Travelport: Southern Africa boon for industry growth

In a special media briefing held on the morning of October 10, new global ceo of Travelport, Greg Webb, addressed challenges and opportunities in different markets, and the relevance of travel agents in today’s market.
Webb says while southern Africa will continue to grow over the next five years, northern Africa will continue to be a challenge for Travelport due to social and political issues in the region.
He added that South Africa was a strength in the market and had been a focus of Travelport for a long time. He outlined two opportunities for growth:
• From a regional perspective, the tourism industries in South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana continue to grow based on the luxury safari industry. There has been an influx of travellers from the US and this growth has been largely facilitated by Middle East carriers increasing their passenger capability.
• The eco-travel mentality has grown and Africa has been a key beneficiary of this growth.
Webb also addressed the relevance of the travel agent today and said the corporate travel market will continue to grow, and as airlines have made the travel-buying experience more complex, for corporate buyers, having a trusted travel management company (TMC) will become more important.
For leisure agents, he said he had seen large agencies succeed because they had carved out their space in the market, and small agencies that have succeeded because they provided niche services, which he believed would become an industry standard.