Agents, you’re losing out on millions
Cruises International
exhibited at the Eid
Shopping Festival, held
from June 4-7 at the Northgate
Dome in Johannesburg. We
were there to create awareness
of our cruise holidays available
in Dubai and the Arabian Gulf,
led by Royal Caribbean.
There were only a handful
of other tourism entities
exhibiting and only one retail
travel store.
I was surprised by the sheer
number of people and the high
level of activity taking place
at most stands. I was also
pleasantly surprised by the
amount of people who were
aware of Royal Caribbean and
had repeatedly sailed on our
ships. A great number had
already booked their next
cruise or were in the process
of doing so.
What deeply disappointed
me, though, was to find out
that the vast majority of those
who held reservations, or
were planning to make one,
were using the Internet! Some
people even asked us if Royal
Caribbean had just started
operating in South Africa!
Surely these consumers
know of travel agents? Why
has no agent approached
them? The lost commissions
on the cruise sales alone must
be in the millions of rands!
This particular audience
is so well defined, culturally
and geographically. Why have
agents, who are located and
live among them, failed to
capture such an active and
vibrant market? Is it perhaps
because most members of
our industry lack the drive,
enthusiasm and ambition to
run a successful and evergrowing
business? Is it a lack
of sales skills?
Together with most other
suppliers in our industry,
we spend endless time and
money to encourage, motivate,
train and financially support
our retail partners to increase
sales and capture a larger
share of a growing market.
We all complain about sales
‘lost’ to the Internet but are we
actually doing anything to show
the market that using a locally
based travel professional is a
much better option? Or have
we just given up?
I have witnessed the
same pattern of apathy,
mediocrity and failure too
many times. People blame
anything and everyone for
their shortcomings but they
never take charge of their lives
and their businesses. They
never get out there, take on
the challenge and capture the
opportunities which, as this
experience proves once more,
obviously and abundantly exist.
George Argyropoulos
Ceo, Cruises Internationa
