THE travel industry is calling for
a review of ITC models in South
Africa, after an independent
consultant made headlines in
December after allegedly scamming
hundreds of SA travellers who were left
stranded over the holidays.
The travellers – the majority of
whom were expats – booked allegedly
fraudulent tickets through Kim
Robbertse, an independent travel
consultant in Polokwane. Customers
said Kim had advertised open return
tickets on British Airways for a fixed
fare of R7 500. They were asked to
pay in advance, into her personal bank
account, to secure the tickets and were
told they could confirm dates later.
Kim was a non-Iata travel agent,
ticketing through SWG (Serendipity
Worldwide Group). However, the
allegedly fraudulent tickets were never
issued through Serendipity, as Kim
reportedly cashed in the money without
making the bookings. She is believed
to have collected millions of rands from
consumers in the UK and South Africa
for non-existent tickets.
The incident has put a spotlight on
SA ITC models, raising the question of
whether some of these models – which
merely offer a ticketing platform to their
members without any further support
or controls – should be reviewed to
offer better fraud protection for clients.
Safeguarding the industry
Otto de Vries, Asata ceo, says there
has been a massive expansion in the
ITC model over the past 10 years in
South Africa. “The question we as an
industry now face is to what extent the
various forms of ITC models safeguard
the interests of the consumer, their
host company’s brand, the industry
and the individual ITC. As an industry
we need to define and encourage a
model that minimises risks to any of
these parties and encourage ITCs that
are not already within the Asata fold to
join, contribute to and comply with a
strict code of conduct that protects all
parties involved.”
Mladen Lukic, gm of Travel
Counsellors in South Africa, says
unfortunately the incident has put all
ITCs in South Africa in a bad light and
that it’s not the fact that a consultant
works from home that is the issue, it’s
that some consultants are working in
a non-regulated, non-Iata environment.
He adds that the travel industry will
need to make some changes if it
wants to avoid becoming a regulated
industry.
Garth Wolff, ceo of eTravel, says
there is a fundamental flaw in an
ITC model that offers no protection
for the ITC, the client or the supplier.
“This kind of model is purely based on
volumes for commercial benefit.”
He adds that new travel agency
owners often have very little knowledge
of the business risks associated with
cleared funds, cash flow management,
debtors and creditors management
and they need administrative and
business support.
eTravel recently launched a similar
model called ‘Just the Ticket’ in an
attempt to compete with models such
as Serendipity.
Garth says, however: “We
closely scrutinise all members
and only sign up two out
of every 10 as we need to
ensure that the Just the Ticket
ITC has a sound knowledge
of business management
and risks, as we have less
control over their cash flow
and business management
principles.”
Dinesh Naidoo, group
operations director of
SWG, says there is nothing
inherently wrong with ITC
models that offer only a
ticketing platform. He says
SWG does offer its members
the option of administrative
support but this is not a
compulsory service.
Dinesh says it’s impossible
for any consortium to
safeguard against all fraud,
especially when ITCs start
advertising false fares on the
Internet without even ticketing.
However, to better protect ITCs
and consumers in the future,
he says each member of SWG
will, from now, be vetted by
Asata.
Wally Gaynor, md of Club
Travel, says although the vast
majority of ITCs are honest,
ethical and care for their
clients, there will unfortunately
always be rogues. He says
Club Travel has put in
place strict guidelines and
procedures before anyone can
become a member. “We do
credit and criminal checks. We
look into their work history.
They have to have been
working for a travel agency for
many years. We do stringent
checks and continue checking
as the ITC does business
with us.”
Continued checking is key,
says Mladen. He says
although Asata is a highly
efficient organisation,
membership alone is not
enough. He says one way to
avoid fraud is to centralise
financial control. Travel
Counsellors’ ITCs are not
exposed to fraud, as they
don’t collect money from
customers; a central service
collects the money. This
prevents abuse by the ITC
and also prevents ITCs from
becoming victims of fraud.
Sean Hough, ceo of
Pentravel, says it’s important
that a consortium insists that
its members use a corporate
bank account. “It’s wrong to
allow ITCs to transact using
their own bank accounts.
