Letter of the day: Find the Solution Ourselves

BLAMING SA Tourism and SAA for travel problems we're all experiencing is like crying to the wind! SAA is a business & will/should always focus on the bottom line - expect no inch from them. SA Tourism is near hopeless & always has been...I actually think they are doing a better job now than a few years ago - at least you're seeing ads in popular magazines vs. useless "Lion King" productions they used to host. If you expect them or SAA to drive your business, you're bound to fail & might as well get out... The weakening dollar, coupled to routine price increases in South Africa, put a squeeze on the US market. Someone pointed out a 65% increase in rates over 4 years. In the same period, salaries in US increased about 3% per year, so it’s clearly out of line and SA has become more expensive to visit, hence a much smaller pool of potential clients. If suppliers in SA want to attract more US business, they have to voluntarily lower rates. Fortunately, we have a democracy in SA and neither SA Tourism nor the government can control rates. My bet is that lower occupancies will eventually get the industry to open their eyes and set more reasonable rates. Come on, no game lodge is really worth US$1100-US$1200 per person! Johann van Zyl Tour Operator California, US (Disclaimer: The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of TNN or Now Media.)