomber brand,
why agents should sell
Mauritius, the hotels on
offer and their features,
how to sell the product
and upsell, and what is
available to couples and
families.
Paging through long
brochures can be a
laborious task, which is
why Beachcomber has
focus features booklets
that highlight the important
points of the destination.
Joanne says agents can
keep it in their drawers as
a handy reference guide
on the products available.
When it comes to quickly
selling a hotel, The Right
Choice flyer summarises
the selling points of each
Beachcomber hotel into an
elevator pitch, says Joanne.
Trafalgar will be launching
an online-based training
system in early 2017,
says Bronwyn Strydom,
marketing manager. It will
be available on Trafalgar’s
website and will be tied to
the company’s incentive
programme. Agents will be
able to earn points based
on their progress through
Trafalgar’s e-learning
platform and these can be
used to pay towards travel
packages. Three modules
will be made available and
will include an introduction
to Trafalgar, why agents
should sell guided tours,
and useful sales tips.
Bronwyn says that
The Travel Corporation’s
Wanderlust (TTC)
sessions are available on
a monthly basis at the
company’s offices and
anyone can join. These
sessions expose agents to
all TTC’s brands.
