WITH the rand having
recently suffered
significant falls,
booking travel to dollardenominated
regions presents
agents with considerable
challenges.
“The weakened rand is
definitely a problem when
booking travel to the SADC,”
confirms Carol Eedes, manager
and owner of Alphabet Travel.
Carol books mining expeditions
for corporate travellers to
dollar-denominated countries
such as Mozambique, Zambia
and Angola. She says the
fluctuating exchange rate
makes booking within the
SADC region “fluid”. The
situation constantly changes
and providing accurate quotes
for your client can be a tricky
process, she says.
“Sometimes you’ll have
quoted a client and the
exchange rate will have
changed within the 24-hour
validity period of the quote,”
says Busi Nhlapo, md of ITC
Destination Express. Busi
books corporate travel to
Angola and Zambia, which
predominantly price their
hotels and itineraries in
dollars. She says if you have
not prepared yourself for
the possibility of the rand’s
value depreciating within that
time you could find yourself
losing money. Busi checks
the exchange rate twice a day
so that she can quote her
clients accordingly. She says
that clients too find it very
frustrating when their initial
quote has increased because
of a weakening rand.
Although booking travel to
dollar-rated SADC countries
is a precarious process,
corporates are left with little
choice and must book travel
to where their business is
taking place.
Gillian Bronkhorst, Flight
Centre travel agent, says she
has not seen much decline
in the number of business
travellers headed to the
SADC region – whether the
destination’s itinerary and hotel
rates are in dollars or not. “I
have noticed though, that my
corporate clients are trying to
source cheaper hotels and will
even stay in guesthouses in
some countries to keep costs
lower,” she adds.
When corporate travellers do
choose to stay in guesthouses,
they are usually properties
that have been recommended
to them by their clients or
guesthouses that they have
sourced after visiting the
destination a few times.
In a poll published in the
December 16 issue of TNW,
67% of respondents said the
weakened rand had forced
South African leisure travellers
to choose domestic travel over
travel in the dollar-denominated
SADC region.
As the poll suggests, leisure
travellers can exercise more
choice when deciding whether
to travel in the SADC region.
Salad Nthenda, vice consul
for Malawi Tourism, confirms
that, although a considerable
percentage of South Africans
travel to Malawi for business,
there is enormous potential for
growth in leisure travel.
Salad says South Africa is
Malawi’s biggest source market
and contributes, on average,
over 15% of the country’s
international arrivals each year.
However, a large majority of
hotel rates and itineraries in
Malawi are quoted in dollars.
South African travellers
make up over 60% of the total
visitors to Swaziland. Unlike
Malawi, whose rates are
quoted in dollars, Swaziland’s
rates are quoted in the local
currency, the lilangeni, which is
pegged to the rand.
“The weakened rand has
had a positive impact on
travel from South Africa to
Swaziland,” says account
executive, Lizzy Moletsane,
from the Swaziland Tourism
Board. “We see it as an
opportunity to capitalise on the
fact that travelling in Southern
Africa is beyond most South
Africans’ reach. We encourage
them to consider Swaziland as
an option for an international
break with a local flavour,”
she says.
Operational challenges
IT’S NOT just cost
constraints that influence
South Africans’ decisionmaking
process when
booking leisure travel in
the SADC region but also
their perception of those
destinations, says Chandré
Reddy, ceo of Aurulent
Travel in Cape Town. If
South Africans go on an
international holiday, they
want to feel as if they have
left home. If they have to
pay expensive rates for a
local atmosphere, they feel
that they might as well book
travel to other continents,
she says.
Lead-time issues and
communication lapses are
some of the other obstacles
faced when booking travel
to the SADC region, says
Alphabet Travel’s, Carol
Eedes. While Flight Centre’s
Gillian Bronkhorst says she
often waits longer than a
week to hear from hotels
when she makes bookings,
Destination Express’s Busi
Nhlapo says she has to
send a follow-up email
when making telephonic
bookings with suppliers
that are predominantly
Portuguese-speaking to
ensure that there is no
misunderstanding.
“Sometimes the websites
are badly out of date,” adds
Carol. “Clients will doublecheck
a quote online and
then assume that the travel
agent has misquoted them,
then once they arrive in the
SADC country, they discover
that not only were the rates
on the website outdated but
that there were other costs
included in the booking that
the website did not reflect.”
When booking travel to
the SADC region, Carol
recommends that agents
are upfront with their
clients about the types of
challenges that may be
involved. “Ultimately your
business is only as valuable
as the customer care you
provide,” says Busi.
Cover your assets
Chandré advises travel
agents to “cover their
assets”. She says that travel
agents have to ensure that
they protect themselves by
including specific terms and
conditions in their quotes.
Destinations within the
SADC region are employing
various strategies to try to
attract more South Africans.
Malawi Tourism says
this comes down to
understanding your market
and what it wants. In line
with this, Malawi intends
to develop itself as a MICE
destination, says Malawi
Tourism’s Salad Nthenda.
The launch of Peermont
Hotels Resorts and Casinos’
newest property, the
Umodzi Park in Lilongwe,
which houses the Bingu
International Convention
Centre is a first step in this
strategy.
Malawi is also looking to
open up Likoma Island to
international flights to attract
more visitors.
Swaziland Tourism Board’s
Lizzy Moletsane says
knowing what makes your
offering unique is important
when trying to attract South
African travellers.
“For example, Swaziland
is one of the few remaining
executive monarchies in
Africa and boasts an ancient
cultural heritage probably
unmatched anywhere in
Africa."
