Small budgets, big dreams
COUPLES spend ages planning
their once-in-a-lifetime wedding,
with the lion’s share of the
budget going to the big day. But
the budget for the average couple’s
honeymoon, the time when they can
relax and spend quality time together,
ranges from just R5 000 to
R15 000, according to a survey of
436 visitors at the recent Wedding
Expo in Johannesburg.
Finding solutions to deliver on these
seemingly impossibly tight budgets
to make their dream honeymoon a
reality can be a challenge for agents.
Regardless of the destination
selected, Kyle Nel, travel consultant,
Flight Centre Killarney Mall, requests
that clients book a honeymoon as
soon as possible after confirming
their wedding date as one way of
stretching a budget.
“We are able to take bookings
almost a year in advance, which
is beneficial for clients, as our
exchange rate is likely to be affected
by downgrades and currency
fluctuations, which can
dramatically increase prices.”
Edwina Fletcher, owner of Just
Honeymoons, says honest and open
communication with clients is key in
finding a solution. “I advise that we
may have difficulty finding something
suitable in a four-star category,
but ask whether we could look at
three-star or reduce the number
of nights from seven to five. If the
budget can be alleviated through an
off-season booking, I often suggest
doing a quick two- or three-night local
getaway straight after the wedding
and then look at booking the proper
honeymoon out of season.”
The innovative solution of a
honeymoon registry, which is offered
by some travel agencies and tour
operators, can also assist with
making that dream honeymoon a
reality, suggests Edwina.
Some travel agencies and tour
operators offer a registry service
where they collect, track, and apply
contributions from the wedding
guests toward the honeymoon
expenses.
Destination choice impacts price
Despite having tight budgets, South
African couples have their hearts set
on international destinations, with
island honeymoons remaining a firm
favourite, particularly Mauritius and
Zanzibar. European cities are also
preferred out-of-country locations,
according to the survey.
It is possible to meet the dream
of a tropical island holiday in
destinations other than the usual
choices. Flight Centre Killarney Mall’s
Kyle Nel says he helps couples to
understand the potential price points
of Mauritius before suggesting other
options. For example, Bali can be
more cost effective than Mauritius
and better suited to an adventurous
couple seeking activities such as
surfing, water tubing, rock climbing
and volcano trekking. Senior leisure
manager at Thompsons Holidays,
Wendy Schulze, also suggests
Zanzibar, Thailand and the Far East
as great value-for-money island
experiences, depending on what the
couple want from their honeymoon.
Cruises are also growing in
popularity as they offer value for
money in an all-inclusive ‘resortstyle’
honeymoon. Development
Promotions marketing executive,
Christine Lucas, says: “A cruise
compares to an island resort as,
not only do you experience different
islands every day, depending on your
selected itinerary, but you also have
the ease of unpacking just once
and are exposed to fine dining at
its best on board. There is a cruise
line to suit every couple’s, style and
budget.”
Book it!
Travel Vision is offering a Rovos Rail
special, with rates from Pretoria to
Cape Town from R17 048pps. The
rate includes transfers, two nights
on board Rovos in a deluxe suite,
all meals and beverages, laundry
and pressing facility, guided tours of
Kimberley’s Big Hole, the diamond
museum, and Matjiesfontein, and
one night at the four-star Portswood
Hotel in Cape Town with breakfast
and half-day Cape Point guided
tour. Valid for set departures – see
Travelinfo for more information.
Insider tips for destination weddings
MAURITIUS is a popular choice
with South Africans for their
wedding and, in some cases, it’s
left to the agent to arrange all the
details to make sure the big day
goes off without a hitch.
Warren Grisselle, future business
leader for the Flight Centre Travel
Group in South Africa, has booked
at least two destination weddings
in the past four years. His
colleague, Zethu Thwala, travel
expert at Flight Centre Sandton,
has booked four weddings in five
years for adventurous couples who
were striving to create a different
celebration. Recently, Zethu
booked a December destination
wedding for 15 guests at Sugar
Beach followed by a honeymoon at
La Pirogue.
Warren says an advantage of
an out-of-country destination
wedding is the opportunity to
have all the guests together for
more than just one day, prolonging
the festivities and quality time.
Destination weddings also have
the added convenience of being
able to combine the wedding and
honeymoon into one. The couple
usually have a resort in mind, but
sometimes booking a destination
wedding requires consultants to
have a clear understanding of
the couple’s vision to be able to
present them with appropriate
suggestions.
Two years ago, Warren received
a request for a 100-guest wedding
in Mauritius. It was a learning
opportunity as it was his first
destination wedding, and was
made even more complicated
because he received the request
just three weeks ahead of the
wedding. He had to arrange
separate flights and airport
transfers for the guests due to
limited flight and accommodation
availability. Transfers for the
guests had to be arranged to Le
Touessrok, the resort hosting the
wedding, as well as return shuttles
to their hotels following the event.
Subsequent destination wedding
bookings for Warren have been
smaller with all the arrangements
wrapped up within three days.
Both Zethu and Warren said
that while these weddings were
fun to book, there was still an
element of risk as the agent
could not be there on the day
to ensure things went smoothly.
There are also many factors
beyond their control, such as the
weather, which can be a problem
as these weddings typically take
place outdoors.
Zethu recommends working with
a reputable tour operator who has
offices in South Africa to be able
to follow up immediately should
any problems arise, particularly
when there is a time difference.
Another advantage of having a
local tour operator is that there
are no communication problems
caused by a language barrier.
Special honeymoon deals
ALEXIS Bekker, LUX*
Resorts and Hotels head
of sales and marketing for
Africa, recommends that
agents take advantage of
out-of-season rates when
possible. “We offer a
fantastic discount of 70%
on the land portion of the
package for the bride, along
with exclusive offerings
to the couple, including
free upgrades (subject
to availability), sparkling
wine, a romantic dinner for
two on the beach, a fivecourse
meal and special
memorabilia.”
Air Mauritius also offers
special deals for travel
outside of peak season
through its Travelsmart
solution. This includes
20% off the bride’s flights,
free allowance for golf
bags, discounted tickets,
business-class lounge
access in South Africa and
the option of a last-minute
upgrade to business class
at a cost of R2 500pp on
the A340 and R1 850pp on
the A319 aircraft.
Joanne Visagie, sales
and marketing manager
of Beachcomber, confirms
the financial benefits of
flexibility of dates and
booking in advance, which
gives an early-booking
honeymoon saving of 20%.
“Honeymoons are a big
market for us. It is one
of the most memorable
holidays of a lifetime, with
honeymooners looking
forward to an array of
Beachcomber special
privileges, including a
30% discount, daily lunch,
welcome fruit and sparkling
wine, amongst other items.”
Thailand promotes wedding offering
THAILAND aims to become
the hub for wedding and
romantic travel in the ASEAN
region and has launched
several initiatives to target
this lucrative segment.
Thailand’s Minister of
Tourism and Sports, Kobkarn
Wattanavrangkul, said the
wedding and honeymoon
segment was one of the
top generators of tourism
revenue. In line with
Thailand’s plans to lure
couples to tie the knot, more
than 450 wedding planners
from around the world
participated in the fourth
Annual Destination Wedding
Planners (DWP) Congress
2017, hosted by the Tourism
Authority of Thailand in
Phuket earlier in the month.
The Minister added that
the DWP Congress presented
an opportunity to show
that Thailand had plenty to
offer in terms of weddings
and romance. “Our Thai
hospitality and services can
make any dream wedding
even more memorable while
our ‘Amazing Thai Taste’ is
one of our strengths for a
wedding reception. We can
offer various styles of food,
from international cuisine to
authentic Thai dishes. Also,
there are many honeymoon
packages designed to
match the once-in-a-lifetime
experience in Thailand.”
The Naked Agent
SCENARIO: A couple are
planning their local honeymoon
in September. The focus is on
a relaxing and value-for-money
holiday, with plenty of options for
fun activities. They enjoy bush
and beach destinations and their
budget is R20 000.
Strive for a personal connection
Bushscapes
Bushscapes’ uncluttered
website with its own
thumbs-up/thumbsdown
ratings for each
lodge created a positive
first impression, with a
dedicated section for
romantic getaways and
honeymoons. I called the
number given and spoke
to Liza-Marie Gordon,
who immediately put me
at ease with her obvious interest
in my request and her specific
questions.
She listened to my scenario then
asked more about us as a couple,
our interests, budget, preferred
dates, from where we would
be travelling and if we had any
particular properties in mind. She
mentioned a few potential lodges
that she would investigate. This
included Thonga Beach Lodge, Kosi
Forest Lodge as beach options and
Leopard Mountain, Nambiti and
Welgevonden. She said on the first
call that she would get back to me
within a timeframe of two days,
which was helpful to manage my
expectations.
The regular
communication from LizaMarie
was reassuring
and included an email
the morning after my
call to update me that
suggestions would be
received by midday along
with her availability over
the approaching public
holidays and short weeks
in April. This helped me feel like a
priority and was a timeframe that
she delivered on with three, clearly
laid out bush and beach options
aligned to my request.
Her approach of only sending me
the outlines of three options in the
body of the email instead of as
attachments was helpful and let me
skip over unnecessary information
if the lodge was not of interest.
She followed up to check that
I had received the email and
conveyed that other options were
available should we be interested in
lodges closer to Johannesburg.
Romantic Retreats
The telephone numbers from
the website went to voicemail
and I left a message, with the
agent returning my call within
10 minutes. She spent a good
length of time on the phone
with me discussing options and
giving personal feedback from her
own experience of going to the
West Coast and made various
suggestions. The personal feel
continued when she outlined how
packages could be tailored for
me, with what was listed on the
website simply a starting point. I
appreciated that she had asked my
fiancé’s name and also addressed
him on the emails, which was a
personal touch. She responded
promptly with three options sent
as attachments. The proposed
itinerary was for Kalk Bay, outside
Cape Town, the West Coast and
Hermanus. While I could not fault
the service, my only criticism was
that what had been proposed was
not the typical ‘bush and beach’
holiday someone embarking on a
local honeymoon may expect.
Just Honeymoons
I contacted Just Honeymoons by
calling the number on its website.
I was quickly connected to one
of their consultants who sounded
warm and friendly and asked for my
budget, dates and specific interests.
Within a 24-hour turnaround time,
I received an email with a six-night
package for Springbok Lodge in
the Nambiti Private Game Reserve
and Protea Hotel Umhlanga.
There wasn’t a follow-up to check
whether I had received it or to ask
if I needed additional options. The
consultant did deliver on my request
of a ‘bush and beach’ honeymoon
that was only slightly over budget.
Although only one option was
provided, it felt comparatively
slim and ‘run of the mill’ lacking
the personal touch of the other
agencies.
Liza-Marie’s top tips for selling honeymoons
Generally, for a local
honeymoon, couples aim to
get to their destination quickly
to relax and unwind and do
not want to spend a long time
on the road. Ascertaining
from where the couple will
be travelling and how far they
are willing to travel for their
honeymoon are important.
Give personal recommendations
and know your product. Couples
can feel overwhelmed with the
large number of lodges available
within South Africa.
Provide fewer but more
personalised options. People
don’t have time to read textheavy
quotes. Rather provide
them with fewer choices that
are more aligned to their needs
than bombard them initially
with too much info. A priority
when booking honeymoons is to
make the process as smooth as
possible, as wedding planning
is already an exciting and
potentially stressful project.
Take 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.
