“NOT everybody can
afford a five-star
facility. However,
paying less never means
compromising service levels
or product offering,” says
Greg Hoffman, marketing
manager of Birchwood Hotel
& OR Tambo Conference
Centre. He believes budgetconscious
travellers are
and will continue to be
“exceptionally important
to travel agents, especially
due to the unpredictable
economy”.
As more and more people
tighten their budgets, there
are ways and means of
securing a better deal.
1. Longer lead times
According to Greg, lead
times are an important
factor. “The earlier
one can be aware of a
requirement, the easier
it is to ensure the best
possible accommodation
is received for the need. It
is not always possible, but
helps dramatically if it can
be pulled off. When there is
a lot to offer on the property
itself, without having
to outsource suppliers
or products, pricing is
positively affected.”
FlySafair sales distribution
manager Samantha
Winchester, adds: “There
are cheap seats on every
flight, but the early bird
always gets the worm.
Cheap seats for the
December holidays start
selling out as early as May.”
2. Take advantage of
deals
Instead of itemising each
individual component
required, Greg says agents
should look for a package
that incorporates all the
client’s requests as part
of the deal. Mango HOD
sales, Koos Mhlongo, says
agents should always check
what deals are in place
between the client and their
airline and apply them, as
they can amount to cost
savings. Also, he reminds
agents to check for hidden
or undisclosed costs before
taking a quote to the client.
Avoca Travels, says
director, Ebrahim Vadachia,
has redefined budget
packages designed to
offer the best quality at
the lowest price. “We use
our decades of experience
and network of partners to
capitalise on various market
scenarios, for example,
a new hotel wanting to
enter into the market
aggressively and offering
special introductory deals to
build their brand.” Another
instance could be hotels
offering discounts in low
season.
3. Ditch the frills
Signature Lux Hotels keeps
its rates attractive by
excluding money wasters,
says spokesperson, Cleo
Johnson. For example, she
asks whether it is necessary
to book someone on a bed
and breakfast basis if they
leave the hotel at 06h00.
Do they really need the
five-star frills if they are
only spending six hours in
the room, sleeping? “We
focus on giving guests what
they require and no extras.
This allows for budget
travel to still be classy and
corporate-worthy,” she says.
Excluding elements such
as swimming pools, gyms
and spas down to slippers
and gowns, Signature Lux
offers only the necessities,
including free coffee, free
high-speed uncapped
WiFi, free parking and
prime locations. “The new
generation of travellers
tend to prefer the budget
accommodation options,
leaving more money in the
pocket. Studies have shown
that they’d rather spend
their money on experiences.
Travellers do not travel to
spend their days in the
hotel, it is merely a place to
lay your head down,” Cleo
says.
Ebrahim, however,
cautions against ‘short
changing’ clients. “[Don’t]
put them in a dump, albeit
in a good location, or in a
fairly good hotel that’s in
a dodgy, distant or nontourist
area.” He adds that
budget travellers want the
best for way less than the
going rates. “We normally
give them a basic no frills
land arrangement package
consisting of transfers,
accommodation with
breakfast and optional tours
and airfares. Intercity travel
options at the selected
destinations are either
coach, train, regular ferry or
low-cost carriers. This way,
clients are free to choose
what best suits them.”
4. Flexibility
Samantha says one of the
ways to secure a well-priced
flight is to be flexible on
travel times and dates.
“Peak periods, like holidays
or commuter flights, tend
to sell out fast, but there’s
often a great deal to be had
during the week.” She says
travelling light also helps.
“With FlySafair, you can
save by opting not to take
checked-in luggage, so if you
can get away with just your
hand luggage, you’re bound
to save.”
Robyn Christie, country
manager SA for Travelport,
says it is really important
that agents offer multiple
options and alternative
dates where availability and
pricing are better. “In such
a price-sensitive market,
customers are often willing
to be flexible with their
travel dates if it means a
better rate.”
5. Turn to technology
Ebrahim encourages agents
to couple their industry
experience and product
knowledge with cuttingedge
technology. “Use
metasearch engines that
return comparative pricing
across your selected range
of aggregators and service
providers.”
Says Robyn: “By
recommending the right
hotel and car rental,
Local LCC landscape has its differences
T
he low-cost carrier (LCC)
landscape in South Africa
has developed with its
specific variances, and does
not resemble the models we
find in other regions of the
world. At present, it’s confined
to the domestic market, where
it has made enormous impact
over the last 25 years or so.
However, on the international
travel scene, the high cost
of fuel, taxes and labour are
not variables for airlines, and
with South Africa falling largely
into the long-haul category of
destinations, these factors
have, to date, worked against
international LCCs, despite a
number of them announcing
their low-cost intentions.
Domestically, we’ve seen
many low-cost start-ups over
the years, some of them
collapsing in major failures.
South African travellers,
however, are a resilient lot,
and more recently we seem to
have settled into a relatively
stable environment, with
most domestic LCCs flying at
capacity.
Interestingly, tickets sold
by LCCs are not consistently
low-cost. In Europe, customers
can be confident that LCCs
offer cut-price fares yearround.
In South Africa with its
relatively small market, LCCs
remain heavily influenced
by yield and demand; when
there’s a major sporting event,
for example, fares are not that
low.
With the rise of LCCs airlines
are having to look for more
flexibility to grow and to hit
challenging revenue targets.
The dilemma for the traditional
airlines, particularly in their
short-haul and domestic
networks, is how to compete
with low-cost rivals, and on
long-haul, how to compete
with traditional carriers. The
answer – by differentiating on
a product basis rather than
purely on price.
Price, of course, is a driver.
But for business travellers,
efficiency is just as important
a consideration. While leisure
travellers focus on the cost
of the airfare, for corporates
the issue is the cost of
travel – combining airfare with
accommodation, car and time
out of the office.
As a result, many business
executives want to confine
domestic trips to one day.
They need to maximise time
and fly at peak times, incurring
higher fares. They might favour
traditional carriers, rather
than depend on an LCC with
fewer daily frequencies and a
smaller fleet, avoiding costly
inconveniences in the event of
rescheduled flights.
Online: Trade together with GDSs can compete
There’s a fundamental
perception among budget
travellers that booking online
is less expensive, and more
convenient than using a travel
consultant.
This is not always true.
With the flight booking
process evolving beyond
just a basic ticket to include
ancillary services and
involve many more touch
points, the traditional GDS
concept has also evolved.
Travel consultants have
the benefit of GDSs such
as Travelport, which offer
incredible searching tools to
locate the most competitive
prices, workflow automation,
customer servicing, agency
robotics, customer booking
changes, integrated itineraries
as well as the provision of
data for customer reports
and invoicing, among other
services.
Our Best Buy Plus (BBP),
for example, will continue
searching for cheapest
fares on un-ticketed PNRs
even after flights have been
confirmed. Predefined
criteria are used as a set
of rules that BBP uses
to determine whether a
saving can be made.
Consultants can
customise fare search
options to include
waitlisted classes and more.
Our Fare Shop facility includes
millions of fares and hundreds
of thousands of itinerary
options in the search.
Digital travellers searching
online expect simplicity and
a frictionless experience
but do not always have the
experience to tick the right
boxes. For example, they may
reject paying a slightly higher
fare that protects their options
to change bookings, not
anticipating the high penalties
involved in altering flights. A
travel consultant’s service fee
is often the lesser evil.
Travel consultants are nine
times more likely to book
airline ancillaries when using
our merchandising tool and
if both LCC and traditional
carriers are combined in
the booking, will ensure the
information is carried through
to all airlines. Our Travelport
Smartpoint product pulls
through all ancillary product
information and facilitates the
booking of network airlines
alongside LCCs.
Budget travellers using
travel consultants have,
through Travelport, access
to rich hospitality content
that includes budget hotels
and B&Bs. Through our
powerful metasearch abilities,
consultants can source a
collection of budget properties
from multiple sites at a
glance, all mapped to offer
convenient alternatives and
with the ability to lodge
special requests. If budget
travellers are utilising an offpeak
flight at an inopportune
time, the consultant can
check whether the property
selected will be open to
receive them.
As long as budget travellers
focus on prices rather than
service, travel consultants will
find themselves coming up
against consumer resistance.
Consumer trust needs to
be built; industry members
need to promote themselves
as best they can, and
leverage their membership
of professional associations
such as Asata.
Some might argue that
younger generations will trust
an online peer review faster
than a travel consultant’s
advice. The influential
TripAdvisor is now integrated
into Travelport’s platforms, and
at a click, travel consultants
can access a myriad of peer
reviews without having to
enter the TripAdvisor site.
As the general shift in
traveller sentiment toward
self-service continues, we see
a growing desire by travellers
to self-service their own trips.
Travelport is answering these
needs through innovation
in mobile and digital travel
technology.
The itinerary app, developed
by Travelport with Trip Assist
technology for consumer use
on mobile applications, is
cutting-edge. Consortiums can
brand the app and make it
available to travellers, enabling
them to hold everything
pertaining to their booking on
a smartphone. XL Travel, to
name an example, offers the
app as XLGO.
agents can add value to
customers and revenue for
the travel agency.” She says a
challenge for agents is rapidly
finding suitable and available
options at an acceptable price.
“Any offering that does not
address all these is unlikely
to convert to a booking, so
agents need to quickly search
and then book all the extras,
such as bags and meals, for
both traditional and low-cost
flights, without the tedium of
checking details from multiple
websites.”
Travelport offers the tools
to instantly compare fares
and view images in a single
window, suggesting options
that clients may not have
previously considered. These
tools empower agents to
respond to travellers’ queries
at the initial time of asking,
and they assist travel bookers
in making decisions based on
information beyond rate and
availability alone.
Agentivity, says ceo, Riaan
van Schoor, can assist agents
in saving their clients’ money.
The most obvious benefit
is time savings. Agents can
research fares in depth, use
the data gathered
by Agentivity to
understand their
clients better,
present options to
them they know
will work without
wasting the client’s
time.” Further, he
says agents should
avoid booking for
quotes as it takes
inventory out of
the system,
thereby driving
prices up.
6. Cultivate cost-saving
“Make client savings part of
the culture of your TMC by
measuring and rewarding it,”
says Themba Mthombeni,
ceo of Duma Travel. He says
cost savings and customer
service are always top of
mind for all bookings. “Our
consultants get rewarded for,
among other things, showing
great savings reports for their
customers. We regard cost
savings as the key reason for
our existence as the TMC.”
He adds that TMCs have to
consistently show value-add
through savings they can
garner for their clients. “The
corporate travel
game is shifting
toward providing
actionable travel
information to the
client, which can
be used to make
proactive costsaving
decisions,
and changing
travel behaviour,”
he says.
This is echoed
by Ebrahim: “We
believe cost
saving, especially
in these challenging times, is a
sign of respect for our valued
clients and their hard-earned
money.”
“Today’s travellers have very
high expectations and are
generally looking for much
more now than a simple pointto-point
travel booking,” says
Robyn. “No matter where
they’re jetting to, they still
value the expert opinions
of a travel professional.
With booking choice no
longer about price alone, the
successful agent is the one
who knows how to convert
that knowledge into bookings
that offer the most value for
money.
Best days for a flight deal
FlySafair’s Samantha
Winchester says
the best deals are
usually found midweek.
“Tuesdays and
Wednesdays are, on
average, the cheapest
days to fly. Mondays
and Saturdays are not
bad. The most expensive
flights are those on
Fridays and Sundays.”
Travel trade vital to LCCs
AGENTS can secure lower
prices for their clients by
booking low-cost carriers.
This has not always been
a popular move, particularly
for corporate clients.
But that is all changing,
according to many in the
travel industry.
“At inception, Mango’s
mandate was to make flying
affordable for the ‘previously
unflown’ and thus our
primary target was the end
user,” says Mango’s Koos
Mhlongo. Later, this was
extended to the “budget
corporate” – SMMEs with a
minimum travel spend for
self-booking or through their
own travel administrator.
Over the years, Koos says
this mandate has been
extended to all possible
distribution channels, with
the travel trade being the
most strategic.
“Mango has structured
deals with the travel trade
that were initially available
online. These deals are for
the benefit of the mutual
corporate client. In a bid
to make our product easier
and simpler to sell, we
have extended our reach
to the GDS. This ensures
seamless transactions
for the travel trade, from
reservation, book and hold,
various payment methods,
to ticketing,” he explains.
Catering for corporates
FlySafair’s Samantha
Winchester says there
has been “massive
interest” from corporates.
“Feedback has been that
our fares fall within their
budgets and our on-time
performance is making us
a very attractive option.”
She says FlySafair’s
different fare types work
for corporate travellers.
The lite fare works for
those who are in and
out the same day and
luggage-free. For longer
trips where changes may
occur, the standard fare,
which includes a checked
bag, priority boarding and
two free penalty changes
to the date, time and
route, is popular.
Luane Lavery, brand
communication manager
for kulula.com, says there
has been a “massive
increase” in business
travel on kulula as
customers are becoming
more price sensitive due
to the economic climate.
She says the airline
caters for business
customers with elements
such as flexible branded
ticket fares and addons
like best fares of
the day on kulula.com
and British Airways, free
flight changes (only the
difference in fare and
taxes apply) and no
booking fees.
Other features include
competitive car-hire rates
with Europcar and hotel
rates with the City Lodge
Hotel Group; invoicing
and reporting; account
management and access
to the Corporate
Reservations team.
“We also offer prepaid
seating so that
business travellers can,
for instance, secure their
seat in the front of the
plane [so that they can
disembark] as quickly as
possible to make that
early morning meeting,”
adds Luane.
LCCs are evolving
Samantha says travel agents
are hugely important in
selling the airline.
“We actively work
together with the travel trade
in educating them on our
product offerings and gaining
their support.”
Robyn Christie of
Travelport, says Iata is
forecasting passenger
demand to double over the
next 20 years, which will
change passenger behaviour.
“Budget travel no longer
has the stigma of a few
years ago and low-cost
carriers are expanding fast
to evolve into hybrid LCCs
to win over new customers,
including the business
traveller.
“Making up around 25%
of the industry today,
LCC flights are becoming
more and more popular,
so it’s essential agents
include them in all traveller
recommendations,” she says.
Robyn adds that Travelport
has connected and fully
integrated more than 120
LCCs into its platform.
“With Travelport Smartpoint,
network airlines and low-cost
carrier options are returned
side-by-side within the search
results, so agents can always
offer the best choices,
advice and value.”
Further, Robyn explains that
Travelport makes it possible
for agents to see an airline’s
full range of fare families to
enable upsells and the sale
of ancillary products.
“That’s seats, bags, WiFi
on board, fast-track security,
whatever the airline wants.
“Some 230 of the 400
airlines we have are
presently implemented with
this capability, driving better
revenue per seat for our
airline customers,” she says.
Duma Travel ceo, Themba
Mthombeni, says the inflight
facilities of budget and
traditional carriers are very
comparable.
“It is catering that can be
an issue for corporates in
particular, but this can be
avoided by striking corporate
deals with LCCs,” he says.
According to Themba,
attitudes toward using lowcost
carriers, particularly
for corporate travel, are
becoming more positive in
the challenging economic
climate. But, he says, the
decision to utilise them
has to be taken at the
top level, otherwise there
can be resistance.
Themba warns of the
potential pitfalls with budget
tickets, namely that they are
usually non-refundable and
non-changeable.
“It is critical to explain the
terms and conditions for
budget travel arrangements
to avoid a scenario where
the corporate has to pay
penalties for changing the
booking. More for less travel
arrangements work well for
clients who are disciplined
or do not change once
arrangements are fixed,”
adds Themba.
Riaan van Schoor of
Agentivity, says these days
the route plays the most
important role in determining
the choice of carrier.
He says there has not been
a major increase in LCC
bookings.
“It’s sort of settled and I
personally don’t think it will
increase as drastically as in
the beginning.
“LCCs have reached their
distribution ability and if
they want to increase any
further they’ll have to adopt
more traditional distribution
chains.”
Stretching the rands
FOR leisure clients
looking to go where
their rands will stretch
a little further, suggest
one of the following
hot, yet affordable
destinations:
Zanzibar
Greece
Thailand
India
Mauritius
Victoria Falls
Ireland
Vietnam
Croatia
KwaZulu Natal
Keep your word
SCENARIO: A family of four
is looking to get away on
a tight budget of around
R20 000. With no specific
destination in mind and
flexibility on dates, the
objective is to get the best
possible holiday.
Flight Centre, Eden on the Bay
I was greeted
immediately
and discussed
my options with
Amelia Shand.
She asked
whether I was
hoping to go
overseas or travel
locally. I said
an international
trip would be first prize.
She told me it might be
difficult as my budget was
small but that she had
recently seen some great
specials for Bali and would
look into it for me. She
said Thailand was also
an affordable option and
Mauritius when there were
good specials. She showed
me a special for Bali and
said it might be in my price
bracket and promised to
send me
a few options
by the next
morning, but
the choice may
have to be local.
I left the store
feeling hopeful
that there was a
chance of finding
a really good deal
on an international trip,
which would prove that it
is worth going to a travel
agent rather than booking
online to get the best deal.
Amelia called the next
day to say she had found
a Zanzibar package that
was slightly outside my
budget and that she would
continue to look for other
options.
Sure Travelways, Bayside Mall
The agent greeted me
immediately. I told her my
budget and she said she
had to be honest, it was very
small and that local travel
would be the only way to go.
She suggested self-driving
to Port Elizabeth, which I’m
not sure would be the best
option for a family with a oneyear-old
baby. She mentioned
Durban as an alternative
but pushed PE as safe with
warm sea water for the
kids. She looked up flights
and accommodation for PE
while I sat there, which was
a nice way to see what my
budget could get but she
didn’t suggest the next step.
I wasn’t sure if she was just
offering advice for me to go
and book my own holiday or
if she was interested in doing
it for me. I asked if she could
send me the information and
perhaps some other options
and she said she would.
I thought she had forgotten
about me as days went by
without any correspondence.
About a week later, she sent
me two packages for PE only,
which I thought were quite
pricey for a local holiday,
considering that I had asked
for budget options. I also
hoped that she would look at
other destinations as I had
asked her to do this.
The Travel Arena, V&A Waterfront
I felt a little sheepish walking
into his agency due to its
location. I imagined that
most of their clientele would
be international tourists with
strong currencies to spend and
my request for a budget holiday
wouldn’t be taken seriously. I
was pleasantly surprised when
I got a warm greeting from this
consultant. She spoke about
some of the destinations that
might fall within my budget,
related to my needs for a family
holiday and gave great advice
on the positives of travelling
locally when on a tight budget.
KZN was her destination of
choice but she said she would
look for international options as
well as cruises. She also asked
about passports and the ages
of my children. She promised
to send me options via email.
After a few days I had heard
nothing so followed up with an
email. She responded, saying
she was unable to reach me
on the phone and wanted to
speak to me about what she
had found. I asked her to call
me the next morning to discuss
and she said she would but
I have yet to hear anything
further. This was disappointing
as she seemed genuinely
interested in assisting me.
Take a note!
The purpose of the Naked Agent is to assess the experience from only a sales skills perspective and not
the effectiveness of the travel agency. TNW believes that sales skills are increasingly important to travel
agents and, in many cases, improvement in selling skills is the easiest way to increase the prosperity of
the agency and its consultants.
Lounge around with kulula
KULULA.COM customers
as well as qualifying FNB,
RMB and Comair Limited
VIP guests now have access
to the newly opened SLOW
XS lounge at Lanseria
International Airport.
Kulula’s Luane Lavery
says: “The lounge is
aligned to the company’s
broader strategy to provide
our customers, business
travellers and their
families with the exclusive
opportunity to experience
one of the greatest aspects
of business travel: the
tranquil respite of a luxury
travel lounge with all the
touchpoints a business
customer would need.”
Silverbirch @ Birchwood
This year the Le Grande
Centre at the Birchwood will be
completely upgraded with the
goal of incorporation into the
Silverbirch@Birchwood product
offering.
Following the upgrade, guests
will enjoy superior conferencing
packages, upmarket facilities
and exclusive dining options.
Le Grande Centre has
the capacity to hold groups
of up to 400 people and
incorporates bar and lounge
facilities.
Silverbirch @ Birchwood
recently won a Certificate of
Excellence from TripAdvisor
for consistent and constantly
positive guest reviews.
FlySafair is on the up and up
FLYSAFAIR continues
to grow in the South
African market. The
low-cost carrier recently
announced that it would
launch new routes
between Durban’s King
Shaka International
Airport and East London
as well as between
Durban and Port
Elizabeth. The first flights
depart on November 27
and tickets are on sale.
The airline has also
been ranked the world’s
most on-time airline
for 2017 by OAG, with
an annual on-time
performance of 95,94%.
New fare search tech coming to Duma
THE Duma group recently
joined the global travel
company Uniglobe.
Currently, Duma is in the
process of implementing
Uniglobe’s global fare search
programme.
Duma’s Themba
Mthombeni says this
enables the TMC to book
cheap flights in any trave
Book it!
Avoca Travels is offering special land-only deals to South America
and Morocco.
South America, from R6 997 excluding taxes, includes twin
accommodation with breakfast, three nights in Rio de Janeiro, three
nights in Iguazu and three nights in Buenos Aires, plus three tours.
The special is valid from the end of October until mid-December.
The Morocco package includes seven nights in hotels in Casablanca,
Rabat, Fez and Marrakesh with breakfast, lunch and dinner, a dinner
with Fantasia Show, return airport transfers, multilingual tour guide,
entrance fees to monuments, porterage and tips. Valid from November
until mid-December, and priced from R8 597 excluding taxes.
