IN A snap survey run by TNW, six out
of six travel experts agreed that July
2016 was the worst month the travel
industry had seen in a long time. But
the recent municipal elections have
inspired a positive atmosphere among
the South African public – and experts
expect this to translate into increased
bookings.
Harvey World Travel md, Marco
Cristofoli, says his July 2016 bookings
were down compared with both July
2015 and June 2016. Mladen Lukic,
md of Travel Counsellors and Wally
Gaynor, md of Club Travel, both agree
that bookings were flatter than usual
in July.
Marco Ciocchetti, ceo of the XL
Travel Group, told TNW industry growth
in July was down 10% year-on-year but
that he expected a recovery following
the renewed positivity among both
agents and travellers as a result of
the elections and the subsequent
strengthening of the rand.
There is renewed hope in the
industry because of the stronger rand
and the positive energy that emerged
in the aftermath of the elections, says
Air Mauritius regional manager for
Southern Africa and Latin
America, Carla Da Silva. “If
there is confidence in the
economy, consumers are
more comfortable spending
money as opposed to being
concerned about tomorrow.”
The rand sat at R13,44 to
the US dollar at the time of
going to print. It was R14,15
to the dollar on July 15, and
R15,07 on June 15.
“We have already seen a
difference since the elections,
with the call and booking
rates going up substantially
in both the outbound and
domestic markets,” says
Thompsons Holidays pr and
media manager, John Ridler.
The stronger rand allows
airlines to maintain lower
prices, says FlySafair vp of
sales and distribution, Kirby
Gordon, because the prices
of air tickets – particularly in
the domestic market – are
determined by the rand/dollar
exchange rate and the price
of oil.
While the low exchange rate
at the beginning of the year
created expectations that
South Africans would cut back
on travel in order to save their
rands, Sean Hough, ceo of
Pentravel, says people are still
travelling.
“There was a massive shift
toward regional and local
travel this year but there
was also massive growth to
Zanzibar – 285% year on year
– as well as nice growth to
Mauritius, and Cape Town too,
from a domestic perspective,”
he says.
Wally agrees there is still
business out there. “At
Club Travel, for instance, we
have enjoyed 48% growth in
bookings compared with last
year,” he says, adding, though,
that there has not been an
increase in the number of
people travelling, and agents
have had to take business
from their competitors.
South Africa also regained
its status from Nigeria as the
strongest economy in Africa
after the elections following
the strengthening of the rand,
the South African Government
announced in a statement
dated August 11.
