Educating and assisting agents are top priorities
THE ROLE of tourist
offices is not
complicated – they
are there to promote their
destinations and assist
the local trade. However,
at times they may find
themselves performing
a delicate balancing act
between the product
owners they promote
and the local trade they
support.
“One of our primary
responsibilities is to
support the tour operators who sell our
destinations – to help them to increase
their knowledge and consequently their
sales as much as possible,” comments
Hélène Bezuidenhout, president of the
Association of National Tourist Office
Representatives (Antor) and manager
of Atout France. She says Atout France
does this through online training,
sending out brochures and making
themselves available to trade members
wherever they can. “We also make
a point of visiting the agencies and
assessing their requirements in terms
of training and education.”
Tourism offices have a key role to play
in the educational process and can
help agents upsell their destinations.
“We can provide them with inside tips
on when to book to get the best prices
and help them improve their bottom
lines. We can also advise on the best
itineraries for their clients – in fact
there is a lot we can do to make their
clients’ experiences richer,” maintains
Wendie White, vp of Antor and
director Southern Africa for the Dubai
Department of Tourism and Commerce
Marketing (DTCM).
These thoughts are echoed by
spokesperson for the Tourism Authority
of Thailand (TAT) in South Africa, Lesley
Simpson, who adds that one of TAT’s
primary objectives is to assist the main
outbound operators where possible
and to entice them to consider less
frequently visited destinations such as
Krabi, Samui and Chiang Mai in the
north of Thailand.
Director for India Tourism, Manas
Ranjan Pattanaik, says there is much
tourist offices can do to promote
their programmes, from organising
periodical workshops, orientation
courses, online training
modules and fam trips, to
providing operators with
assistance in printing their
destination brochures and
fliers.
“India Tourism organises
road shows, seminars and
workshops on a regular
basis in order to facilitate
healthy interaction
between travel agents,
tour operators and their
Indian counterparts for
a two-way exchange of
information,” he adds.
On-the-ground involvement and
training are particularly important.
Gail Gilbert, spokesperson for
Tourism Ireland, says they host
training workshops every two years
for the travel trade, and work with
tour operators on promotional, ad hoc
workshops and roadshows. “We also
do extensive co-operative marketing
campaigns to promote Ireland
products.”
Malawi Tourism also views joint online
workshops and educationals as key
elements to a tourism office’s success
in further educating travel agents.
Tour operators seem to agree that
tourism offices add a significant
amount of value in presenting travel
agents with a great product. “In this
sense we are partners; the more
desirable the destination, the easier
it is to sell our packages,” says md
of World Leisure Holidays, Johann
Strydom.
“I feel that the majority of tourist
offices in SA offer very good support
to the trade,” says Sarah Whiteside,
sales and marketing manager for Travel
Vision. “I only wish that more countries
realised the value of tourist offices
in South Africa and were prepared to
invest in developing our market. Tourist
offices offer valuable information
about local customs, transport,
accommodation and sightseeing.
They also provide in-depth brochures,
maps and other marketing material
items that are handy tools for agents
and operators in learning about the
destinations they are promoting. What’s
more, they assist in funding joint
marketing ventures and in subsidising
educationals in various regions.”
Are inbound tour operators screened?
IN LIGHT of their promotional
role, it follows that tourist offices
intend as many travel agents as
possible to see the country they are
selling. “We would, of course, love
to invite everybody,” says Hélène
Bezuidenhout, “but as this is simply
not possible we will try and get
them to participate in workshops
instead. We can’t bring everyone to
France so we try and bring France
to them.”
Most tourism offices invite agents
on trips based on whether they
favour the destination in question.
“When qualifying a travel agent for
a fam trip, we generally assess the
visibility of their interest,” comments
Salad Nthenda.
Lesley Simpson confirms that
participation in events is generally
based on numbers travelling to
Thailand as well as room nights
spent at popular hotels. “Over
and above, however, and probably
more important, are the joint
marketing efforts shared between
tour operators and TAT in promoting
Thailand to South African travellers.”
There are many reasons why
tourism offices choose to send
travel agents abroad, notes Hélène.
“Perhaps they are brand new and
we need to give them a chance to
discover France, perhaps they are
not new but need to maintain their
knowledge – there are always new
things to discover,” she points out.
“Our aim is to make sure that it’s
a win-win situation for everyone,”
adds Wendie White. She notes that
the DTCM generally consults with
its national airline as well to assess
whether the agents in question are
good supporters of the airline.
Tourism Ireland views workshops
as a good opportunity to introduce
as many tour operators to the
destination as it can. “We host an
annual fam trip in October each
year, combined with a workshop
where the South African trade gets
to meet and contract with suitable
Irish trade. We select either senior
staff or product managers from tour
operators promoting Ireland, or with
the potential to promote Ireland in
the near future, as it does involve a
certain level of contracting and rate
negotiation,” says Gail Gilbert.
Fam trip eligibility – who goes?
IN LIGHT of their promotional
role, it follows that tourist offices
intend as many travel agents as
possible to see the country they are
selling. “We would, of course, love
to invite everybody,” says Hélène
Bezuidenhout, “but as this is simply
not possible we will try and get
them to participate in workshops
instead. We can’t bring everyone to
France so we try and bring France
to them.”
Most tourism offices invite agents
on trips based on whether they
favour the destination in question.
“When qualifying a travel agent for
a fam trip, we generally assess the
visibility of their interest,” comments
Salad Nthenda.
Lesley Simpson confirms that
participation in events is generally
based on numbers travelling to
Thailand as well as room nights
spent at popular hotels. “Over
and above, however, and probably
more important, are the joint
marketing efforts shared between
tour operators and TAT in promoting
Thailand to South African travellers.”
There are many reasons why
tourism offices choose to send
travel agents abroad, notes Hélène.
“Perhaps they are brand new and
we need to give them a chance to
discover France, perhaps they are
not new but need to maintain their
knowledge – there are always new
things to discover,” she points out.
“Our aim is to make sure that it’s
a win-win situation for everyone,”
adds Wendie White. She notes that
the DTCM generally consults with
its national airline as well to assess
whether the agents in question are
good supporters of the airline.
Tourism Ireland views workshops
as a good opportunity to introduce
as many tour operators to the
destination as it can. “We host an
annual fam trip in October each
year, combined with a workshop
where the South African trade gets
to meet and contract with suitable
Irish trade. We select either senior
staff or product managers from tour
operators promoting Ireland, or with
the potential to promote Ireland in
the near future, as it does involve a
certain level of contracting and rate
negotiation,” says Gail Gilbert.
Facilitators not enforcers
TOURIST offices play an
important role in facilitating
dealings between members
of the travel trade and
product owners. The problem
is that when trade members
run into difficulties with
suppliers, tourist offices
can find themselves caught
in the middle of a sticky
situation.
Most offices agree that it
is simply not their place to
become involved beyond a
certain point. “As facilitators
we can put the relevant
parties in touch with the
right people to help sort it
out, but beyond that it’s not
our place to get involved,”
comments Wendie White.
In fact, the legal
frameworks in place in
certain countries prevent
tourism offices from
meddling too much. “Legal
provisions simply do not
allow us to intervene in
a particular enterprise’s
dealings,” notes Salad
Nthenda. “Hence our
interventions have limits.”
“Obviously it would be
a concern for us, but the
responsibility would lie
between the two trade
members,” agrees Gail
Gilbert. “We would always
try and assist when there
is an issue with a product
owner but we have never
experienced this in the past
10 years of handling the
Tourism Ireland account.”
Tour operators seem to
agree that it is not their
responsibility to deal with
product owners involved
in business misconduct.
Theresa Szejwallo, md of
Trafalgar SA, believes that
the supplier should always
be fully accountable and
responsible to manage
any issues that may arise
during a customer’s holiday.
“Tourism offices help
promote the destination
but they can’t be held
responsible for individual
properties that do not live up
to expectations.”
Some tour operators
acknowledge it would be
tricky for tourism offices
to step into the fray. “I’m
really not sure how practical
it would be,” comments
Johann Strydom. “Tourism
offices are organs of the
governments of the countries
they represent and their
mandate is to promote their
countries. Tour operators, on
the other hand, operate in
the private sector and can
be completely independent
or form part of the sales arm
of a supplier.”
His opinion is shared by
Sarah Whiteside, who says
having tourism offices get
involved in disputes between
tour operators and product
owners would be extremely
difficult to implement in
practice.
Interestingly, India Tourism
does promise to take action
should suppliers fall short in
their dealings. “On receipt
of any complaint against
an approved inbound tour
operator, we will forward
the complaint to our
headquarters to investigate
the matter and take
appropriate action. In cases
of unapproved operators,
the matter can be taken
up through the respective
state tourism departments
to initiate action against
the unapproved operator as
per local laws,” says Manas
Ranjan Pattanaik.
Lesley Simpson reveals
that TAT will also sometimes
take action indirectly, noting
that there is a dedicated
department at TAT in
Bangkok that handles such
problems. However, in
most cases, the authority
would be there purely to
offer advice. “This is a
very sensitive point as,
regardless that it is our
sincere intention to protect
our South African partners,
as a political tourism body
we have to remain objective.
We are always able to assist
by researching and providing
the facts contributing
towards the final decision
taken but thereafter it is
entirely at the discretion
of the head office,” she
explains.
Managing expectations can prove tricky
Though most tour
operators seem to have
reasonable expectations
of the tourism offices
that they work with,
Wendie White notes
that it can still prove
challenging managing the
expectations of the local
trade when it comes to
the responsibilities of
tourism offices.
“When expectations
are reasonable it’s not
challenging at all for
us to meet them.” She
adds that it is unusual
when trade members try
and hold tourism offices
responsible for a product
owner’s business conduct.
“We find that tour
operators are reasonable
in their expectations of
tourism offices,” agrees
Hélène Bezuidenhout.
“The primary challenge for
us is to make sure that
we work with people who
possess the right ethics.”
This, however, is
not much help when
people go outside the
recommendations of the
local tourism office and
book through unapproved
operators. As Manas
Ranjan Pattanaik points
out: “The packages
offered by approved
operators and country
specialists may be
expensive when compared
with packages offered by
unapproved operators,
but if you compare the
standard of service
provided and the ground
arrangements made, the
level of service provided is
always much higher.”
Challenges resulting
from the tourism officetour
operator relationship
are two way and one
of the most pressing
concerns for some tour
operators is the scenario
when tourism offices
hosting workshops in
SA bring international
operators into the country
and introduce them to SA
travel agents.
“This is currently a sore
point for many local tour
operators,” says Sarah
Whiteside. “South African
operators invest years of
time, energy and money
into developing tourist
markets in SA. Costly
brochures and flyers are
produced, advertisements
are placed, agency
training sessions are held,
roadshows are organised
and educationals are
subsidised – all in order
to develop the South
African market around a
specific country.”
Then, as she points
out, when tourism offices
bring out international
operators, the operators
often take the opportunity
to encourage travel agents
to book directly with them
and undercut the local
operator. “From a South
African tour operator’s
perspective it can seem
that certain tourism
departments are actively
engaging in stealing away
your long-standing clients,”
she maintains. “We
would strongly encourage
tourism offices to engage
with South African tour
operators during the
planning period for their
destination workshops so
that a mutually beneficial
solution can be found.”
In spite of these
challenges, tour operators
agree that the presence
of a greater number of
tourism bodies within
South Africa would be
great for the industry as
a whole.
New developments in Dubai
CITYWALK by Meraas Holding
is the latest addition to
Dubai’s offering of luxury
malls. Citywalk’s 52 outlets
include eateries with
innovative concepts in food
and beverage, and stores that
showcase leading fashion
brands. Citywalk is flanked
by a grand tree-lined walk
reminiscent of European
streets. It has 600 parking
spaces and a unique water
feature as well as a children’s
play area that can transform
into a venue for concerts,
weekly markets or exhibitions.
The Walk, a bustling
waterfront promenade in the
heart of Jumeirah Beach
Residences, which consists of
over 300 restaurants, cafés,
shops, supermarkets and
boutiques, has recently been
developed. It is also a public
art platform featuring UAE
artists and has become like an
outdoor gallery, with colourfully
painted vases, stairs, benches
and open floor works.
In Thailand, don't miss...
Visits to the Gibbon
Sanctuary in the Thalang
District of Phuket, dedicated
to the release of gibbons
back into natural forests,
are a moving experience.
Spice Roads Cycle Tours
provides travellers with an
unusual way to explore the
beaches and limestone
landscapes of the south
and the mountainous
terrain and temples around
Chiang Mai in the north.
Sampran Riverside – ‘Thai
Living’ Programmes offers
a variety of packages where
travellers can participate in
living the Thai culture. Art
and craft workshops include
umbrella painting, silk
processing and traditional
weaving and there are
elephant demonstrations
and sunset cruises.
Chiang Mai Food Tours
involve a four-hour cultural
walk and gastronomic
experience exploring
authentic northern
delicacies, visiting historic
and cultural gems.
Travellers can also visit
local eateries and taste
Lanna flavours (northern
Thai cuisine).
ANTOR hosts MICE workshop
ANTOR is hosting a MICE
workshop on July 22 at The
Crowne Plaza Johannesburg –
The Rosebank. MICE buyers
will have the opportunity
to talk to all tourism
board members on MICE
opportunities in the various
countries.
The association is launching
a new website that can be
found at www.antor.co.za
All functions and country
information will be loaded on
to the site on a regular basis.
Did you know?
The Ireland Specialists Programme is an eTraining programme that helps agents become experts on the
destination. The online training assists agents to improve their knowledge on everything from main attractions
and events to tips on putting together the perfect itinerary. The programme is divided into six modules that
shouldn’t take more than an hour at a time to complete. Agents will be awarded with either a silver or gold
Ireland Specialist certificate that can be displayed in their agency.
