THE lack of festive season availability
for popular destinations such as
Mauritius, has put the spotlight on the
relationship between travel agents and
tour operators.
Edwina Fletcher, ceo of Webtours
says tour operators today are
simply churning out quotes without
reading the travel agents’ requests
or bothering to check availability.
“Operators are quoting on resorts they
are simply not able to confirm,” says
Edwina, adding that the problem is
even bigger during the busy December
peak season.
Edwina recently put a lot of effort into
dissuading a client from booking one
resort, and to opting for another which
she knew was perfect for them.
Although she had confirmed
availability with the tour
operator, when she tried
to book, the operator told
her the resort was booked
to capacity. “It makes us,
as the travel agent look
completely incompetent.
Where has the attention to
detail gone?”
But it could be the multiple
distribution channels which
are to blame, according
to Flora Fubbs, product
and marketing manager of
The Holiday Factory. She
says that in the “olden
days” hotels had limited
distribution channels so it
was much easier to manage
numbers. “Today there
are multiple channels of
distribution and while we are
checking availability so is
the Internet and so is a tour
operator in Germany.”
Flora advises travel agents
to encourage clients to
commit and make the
booking rather than shop
around for a deal and then
lose out completely. “Our
South African market is a
very late booking market
and when it comes to peak
season, that often means
you have to take what you
can get,” she says.
If a hotel or resort is
‘closed for sales’, tour
operators won’t quote on
the hotel, says Joanne
Visagie, sales and marketing
manager of Beachcomber
Tours. However, she adds
that it is impossible to go
through to a hotel when
their status is ‘on request’
to check availability. “This
would create a massive
amount of unnecessary work
especially considering that
only one in eight quotes is
converted into a booking.”
“When a hotel fills up due
to popularity and demand,
this certainly doesn’t
mean any tour operator is
untrustworthy,” adds Joanne.
John Ridler, pr and media
manager of Thompsons
Holidays says it is
impossible to ‘hold’ the
accommodation during the
100% cancellation period. “It
could be that by the time the
agent has ‘clinched’ the sale
the accommodation is no
longer available.”
Although travel agents say
that the quoting system is
past its sell-by date and that
online real-time availability is
the answer, Flora is not so
sure. She says: “Technology
does not change the fact
that if you see it and like it,
confirm and pay for it – that
is the ONLY guarantee.”
“Real-time availability
works well for most of the
year but in high season,
when hotel rooms are in high
demand, hotels go into ‘stop
sale’ mode and all further
enquiries have to be made
on a per quote basis,” says
John.
Thompsons has an
online platform soon to
be launched, which should
make the reservation
process faster and more
streamlined.
Beachcomber is also
working on a technology
solution that will link its
system to its hotels, says
Joanne.
