Lower fares in the offing?
RECENTLY described
as “a destination
beloved by many for
its incredible food scene
and wine production, and
outsized dose of natural
beauty” by The Hollywood
Reporter, the Mother City
remains the number-one
destination in South Africa
for local and international
tourists. But could this
change as South Africans
tighten their belts to cope
with rising costs brought on
by issues such as the fuel
and VAT increases? Perhaps
SAA’s decision to transfer a
portion of its local flights to
Mango could be a welcome
boost for budget-conscious
travellers.
Enver Duminy, ceo of Cape
Town Tourism, says: “Mango
is considered a low-cost
airline, so let’s hope that
flight cost reductions will
carry through to passengers.
We’d love to see more locals
offered the opportunity to
explore the country.”
According to Carlos Luis,
Flight Centre brand leader,
Air, Land and Sea Product,
SAA’s 27% reduction of
seats on its domestic
routes has had a limited
effect. “The overall capacity
for domestic travel is only
down 2% from last year’s
numbers, with some lowcost
carriers taking up most
of the seats lost due to
SAA’s reduction.”
But the move has had the
largest impact on the Cape
Town-Johannesburg route.
He adds that full-service
carriers accounted for 47%
of the total number of
domestic seats available to
Cape Town a year ago, but
this has dropped to 40% in
2018.
“I suspect that the pricing
on the remaining full-service
carriers’ options will go up
due to supply and demand,
but the overall package price
for a Cape Town holiday
should see a reduction as
more low-cost carriers pick
up the remaining load,” says
Carlos.
Kirby Gordon, head of
sales and distribution at
FlySafair, says: “In terms
of supply and demand an
increase in capacity on
the route would technically
mean a drop in price, but in
reality what we’re seeing is
simply a shift in the same
capacity from one carrier
to another. Of course, the
big difference is that these
seats are now going to be
low-cost seats as opposed
to full-service seats, so it’ll
be interesting to see what
effect that has.”
According to Nic Vlok,
acting ceo of Mango, the
low-cost carrier added
20 return frequencies
to its schedule and has
experienced load factors
of more than 90% on the
Johannesburg-Cape Town
route. “The Joburg-Cape
Town route is one of the
busiest in Africa and most
of the growth has been
through low-cost carriers,
although deploying both
the Mango and SAA brands
on the route has shown a
demand for both services,”
he adds.
Changing behaviour
While the reduction of
SAA’s local flights could
see full-service clients
considering low-cost carriers
as a permanent option due
mostly to availability, Carlos
suspects that full-service
carriers will increase their
pricing thanks to increased
demand for their product.
Kirby says due to the
recent holiday season,
it’s premature to attribute
increased demand on its
Cape Town services to
changes in the industry.
But, he adds: “What we
certainly have experienced
is increased interest from
corporates and the trade,
who appear to be concerned
about the changes that are
afoot, and we’ve certainly
noticed an increased
appetite for our services
from that particular market
segment.”
John Ridler, PR and media
manager of Thompsons
Holidays, says Mango
flights don’t offer business
class, which will affect
business travellers wanting
premium-class travel. “There
is a distinct shortage of
business-class seats and
they are often sold out a
week in advance.” This
affects business travellers
when making last-minute
changes, he says.
According to Nic, Mango
has a substantial share
of the corporate market
in its own right. “Guests
making use of the SAA
sales channels and booking
flights operated by Mango
receive the same benefits
on Mango as on SAA. They
receive a voucher to spend
on a variety of items offered
for sale on board, the same
baggage allowance as
they would receive on SAA,
lounge access and they earn
Voyager miles. These miles
can be redeemed on both
SAA and Mango.”
He says the route
performance is dependent
on the prevailing general
economic conditions, but
Mango has experienced
consistent growth. “The mix
of travellers is sufficiently
diverse to support further
growth,” he adds.
The water crisis
notwithstanding, Kirby
says the indications that
domestic tourism will
continue to grow in the Cape
are good. “The cost to fly
domestically is still far lower
than it’s been in a long time
and there is certainly no
shortage of amazing things
to see and do in the city.
Water-offset tool launches in Cape Town
THE world’s first wateroffset
tool, My Water
Footprint, has been
launched by the Western
Cape Minister of Economic
Opportunities, Alan Winde,
as part of a bid to boost
water-wise travel in Cape
Town and the Western
Cape.
The offset tool was
created by Wesgro, in
conjunction with For Love
of Water (FLOW), as part of
its campaign to encourage
travellers to continue to
visit the Cape and be water
conscious when doing so.
The My Water Footprint
tool allows visitors to the
Cape to calculate their
daily water usage and then
to offset this usage by
donating money to water
conservation projects.
The tool is accessed at
www.mywaterfootprint.com.
By doing this, visitors to
water-scarce destinations,
such as Cape Town will
not only be incentivised to
check their usage when
making use of this tool but
will also play a part in the
water-wise solution.
Through an interactive
interface, visitors will select
how many showers they
plan on taking, how many
water-based beverages
they will consume and how
many times their room
will be cleaned, as well as
declare and quantify any
other water-consuming
practices that will take
place during their visit to
the Cape.
Based on the information
given, a calculator built
into the tool will generate
'flowcoins' – a currency
created around water
usage.
Visitors can then use
these ‘flowcoins’ to offset
their usage by donating
to water-saving projects,
thereby supporting local
water initiatives.
