THE travel industry is
becoming an increasingly
oppressive environment
for agents who are burdened
with long hours and little
reward.
eTNW recently polled agents,
asking if they were expected
to be available 24/7 without
compensation. Of the 91
agents who responded, 63%
said yes, with 32% saying
they felt exploited, and 31%
saying they did it for the love
of travel.
While 28% said this did not
apply to them, they said they
knew other travel agents in
this position. Only 9% thought
it was not a problem in the
industry.
Tony King, senior travel
adviser of GoTravel.co.za,
says the travel industry
has become its own worst
nightmare.
He says TMCs can no
longer afford to pay their staff
well because their earning
potential has been cut. He
has worked in travel for 16
years, but recently had to
take a salary and commission
earning scale cut of 20%
after a large consortium
acquired his agency. “Their
tender department arranged
new tenders with our major
accounts at a fraction of the
previous price levels to keep
the business.
“Imagine having charged
someone R750 for an
international air ticket for
years and now the new fee
is R200. Even more crazy is
having charged R750 for my
visa service fee, now the rate
is R50.”
On top of this, Tony says
he is required to be on call
every night and weekend.
“One pretty much has to be
available all the time – it plays
on the mind just knowing you
are not free.”
“In the travel industry there
is often an understanding
that long hours may be
required as agents are dealing
with worldwide travellers in
different time zones,” says
Kim Botti, director of Lee
Botti and Associates.
She says this would be on
an ad hoc basis or possibly
for an emergency call number.
“However, some travel
companies offer the added
value of 24-hour service
and in this sort of role,
consultants are required to be
more available.
“In our experience this
is usually in a corporate
environment where our
clients will clearly stipulate
the hours and provision is
made to compensate, but
there is often reluctance
for consultants to work
these hours due to personal
commitments,” she says.
Long and difficult hours are
not exclusive to travel though,
says gm of Flight Specials,
Franz von Wielligh.
Everything nowadays is
about instant gratification and
clients want service to be
immediate, he says
