Demand for leisuretravel drops
SEVERAL South African tour
operators have reported static or
declining demand for leisure travel
to the UK, while others report a change
in travel patterns.
Megan D’Arcy, Comair Travel product
manager for Europe, USA, cruising
and tourism, says Holiday Tours has
not seen much of an uptake from the
leisure market to the UK.
“The reason for this is a combination
of the costly visa, the extremely high
rate of exchange, and VFR traffic,
which impacts negatively on the leisure
market as it does not rely on the
trade to organise accommodation or
sightseeing trips.”
Megan says Holiday Tours has also
seen a drop in combo-holidays. “In the
past, passengers combined London
with a second destination in Europe.
They are now bypassing the UK and
travelling directly to Europe on carriers
that do not go via London to avoid
having to get an additional visa for the
UK, even when just in transit.”
Susan Thesen, British T.I.P.S gm, also
reports a drop in visitor numbers to
the UK, for similar reasons. She says
it’s mostly high-end and corporate
travellers who are visiting Britain these
days.
Linda Steenekamp, XL Rosebank
Travel gm, has found that passengers
don’t want to pay for a UK visa as well
as a Schengen visa, so people are just
avoiding the UK and travelling straight
to Europe.
To avoid South Africans having to get
a UK visa, Trafalgar has remodelled
its itineraries, allowing passengers the
option to start their European tours
in continental Europe, says Theresa
Szejwallo, Trafalgar md. “The uptake
of this has been phenomenal and is
one small way in which we can help
our guests get the most out of their
guided holidays without unnecessary
expenses,” she said.
Angela Wood, Thompsons Holidays
gm: marketing, says passenger
numbers to the UK this year have
remained similar to last year, while
room nights booked have increased.
Thompsons has seen an increase in
demand for UK packages rather than
London stopovers.
“The UK visitor visa is expensive,
which has meant a drop in stopover
and UK/Europe combination
packages but has resulted in greater
popularity in our longer-stay UK/
Ireland packages that offer something
different.”
Terri-Ann Wright, manager of World
Travel, gsa for UK and Europe rail
companies in South Africa, reports a
decline in demand for rail tickets in the
UK and Europe.
“We believe this is mainly due to the
weakening of the South African rand,”
she says.
Save 25% with Britrail
TERRI-Ann Wright, manager
of World Travel, gsa for UK and
Europe rail companies in South
Africa, offers some need-to-know
information about the BritRail
Guest Pass and family discounts.
The pass offers international
travellers and their British
resident travel companion a
25% discount on the adult fare
in first and standard class. The
UK passenger must travel with
the pass holder at all times and
provide proof of residence on
request.
Conditions of use and refund
policies are the same as for the
BritRail Pass and BritRail England
Pass. The BritRail Guest Pass is
not available with the Party Pass
and Family Pass formulas, or with
senior and youth fares.
Family discounts are available in
first and second class and apply
to regular and off-peak BritRail
and BritRail England Consecutive
and Flexi passes. Children up to
age four can travel free as long as
they travel with a parent.
One child, aged five to 15
years, can travel free on the first
travel day when accompanied
by an adult or senior. Additional
children pay the regular price of
half the adult fare.
A glimmer of hope'- VisaBritain
DESPITE South African Airways
and several tour operators
reporting a decline in
UK-bound travellers, statistics
provided by VisitBritain show
that while the number of visits
declined from 2008 to 2011,
things started to turn around
in 2012.
In 2008, visits to the UK
from South Africa stood at
274 000. From 2008 to the
end of 2011 these visits
dropped by 29% to 194 000.
This can be attributed to
several factors – the volatile
rand, the global economic
crisis, the introduction of
UK visas for South Africans
in March 2009, and South
Africa’s hosting of 2010 FIFA
World Cup, which took place
during the European summer.
VisitBritain statistics show
that visits to the UK started to
increase in 2012, when
211 000 visits from South
Africa were recorded – a 9%
increase over 2011 figures.
The growth continued through
2013.
Keith Beecham, interim
ceo at VisitBritain, said despite
the rand suffering a tough
2013, visits to Britain from
South Africa last year were
the highest since 2010,
although not quite back to
pre-economic-crisis levels.
“This means visits in 2013
were 7% up on 2012 and
16,5% up on 2011. We’ve also
seen an increase in spending,
with the largest amount spent
– £222 million (R4bn) – since
2009, representing a spike of
11% on 2012 and 30,5% more
than in 2011,” he commented.
Although 2014 Q1 statistics
revealed a 25% drop in visits
to Britain compared with Q1
in 2013, VisitBritain pointed
out that Q1 stats alone were
not a reliable indicator as the
period was not the key tourism
season for this market. Data
gauging whether rand volatility
this year has had an impact
on UK visits will only become
available later this year.
Statistics from the UK Civil
Aviation Authority show total
passenger numbers travelling
between London and Cape
Town (in both directions)
declined almost 32% from
2008 to 2013, while traffic
between Johannesburg and
London (both directions)
declined just 3,1%, from
944 731 passengers in 2008
to 915 238 passengers in
2013.
Simon Newton-Smith, Virgin
Atlantic Airways head of Middle
East and Africa, said it was
difficult to say to what extent
this decline was attributable to
the introduction of the UK visa,
as it coincided with the global
economic crisis. “We do know
from a visa perspective that
passengers to Europe, who
would normally have travelled
there via London, have just
avoided the UK completely,
which will have contributed to
a reduction in traffic.”
As recently reported in TNW,
Virgin Atlantic will withdraw
its Cape Town services from
April 28 next year, with the last
service from London operating
on April 27. The withdrawal of
the service, said Simon, had
not been an easy decision but
was the right business one.
“We’ve got an underlying
market that is shrinking
and we need to find ways
to grow it,” he said, adding
that capacity on both the
Johannesburg-London and
Cape Town-London routes
during South Africa’s spring
and summer seasons would
be similar to that of last year.
And while SAA has reduced
capacity on its JohannesburgLondon
route – a reduction
of 23 000 seats per annum
– which according to SAA
spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, is
due to “a decline in demand
on the South Africa-UK route
over the past five years” –
British Airways increased
capacity on the route in
February with the introduction
of the 469-seat A380 on five
of its double-daily services
between the destinations.
BA also increased the
number of direct services to
Cape Town over the South
African winter, upping these
from daily to 10 a week.
Tlali says the weak rand and
the high cost of the UK visa
for South Africans are the
major contributors of declining
passenger numbers to the
UK on SAA. “High airport
taxes and security charges at
London Heathrow are also a
major contributor to the cost of
an air ticket,” he said.
He added that SAA would not
be changing frequencies in the
current season, which ends
on October 28 but that aircraft
capacity would be adjusted
according to demand.
Explore Engllish Country Gardens with Trafalgar
EXPLORE the Bluebell steam
train and seaside tastes of
Brighton, the poetic gardens
of Sissinghurst, English
cream tea at Mount Ephraim
stately home, Hampton Court
Palace and Kew Gardens on
Trafalgar’s nine-day English
Country Gardens holiday.
Tour prices include daily
breakfast, four dinners, a
Be My Guest cream tea,
entrance to all gardens,
guidance by local experts
where stipulated, tips and
baggage handling. Airfares
are excluded.
Book and pay in full for
a 2015 English Country
Gardens tour by November
27 this year and take
advantage of Trafalgar’s
Preview prices (2015
departures at 2014 prices).
These start at R25 900pps
for the launch departures on
May 10, and from
R26 200 for all other
departures from May through
September 2015, subject
to availability. Prices revert
to regular 2015 prices
from November 28, 2014,
but clients can still enjoy
significant discounts by
taking advantage of early
payment discounts of up to
10% for those who book and
pay by December 19, 2014.
High commission addresses agents' UK visa complaints
TRAVEL agents and their
clients continue to complain
about the UK visa process –
in terms of filling out the UK
application form and in their
dealings with Teleperformance,
the company appointed
to operate the UK visa
application centres in South
Africa since April 1 this year.
TNW put the complaints
to Isabel Potgieter,
spokesperson for the British
High Commission, and Henry
Nedambale, Teleperformance
Contact regional manager: SA.
Agents and their clients are
extremely upset at having to
pay £1,37 (R24,50) a minute
to get information on UK visas.
They’re sometimes kept on
hold by call centre agents
and say the information is not
always accurate. Most agents
are under the impression that
Teleperformance operates the
call centre.
The telephone information
service is not provided by
Teleperformance, says Isabel.
“From April 1, 2014, UK Visas
& Immigration introduced a
single international enquiry
service for its overseas
customers, provided by our
commercial partner, Hinduja
Global Solutions. This offers
an improved service to visa
customers in 20 languages
and introduced a standard
charge for all, regardless
of country of residence.
Advisers have been trained to
provide a quick, accurate and
professional service with help
available to them throughout
the application process.”
Is there any other way they
can get information on UK
visas without having to pay
for it?
Customers who don’t want
to pay for the telephone
information service, says
Isabel, can use the improved
www.gov.uk website to access
all relevant information about
the visa process. “If they need
to contact us they can use the
international enquiry service
via email, which is free.”
The visa application form
is not user-friendly, is timeconsuming
to fill in and often
bombs out, meaning clients
have to start all over again.
Upgrades were made to
the online application form
and process in November
2013, with new features
enabling customers to make
and access applications
more quickly and easily. The
Visa4UK website experienced
unprecedented activity in
March this year, resulting in
restrictions being placed on
the number of concurrent
users. These restrictions were
subsequently lifted following a
significant increase in service
capacity. The www.gov.uk
website is now also far more
user-friendly for those seeking
immigration information.
Why does it take 15 working
days for Teleperformance to
return a visa?
Turnaround of applications
is driven by demand and
UK Visas and Immigration
(UKVI) capacity rather than
influenced by Teleperformance,
says Isabel. “Our published
customer service standard
globally is to resolve all shortterm
visa applications within
15 working days of submission
at the Visa Application Centre.
During less busy periods,
processing times in SA are
often significantly less.”
With Teleperformance’s visa
tracking system agents say it’s
impossible to find out where
in the process their clients’
visas are and say they are not
notified when the visa is ready.
Henry acknowledges
significant teething problems
in the first two months of
Teleperformance’s operations
in South Africa. “The tracking
system wasn’t working and
clients were unable to receive
emails. These teething
problems have now been
sorted out and for the past six
weeks the system has been
working 100%. Clients are able
to track their applications on
the Teleperformance Contact
website (www.ge2za.tpcontact.
co.uk), receive emails notifying
them that their application has
been forwarded to the British
High Commission, and when
their documents are available
for collection.”
Staff in Teleperformance’s
application centres are rude
and not customer-service
orientated.
“We welcome feedback from
travel agents and our clients
on Teleperformance’s service
so that we can continually
improve our offering.
Feedback from a recent
Teleperformance customer
survey at all five of our UK visa
application centres in South
Africa indicated that almost
97% of respondents were
satisfied with the attitude and
support of our staff. We will
continue to work to exceed our
customers’ expectations.
“If anyone has an issue
or complaint or wants to
correspond with us, they
can reach us through the
www.get2za.tpcontact.
co.uk website, where there
is an email form under the
Feedback and Complaints tab.
If applicants wish to speak to
a call centre agent they can
dial +27 (0)21 300 3758 or
00 44 124321 8173 (this is a
pay service).”
How long does an expedited
visa take?
“Our priority visa service for
fast tracking the application
generally sees the application
returned within five working
days. This processing time is
however not guaranteed,” says
Isabel.
Agents say the UK visa is
expensive and want to know
why there’s a cost differential
between a six-month (R1 536)
and 10-year (R13 635) visa.
“We recognise the
importance of the visitor
route to the UK economy,”
says Isabel. “That is why our
government has sought to
bear down the fee for shortterm
visit visas. The fee for
a six-month multiple-entry
visitor visa is significantly
below the cost to the Home
Office of processing the
application, and remains
competitive. Applicants for a
long-term visa benefit from
not having to make multiple
visa applications each time
they want to come to the
UK. They also allow regular
travellers to the UK to hedge
against possible future visa
fee increases or changes to
eligibility.”
Why do transit passengers
need a UK visa?
South African nationals are
able to journey via the UK
without first obtaining a transit
visa where they are travelling
on to the US, Canada,
Australia or New Zealand
and hold a valid visa for the
respective country, and where
they will transit out of the UK
within 24 hours of arrival.
“The 2014 visa fee review
saw a reduction of almost
30% in the price of a direct
airside transit visa, along with
a freezing of the landside
transit fee. We believe this
will help to enhance the UK’s
position as a hub for transiting
passengers,” says Isabel.
British T.I.P.S offers good- value London pakages
BRITISH T.I.P.S is offering a
good-value package at the
four-star Regency Hotel in
London.
The package is from
R4 770pps and includes
three nights’ B&B twin-share
accommodation, private
transfers from London
Heathrow on arrival, and an
Oyster Card preloaded with
£20 (R359). The package
is valid for travel from
December 14-26, 2014,
and January 1-February 28,
2015. Additional nights can
be added at R1 845pps per
night.
For first-time travellers,
British T.I.P.S’ London
Sightseeing Value Pack and
Views of London packages
offer good value for money.
The London Sightseeing
Value Pack at R2 050
includes an open-top
sightseeing bus tour,
Thames cruise, London
walking tour, fast-track
tickets to Madame
Tussaud’s and the Tower of
London, and a ride on the
London Eye.
The Views of London
sightseeing package for
R1 840 includes the
open-bus sightseeing tour,
Thames cruise, London
walking tour, London Eye,
and view from the Shard.
Thompsons hilidays UK options
Thompsons Holidays offers
a seven-night ‘Flavours
of England’ package
from R28 788 ex-JNB
(including taxes) with
return JNB-London flights
on Emirates.
Valid until December 12,
it includes two nights’
four-star London
accommodation with hopon,
hop-off sightseeing
bus tour, a Thames river
cruise and guided walking
tour; two nights’ threestar
accommodation in
York with hop-on, hopoff
sightseeing tour;
and three nights’ fourstar
accommodation in
Edinburgh with hop-on,
hop-off sightseeing tour
plus a full-day Loch
Lomond, Trossachs and
Stirling Castle tour.
Five nights’ three-star B&B
accommodation at the
three-star Tavistock Hotel
in London from
R16 609 ex-JNB on
Emirates (including taxes).
Valid until October 31.
Nine-night ‘Shakespeare’s
Country & Celtic Wales’
package, valid until
December 12 from
R27 719 ex-JNB (including
taxes) on Emirates.
Includes a night in
London and two nights
each in Cardiff, Bath and
Leamington Spa.
New UK packages from Holiday Tours
Holiday Tours has two
great UK packages on offer.
‘A Hard Day’s Night in
London’ package, valid
for travel from December
1-15, from R8 281pps
(land only) includes four
nights’ accommodation at
London’s Chrysos Hotel,
a half-day Classic Rock
Legends & Beatles sites
tour; a Beatles walking
tour and a meal at the
Hard Rock Café.
‘Best of British Rail
Tour’ – valid for travel
until November 30 – from
R19 899pps (land only)
includes eight nights’
accommodation in threestar
hotels; rail tickets
between cities as per
itinerary; a hop-on, hop-off
sightseeing tour, Thames
cruise and guided walking
tour in London; a fullday
tour of Stonehenge,
Cotswolds villages and the
Harry Potter film location
of Lacock village in Bath;
a Magical Mystery Beatles
bus tour in Liverpool; a
Beatrix Potter Lakeland
and Wordsworth tour in
Windermere; a full-day
tour to Loch Ness,
Glencoe and the Highlands
from Glasgow; and a hopon,
hop-off sightseeing
tour of Edinburgh.
The package includes
breakfast daily.
