TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLY

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SOUTHERN AFRICA’S TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLYMay 1 2019 I No. 2541

FEATURE

FEATURESNOW HOLIDAYS Page 9Page 7Page 2

NEWSCATHAY PACIFIC

Seasonal CPT service to return

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Kenya Airways will introduce flights to Rome and Geneva from Nairobi from June 12. Passengers can take advantage of launch fares when travelling from Johannesburg or Cape Town. Fares from Johannesburg to Rome start at R6 042 and Geneva from R5 388. Fares from Cape Town to Rome start at R6 792 and to Geneva from R6 098. These fares include taxes and are applicable for sale up to May 31 and for travel until the end of December. Exploring Rome are Ngelethu Mdlozini (left), sales support executive and Refilwe Fosu-Amoah, sales executive, both of Kenya Airways. Photo: Shannon Van Zyl.

Taking Kenya to Europe

BA reduces JNB-LHR flightssaRah RobeRtson

BRITISH Airways will cut flight BA51 and BA50 from its JNB-LHR route effective June. The

flights have been cancelled for both the upcoming summer and winter seasons, says the airline.

This is the daylight flight operating four times a week using a B787-900 Dreamliner, and its axing means a reduction of 32 First, 168 Club, 156 World Traveller Plus and 508 World Traveller seats every week

A spokesperson for British Airways says affected passengers are permitted to change their flights up to two weeks either side of their original dates of travel in the same cabin. If affected passengers no longer wish to travel they can cancel their booking and get a refund including taxes.

Chairman for Travkor Sure

Travel, Ana Fasulakis, says the cuts are a pity as the flights have not been given sufficient time to gain momentum after only being introduced during 2018. She mentions that daylight flights are popular, especially with businessmen travelling to London, who can arrive at night, get a good night’s rest and set off refreshed the next day.

However Ana feels that the BA50 schedule has been less appealing to passengers travelling beyond the UK, as South Africans require a costly UK transit visa to travel onwards to Europe. She adds that while clients travelling to the US do not require a UK transit visa, the BA50 flight schedule requires them to book overnight accommodation in London before embarking on their transatlantic flight the next day, which had also been a drawback.

‘Wait and see’ hits pre-election bookingssaRah RobeRtson

OPERATORS and agents are reporting a slowdown in bookings leading up to the May 8 elections.

Terry Munro, md of Beachcomber Tours, says the slowdown has been in effect for the last four to six weeks.

“Enquiries are still flowing in but there is a slow uptake in conversions

at present,” says director of sales for World Leisure Holidays, Brenda Mitchell.

Product manager for Harvey World Travel, Monica Horn, says she too has noticed low consumer confidence leading up to the elections, with agents working harder to convert quotes into bookings.

“Customers don’t want to commit

to a big spend at present. This is nothing particularly unusual about this though – we tend to see a similar slow-down prior to every election,” says Aadil Esack, gm product and marketing of XL Travel Head Office.

Md of Flight Centre Travel Group, Andrew Stark, says FCTG has grown accustomed to South Africans

To page 2

Development Promotions is the GSA for United Airlines in this market. In TNW dated April 24, it was incorrectly stated that a GSA had not yet been appointed. TNW apologises for the error.

For the record

AUSTRALIA

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2 n Wednesday May 1 2019 QUICK READ FOR DECISION-MAKERS

NEWS

Rubes® By Leigh Rubin

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Cathay relaunches successful CPT seasonal serviceCatherine Bower

CATHAY Pacific is to relaunch its seasonal direct service between

Cape Town and Hong Kong, starting November 2019 until February.

Ashish Kapur, Cathay Pacific country manager, South Africa and Indian Ocean, told TNW: “We are excited to be back. We launched this service last year and it was very successful. The response to the news for this year has been very positive.”

The Cape Town service will be operated by an A350-900, with 280 passengers across business, premium economy and economy class. Ashish says this is the most modern aircraft in Cathay’s fleet and offers passengers a number of benefits. “The aircraft has an improved in-flight entertainment system, and automated do not disturb and wake-up functionalities in business class.” The 28 premium economy class extra-wide seats include

full-length leg-rests, and a larger baggage allowance, in a separate cabin from economy class.

Ashish says the route is popular with both business and leisure travellers and offers excellent connections to Asia, South West Pacific and North America.

“I try to remind people that the world is round – one can easily get to North America via Hong Kong and we offer a number of good connections to the west coast of the US and Canada.”

Ashish says other popular connecting destinations include Japan (particularly at present, given the upcoming Rugby World Cup) and China (where business travellers attend trade fairs).

China connectionsCathay, along with its subsidiary Cathay Dragon, services 23 destinations in China. Ashish says: “These flights connect very well with our flights into Hong Kong from Cape Town.” He also points out that Hong Kong is a visa-free destination, and therefore provides the potential for a stopover package.

The CPT service will operate three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with a flight duration of 13 hours and 50 minutes. Flight CX794 will depart Cape Town International Airport at 11h05, arriving at Hong Kong International Airport at around 06h55 the following morning. Return flight CX795 will depart Hong Kong at 00h10, arriving in Cape Town at 08h30.

Cathay is putting a lot of focus on technology to improve customer experience, having introduced self-baggage drops, online check-ins and a chatbot functionality to assist passengers.

Top web stories

NUMSA ground staff issue Comair strike notice Flight Centre invests in corporate travel company Breaking News: United to launch non-stop CPT service TNW Pick: Air Mauritius ups flights to Durbs Turkish launches Marrakech flights

Codeshare to ease Moz business tripsFASTJET and LAM Mozambique Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement to strengthen their respective route networks inside Mozambique.

Under this agreement Fastjet and LAM will sell seats on each other’s flights between Maputo, Beira, Tete and Quelimane,

using their respective airline codes. The codeshare was initiated on the Maputo-Beira and Maputo-Quelimane routes on April 18, and it will be followed by the Maputo-Tete route.

Nico Bezuidenhout, group ceo of Fastjet, says the codeshare will provide leisure and

business travellers with more choices and easier connections. João Carlos Pó Jorge, md of LAM, adds that passengers may now enjoy the option of flying in and out in the same day to certain destinations where their airlines had previously only had a single daily frequency.

Pre-election bookings

adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach prior to major political events. He says the slow-down was being felt particularly in the leisure space, but corporate sales growth from FCTG’s recent account wins has offset the leisure dip.

Andrew also says

that, while the group experienced a relatively soft January, February and April, February sales had been “ridiculously” high. He attributed this booking pattern change to the demand created by Flight Centre’s Travel Expo, held in February every year.

“We mustn’t forget that we are in the midst of

private school holidays with four consecutive weeks of four-day trade – all of which doesn’t help,” Andrew says. Always optimistic, Andrew believes that sales will pick up following the elections but warns that the product, pricing and promotions must be right to convert in the present price-sensitive marketplace.

From page 1

“We launched this service last year and

it was very successful. The response to the

news for this year has been very positive.”

To the point

R1,9bn will be invested in new hotels in South Africa this year, according to the SA Hotel Investment Outlook report released by JLL. JLL, a financial firm that specialises in commercial real estate and investment management, also predicts that around R6,9bn will be invested over the next three years, which translates into 3 900 new rooms across South Africa.

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Jet Airways suspends all operationsDeena Robinson

INDIA’S Jet Airways has released a statement saying that it has suspended all

domestic and international flights after failing to secure emergency funding from the country’s banks.

Guests who are booked on flights will be informed about refunds via text message, email or phone call to the contact details listed in the booking. However, Glenda Ingram of West Beach Travel, says communications from Jet regarding refunds has been poor as they no longer have a GSA in South Africa.

Emails sent from Jet Airways to agents say that only tickets reported as cash sales will be accepted for refund and the timeframe to apply for refunds is from April 23 to May 20.

The airline says essential services needed to support customers and the re-commencement of the flight operations will continue until further notice.

In TNW dated April 17, it was reported that founder, Naresh Goyal, stepped down in late March as part of a planned US$218m (R3bn) bailout that handed control to the banks.

That bailout did not materialise, with the airline saying the banks were unable

to consider its request for funds to keep it flying.

The banks are continuing their search for private investors to buy 75% of the airline and have extended the deadline for submissions to May 10.

The airline’s statement calls the suspension temporary, placing hope for its future.

In recent years the carrier has struggled to cut costs to compete with newer budget airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet.

Meanwhile, Emirates has announced it will enter into a codeshare partnership with SpiceJet, allowing seamless connections for passengers travelling between 51 destinations in India and many destinations across Africa, America, Europe and the Middle East.

Airbnb – a scapegoat?Deena Robinson

GOVERNMENT plans to regulate Airbnb and other home-sharing apps in South Africa, amid growing concerns that they are damaging the hotel industry. But are Airbnb hosts taking the fall for a decline in the hospitality industry?

The Tourism Amendment Bill states that short-term home rentals will now be legislated under the Tourism Act and empowers the Minister of Tourism to determine thresholds regarding these short-term home rentals.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, ceo of the Tourism Business Council of SA, argues that the government is simply trying to level the playing field. “All those in the hospitality industry have rules they need to adhere to, while Airbnb

does not. The Bill is trying to normalise the industry,” he says.

Tshifhiwa explains that night thresholds are a possible regulatory method, where Airbnb hosts will have to comply with certain rules or operate as a formalised accommodation option should they exceed the stipulated number of nights they are allowed.

A spokesperson for Airbnb told TNW that the platform had clear and progressive rules that supported the sustainable growth of home sharing, adding that Airbnb was in productive discussions with the SA government to help hosts share their homes, follow the rules and pay their fair share of tax.

An Airbnb host in Durban denied that those offering their homes on the platform were getting special treatment and told

TNW that any income she received from Airbnb was taxed as she was paid from overseas. She added that business was declining for many, and Airbnb was the scapegoat.

“We recognise that Airbnb is here to stay, but there is chaos in the industry that government must now regulate,” said Tshifhiwa.

The Airbnb host acknowledged that the platform was cutting into the business of hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, but added that it had enabled people who had never had an opportunity to go on holiday, to do so more cheaply.

Government intervention in Airbnb operations is not unprecedented, with cities like Barcelona and New York introducing regulations that require hosts to be licensed with the city or face substantial fines.

Turkish launches Marrakech flightsTURKISH Airlines has added Marrakech to its network. Direct flights between Istanbul and Marrakech operate five days a week. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,

flight TK 619 departs Istanbul at 11h30 and arrives in Marrakech at 14h30. Return flight TK 620 departs Marrakech on the same days at 15h25 and arrives in Istanbul at 22h05.

SAA launches online trade support saRah RobeRtson

SAA has launched a new online trade support website covering guidelines such as involuntary schedule changes, fare requests, out-of-system range procedures, name changes, offloads,

baggage, travelling with pets, group bookings, agent discounts, duplicate bookings, immigration regulations, EMDs, OSI entries, seating, Voyager member and corporate revenue tracking entries.

Franz von Wielligh, head of innovation at XL Travel, says it is good to hear

that SAA is improving its communication with the trade. He says consultants were constantly complaining about problems getting through to the airline’s call centre.

“A website at an agent’s fingertips will be a great resource.”

“Essential services needed to support customers and the

re-commencement of the flight operations will continue until

further notice.”

QUICK READ FOR BUSIEST PEOPLE Wednesday May 1 2019 n 5

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WHO IS SHERYL FERGUSON

Understanding client business models is keyIn the latest Who Is… Sarah Robertson speaks to Sheryl Ferguson, md of XL Traveleaders, who has more than 40 years’ experience in travel.

SHERYL began her travel career after leaving school in Natal, when

she started working for the family business, Pinetown Travel Bureau. She says in those days airlines invested heavily in onsite agency training, which was very in depth. She attended regular week-long airline and Iata courses in Germany and Amsterdam and says the first educational she attended was a 30-day cruise on the Reina del Mar from Cape Town to South America.

A few years later, she spent a year exploring Vancouver and surrounds. When she returned to South Africa she relocated to Johannesburg and got her first job at Rennies Travel in Harrison Street. She was 23 at the time. She later worked for International Travels at its IBM in-house, spent some time working as a leisure FIT specialist for the Associated Air Travel Bureau (AATB) and also repped for Scandinavian Airlines.

Corporate specialistIn the early 1980s Sheryl was appointed travel manager for Eskom and spent 10 years working from the Megawatt Park office in Sunninghill. She found the position very stimulating and particularly enjoyed escorting visiting energy experts from around the world on trips up to private game lodges in Southern Africa. “Eskom was a successful state-owned entity in those days that ran a very

tight ship,” she says.Shortly after moving to

Johannesburg, Sheryl met Rob, the man who would become her husband and business partner.

“We met on the Friday and had three dates in three days,” says Sheryl. “On the Tuesday, in a beautiful little Italian restaurant while we were being serenaded by violin, he asked me to marry him. We were married five months later and we recently celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary.”

Stepping out The couple wanted to own their own business and so in 1990 Sheryl left Eskom. She, Rob and a receptionist set up shop in Rivonia, leveraging Sheryl’s travel experience and extensive network of contacts and Rob’s accounting expertise. The company was called Ferguson Travel Brokers, later becoming Traveleaders. Sheryl says the original name was ahead of its time, as she sees the current airline-agency relationship as more like a brokerage than a true agent supplier relationship these days. The company focused on corporate travel, with its first client located in the same

building as their agency. These days, the company

also assists with leisure options. Self-drives through the Dordogne valley; 50th celebrations at the Monaco Grand Prix and two-month cruises on the QE2 travelling from Cape Town to Asia Pacific are some of the stand-out itineraries that Sheryl has tailor-made for clients over the years.

“It was hard for the first few years but working for yourself is also immensely rewarding,” she says.

Sheryl says before there was Internet, corporate clients really needed the agent to be with them every step of the way along their journey.

Today Traveleaders is a team of five with its offices still in Rivonia.

“Jacqui has been with the company for nearly 12 years, Cezanne for nearly four years and Mmakgating for nearly two years,” says Sheryl. She says the secret to retaining good staff comes down to looking after their individual needs, rewarding them financially and creating a pleasant working environment.

Sheryl remains very hands-on in the business and knows every client who walks through the door by name. She says she takes the time not only to get to know the clients but also to understand their businesses in as much depth as possible – a step that Sheryl feels is essential to providing successful travel management consulting.

Getting to know Sheryl Rob and Sheryl have

two children. Ross is an electrical engineer who now owns his own business and Kirsty is an Earth Scientist who consults on air, water and dust pollution. Sheryl says work

doesn’t stop for her after hours but when she does have some spare time her hobbies include gardening, Latin American dancing and cooking. Her love of travel and exotic cultures have influenced her cooking, with her Moroccan meat,

clementine and cinnamon dish; her Zabaglione Italian egg custard; and her grape cake being some of the family’s favourites. While Sheryl has

travelled extensively, she says one of her favourite travel memories was formed decades ago when she travelled up to Mozambique with a group of friends by light aircraft, staying in lodges and beach huts not even registered on the tourist maps, and sharing prawns braaied on the beach.

On another trip, Sheryl and Rob visited Réunion. The couple enjoyed a number of day walks on different parts of the island. She remembers hiking up into the mountains, through valleys of vineyards and beautiful, shady forests. She says it was awe inspiring to walk through the lava beds in the south of the island and see nature bringing the stark black lava back to life as tiny, luminescent green ferns sprouted out of the mineral lava beds.

Sheryl Ferguson.“I take the time not only to get to know the clients but also to understand their

businesses in as much depth as possible.”

6 n Wednesday May 1 2019 QUICK READ FOR DECISION-MAKERS

NEWS

SA Express is celebrating 25 years of operations in South Africa. The airline began operations in 1994. Celebrating with SAX on the day was Bombardier, an aircraft partner since the airline’s inception. Pictured here at the celebrations, held at the SAA Technical Hangar 3, OR Tambo International Airport, on Wednesday, April 24, is Siza Mzimela, interim ceo of SAX. Photo: Jason Clarke

SAX celebrates 25 years!

Channel dilution could force new GSA modelsSarah robertSon

THE growth in international OTA bookings is threatening not only

traditional travel agents but General Sales Agents (GSAs) and the industry as a whole. When travel agents lose bookings to international OTAs, it is not only the individual revenue that is lost but the volume dilution can ultimately affect regional pricing for all. GSAs are, in many cases, adapting their business models to address this and the diminishing control that they have over booking channels.

George Argyropoulos, ceo of Cruises International, the appointed GSA for a number of cruise lines in South Africa, estimates that international OTAs could be poaching as much as 20%-25% of South African cruise sales per year. He describes this dilution of business as a serious threat to the local industry. To prevent bookings from being lost to the OTAs, Cruises International guarantees that it will price-match any competing quotes in writing from an international supplier.

George says if a client has not already done a comparison on the Internet, they will do one at some stage. He therefore recommends that

travel advisers manage the situation by asking clients to communicate information from other sources with them. Agents should also explain the risks of booking with unknown online companies, explaining that, by booking through correct channels, the client always has a company or person to refer back to.

From a supplier perspective George is also advocating a change from an override to a retainer model for international representation contracts.

Charmaine Thome, gm of Aviareps in Southern Africa, told TNW that it held GSA accounts for airlines, hotel groups and tourism authorities. She says an override model still works well for most airlines as the majority of sales from the South African market are directed through BSP, which is easy to monitor and manage. “The more we sell, the more we earn,” she explains. However Aviareps now employs a retainer GSA model for hotel and tourism authority accounts as it is currently too difficult to monitor regional sales through the many booking channels available around the world.

Charmaine adds that Aviareps has also started instituting different contract models for different airlines.

She explains that while some airlines only pay overrides on BSP sales, some pay a smaller override commission on Internet sales (based on an airline generated report) in addition to BSP sales to address growing website bookings.

Jackie Adami, md of Development Promotions, says industry dynamics are changing at a rapid rate but she believes there will always be room for a GSA for fulfilment of distribution, marketing and support – particularly in niche areas and with more complex product.

“If the service you provide travel agents and your knowledge about your product is always phenomenal, travel agents will always return to book with you as you are making their lives easier,” says Jackie.

Janine Pretorius, owner of Encore Cruises, which has been an appointed GSA for Regent Seven Seas Cruises for over 20 years, says the commission override model that they employ is still working well for them. She says international OTA dilution is slightly less of a problem in the luxury niche market, particularly as the South African cruise market is still so heavily reliant on travel agents.

Malawi runway closure: SAX’s Q400 to the rescueSAA has implemented contingency plans for its operations affected by the runway closure at Chileka International Airport in Blantyre, Malawi.

The main runway was closed for maintenance on April 24, and SAA’s operations on that day, as well as those on Saturday, April 27, were cancelled. This is because the aircraft that SAA operates to Blantyre does not fit the required categories of the airport’s secondary runway, which will remain operational.

“We have implemented contingency plans by using SA Express’s Q400 turbo-prop aircraft to continue to operate this route,” SAA said in a statement.

“The nature of the aircraft deployed during the rehabilitation of the

runway will be a single-cabin aircraft,” said Tlali Tlali, SAA spokesperson. SAA will compensate passengers who had booked premium cabin tickets. “The decision was based on the nature of the offering in the single-cabin aircraft and in accordance with our compensation policy,” said Tlali.

Other customers will be re-accommodated to Lilongwe, where operations are unaffected. These passengers will have the option of reconnecting from Lilongwe for onward travel by air or ground transport.

Passengers who have not been ticketed will be rebooked on to the next available flight.

Passengers or groups who have been ticketed should be aware of the following

rebooking conditions: SAA will rebook affected

passengers on to the operation between Johannesburg and Blantyre where applicable; Re-accommodation of

reservations has been made by SAA on to the closest available fight between the two destinations in the same booking class; Change fees will be

waived; Tickets must be re-issued

on or before May 7, and the booking owner may re-issue the ticket; Tickets to be endorsed

‘INVOL Re-RTT due BLZ RUNWAY Closure/Date’.A full refund of the unused

portion of the ticket will only be considered once the above options have been considered.

Get some Sugar, get some Spice!EVERYONE likes a bit of Sugar&Spice, especially now that the colder months are upon SA.

Now, Holiday Packages by AfricaStay is offering travel agents exactly that with its Sugar&Spice Campaign, designed to make agents want to sell, sell, sell these great offers. The Sugar – agents are

incentivised by the promise of up to 15% commission on bookings for the Sugar&Spice Collection The Spice – agents’ clients

get various free upgrades, 25% discounts on fours,

certain free activities and other value-adding features of the collection.Marian Sandu, ceo

of Holiday Packages by AfricaStay, told TNW that currently 12 properties in Mauritius and a further 12 in Zanzibar were included in the collection. The company has plans to open up the Sugar&Spice Collection in Kenya and Mozambique as well. He said: “A great feature of the campaign is that this is exclusively for travel agents. So your clients will see you, their agent, as the rainmaker.”

Flight Centre invests in technology company The Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has made a 25% investment in The Upside Travel Company. Upside is a corporate travel company launched in 2017.

With this investment FCTG aims to improve its technology capabilities, specifically in the small and midsize corporate market and use Upside’s platform to digitally enable its corporate traveller business using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The deal will also bolster Upside as it gains

access to FCTG’s supplier relationship and global reach as it continues to develop software with a broader set of travel data inputs.

The Upside product will soon take advantage of the emerging standards called Next-Generation Storefront, which are being developed by ATPCO in collaboration with airline and industry leaders. Incorporating the new standards for product display is a priority for both parties and is expected to take place in Q2 of 2019.

QUICK READ FOR BUSIEST PEOPLE Wednesday May 1 2019 n 7

AUSTRALIA

South Africans continue to flock to Australia, either on a ‘recce’ or to visit friends and relatives. Kim Cochrane reports on connectivity, visa tips and the best rates on offer.

Early visa applications are vital

THE biggest issue at the moment for South Africans travelling to

Australia arises when they don’t apply for visas on time and are therefore unable to travel when planned, says Jean Bothma, director of Visas To Australia.

He says it currently takes 45 days after the application is received for a visitor visa (Tourism stream) to be issued, so travel consultants need to advise clients to submit applications two months prior to travel.

Visas To Australia assists with short-term visitor visas for tourists, VFR travellers, business visitors attending meetings or conferences, as well as sporting groups and professional sports people.

Of the visas processed by his company, he says about 90% are for VFR travellers.

Jean doesn’t work on longer-stay visas or immigrations.

Qantas Airways is aware that the Australian visa processing time is averaging 45 days due to high volumes. “We always recommend agents and passengers to apply for visas a minimum of 45 days prior to departure or

to apply for their visa before making their flight bookings,” says Lauren Egger, marketing manager for Qantas in SA.

Priti Ramkissoon, coo of Thompsons Travel, says the delay with the Australian visas has been stressful for travellers and consultants.

“Thankfully we had sent out a communication to ensure timeous submission of applications. Thus far we have received all outstanding visa grants for corporate and leisure clients in time for their departures.”

Jean says business visas can take between two and three weeks to process. Urgent/compassionate visas can be arranged only in emergencies, such as a death in the family or when a family member is critically ill. These visas take around five days to get processed.

Priti Ramkissoon

VFR still biggest sector from SAABOUT 50% of inbound passengers into Australia from South Africa are the VFR sector according to the ABS statistics the airline receives, says Qantas Airways’ Lauren Egger.

Tourism Western Australia confirms that the VFR sector dominates South African visitation to Western Australia. In 2018, 73% of South African visitors to Western Australia were VFR.

Additional statistics are that in 2018, an estimated 17 300 South Africans visited Western Australia. These visitors spent an estimated AUD27m (R271m) in the State.

In 2018, South Africa was Western Australia’s 14th largest international market by number of visitors, and the 21st largest international market by visitor spend.

The majority of travel to Australia from South Africa via Singapore is VFR traffic with some immigration, agrees Sally George, Singapore Airlines market development manager in South Africa.

Air Mauritius, services Perth from Mauritius with

connections to other Australian cities on Virgin Australia, also caters for a mix of business travellers to Perth and a large section of VFR traffic, confirms Carla da Silva, regional manager: Southern Africa and Latin America.

According to Tourism Australia, the South African arrivals for February 2019 were 3 900, with the year-ending arrivals for February 2019 sitting at 59 400 (5,5% year-on-year increase). In total, there were 927 200 international visitor arrivals during February. For the year ending February 2019, there were 9,3m visitor arrivals to Australia, an increase of 4,1% relative to the previous year.

Priti Ramkissoon of Thompsons Travel, says for common stopovers to Australia, sometimes the best-value fare is via Dubai, which is ideal for families with young children, or with Singapore Airlines because of the free stopover tour.

“We do usually recommend the shortest, or most direct route though, due to the long flying time and time difference.”

12-hour direct route to OzPEOPLE often comment on how far away Australia is, but in reality the flight from JNB to SYD is only 11h45m, says Lauren Egger of Qantas Airways.

“Time is money/leave so why would you not want to get to your destination as quickly as possible?”

In comparison, a flight to the Middle East is eight hours and then another 14 hours to Sydney. From SA to Asia it is 10h30m and then a further 7h40m to Sydney, excluding the stopover time between flights, she says.

“Currently we fly a Boeing 747 six days a week (daily during peak periods) between

JNB and SYD and then on to 60 destinations in Australia. Our Trans-Tasman offering allows customers to connect quickly to New Zealand via Sydney and if the transit is less than eight hours, no Australian visa is required.”

All Qantas fares are multi-city fares, Lauren advises. These allow passengers to add two extra Australian stops on the same base fare (conditions apply) – the only additional cost will be the applicable cities’ airport taxes.

“This is a great way to discover Australia for less or allow passengers to see Australia and New Zealand.

A further two Australian cities can be added, making it a total of five cities, at an additional R1 000 each plus taxes.”

For immigrations, Qantas offers a one-way immigration fare in economy class where an additional 10kg is added to the baggage allowance so the total allowance becomes 40kg per adult/child instead of the usual 30kg, Lauren confirms.

“Finally, not only will passengers experience the warm Australian culture from the moment they board, but we also have a self-service snack bar that stocks Tim Tams.”

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8 n Wednesday May 1 2019 QUICK READ FOR DECISION-MAKERS

AUSTRALIA

Mauritius – the dream stopoverGEOGRAPHICALLY, Mauritius is ideally located to be a preferred stopover to Australia, says Air Mauritius’s Carla da Silva.

“The flying times are short – to Perth only 6h30m from Mauritius – offering passengers a pleasant experience with short flying times and a transit through a world-class airport.”

On the return from Perth to SA, Air Mauritius offers a free stopover in Mauritius, Carla adds. “Our flight departs Perth conveniently at 13h05 and arrives in Mauritius at 17h45. We also offer passengers a free night in a four-star hotel

with dinner, breakfast and airport transfers included.”

The following morning, the flight departs at 09h15 arriving in JNB at 11h40. “The free stopover is hugely popular and assists travellers with jetlag and time zone adjustments.”

Air Mauritius flies to Perth twice a week from Mauritius, with an additional frequency over peak periods.

The airline offers a generous two-piece luggage allowance to Perth per passenger in economy and business class, Carla says. “Passengers may also elect to take additional pieces of luggage at a competitive fee per piece.”

Air Mauritius is currently offering an economy-class fare of R11 530 and business-class fare of R27 300 on the route. This is inclusive of taxes and subject to availability and currency fluctuations during off-peak until November 30.

Book it!

Thompsons Holidays is promoting a five-night fly-in package to Brisbane from R21 743pps. The Brisbane city package includes return flights with SAA from JNB to BNE including airline levies, car hire and accommodation at the Ibis Brisbane. Travel dates are up until October 31, 2019 and the offer ends on July 5.

New SQ flights give good connections SINGAPORE Airlines (SQ) now offers ten weekly flights between Johannesburg and Singapore, the increase in capacity having taken effect from March 31, confirms Sally George.

“The three additional flights depart from JNB at 22h30 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving in Singapore at 14h55. This means the flights connect well with services to SQ’s Australian destinations. Return flights from Singapore to Johannesburg depart on the same days at 16h35, arriving at 21h10.”

The airline operates a daily service on SQ478 to

Cape Town (via JNB) and SQ479 to Singapore (via JNB).

Services into Australia operated by SQ include Perth (28 flights a week), Sydney (35 flights a week), Melbourne (32 flights a week), Brisbane (28 flights a week) and Adelaide (seven flights a week). Partner airline, SilkAir, operates five flights a week to Cairns and six flights a week to Darwin. Scoot operates four flights a week to Gold Coast.

For immigrations, SQ offers competitive one-way fares, Sally says. The baggage allowance for economy is 30kg (35kg for higher economy fares

booked in E, B and Y class), 35kg for premium economy and 40kg for business class.

Singapore is a preferred stopover, she believes, because there are affordable stopover packages available from R400 per person in a twin room. “There are also exciting tourist attractions to visit such as Universal Studios or Gardens by the Bay and, of course, the shopping.”

The 45 days advance purchase lead-in market fare starts from R11 290 (JNB via SIN to PER) and R13 000 from JNB via SIN to SYD (inclusive of all taxes).

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H_43995SIAT_A350_Des_SA_150x206_TNW News_21Jan (50088-5)_p.indd 1 18/1/19 5:59 PM

“We offer a free night in a four-star hotel with dinner,

breakfast and airport transfers included.”

QUICK READ FOR BUSIEST PEOPLE Wednesday May 1 2019 n 9

Snow Holidays

No longer just sun-holiday chasers, more South Africans are choosing holidays in the snow. Kim Cochrane reports.

Snow holidays supplant skiing

FOR South Africans, a snow holiday is an exotic bucket-list trip. As traditional

downhill skiing requires training, skill and specialised equipment, operators report that South African clients are often drawn to multi-activity snow holidays offering more than just skiing.

Kelly Jackson, head of sales for The Travel Corporation, confirms that a significant number of SA travellers are opting to enjoy skiing and winter sports abroad. She says that even if clients try out skiing and it’s not for them, it doesn’t mean that they can’t enjoy the many cultural experiences and other activities offered along with the option to ski.

Think aprés ski – the social activities that take place after

a day spent hitting the slopes – or music festivals and visits to the famous Schnapps Museum in Vienna, Kelly suggests.

Club Med md SA, Olivier Hannaert, says it has become a trend to book a ‘snow holiday’ instead of a skiing holiday, partly because there may be some apprehension around skiing and people’s perception that it is the only thing such a holiday entails.

“Customers are looking for skiing, but also for other activities such as snowboarding, snowshoeing, sledding, taking in the fresh mountain air or simply enjoying the sights.”

In the past, the South African market showed a strong inclination toward holidays in the sun, he says. “That has changed and now, more than ever, South Africans are considering snow holidays.”

Exodus Travels also reports

a substantial increase in winter holidays booked from South Africa and says its multi-activity trips – that include activities such as viewing the Northern lights, dogsledding, ice hotels, cross-country skiing, snow tubing, ice-skating and snowshoeing – are most popular.

“We like to escape the crowds rather than join them, leaving the downhill runs behind and getting off the beaten track. Mixed activity holidays allow for all sorts of fun in the snow, with a new activity to try out every day,” said a local spokesperson for Exodus.

Kelly Jackson

Book it!

G Adventures has a five-day Iceland Northern Lights and Golden Circle tour starting from R18 059 per person sharing. It includes four nights’ hotel accommodation, four breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners, transport to and from all included activities and between all destinations, lava caving, golden circle sightseeing, Þingvellir National Park visit, geyser hot spring visit, gullfoss waterfall visit, northern lights hunting (two nights) and a southern coast drive including Skógarfoss Waterfall and Seljaindsfoss Waterfall.

TNW9147SD

We’ve got you covered.

Call 011 521 4000 or visit tic.co.za

Even if...you’ve got two

left feet.

Ski lift. Photo: Club Med

10 n Wednesday May 1 2019 QUICK READ FOR DECISION-MAKERS

SNOW HOLIDAYS

Accidents can happen – so be preparedKELLY Jackson, head of sales for The Travel Corporation, says it is essential, that clients take out comprehensive travel insurance to cover them for any medical issue that may arise.

“Accidents can happen, so it’s best to be safe rather than sorry.”

She recommends skiing lessons whether the traveller is a beginner or a pro. “It’s always good to have a refresher even if you’re already an accomplished skier. If it’s your first time, a few lessons will boost your

confidence.”South Africans hardly ever

experience snow and the majority have limited or no skiing experience, says Simmy Micheli, Travel Insurance Consultants (TIC) manager – sales and marketing.

“The risk for SA travellers – and the insurer – if a traveller is going on a skiing holiday is, therefore, always higher.”

Sustaining an injury while participating in snow sports can ruin a holiday and bring it to an abrupt end, she cautions. “Additionally, it can leave you with exorbitant medical costs.”

It has always been like this, says Simmy, and insurers do factor this in to the cover provided.

“TIC provides full cover for leisure skiing accidents. The only condition is that if clients are planning to ski off-piste they should be with a guide for full cover. Should clients wish to compete professionally or participate in a competition, they need to apply for a sporting extension.”

Most of the ski claims originate from clients travelling in the USA and Europe, Simmy says.

Recent ski claimsTIC processes its fair share of skiing and snowboarding claims, says Simmy.

A TIC policy holder recently injured herself skiing in Austria. On the last day of her holiday, on her second-last run down, another skier doing a jump distracted her and she fell, even though she wasn’t going fast. She fractured the fibula in her leg and needed a cast. She was upgraded to business class when she flew home.

Another claim saw a client admitted to hospital after falling during leisure snowboarding in Italy. He fractured his left clavicle and returned home ten days later in business class (total claim amount: R220 000).

Costly airliftIn another skiing

accident in Austria, a policy holder suffered head and spine injuries and a rescue team had

to airlift him from the mountains. He returned to SA with a medical escort (total claim amount: R306 000).

TIC also cautions policy holders to be aware of scammers, referencing a recent case where a serial litigant deliberately caused an accident, trapping an unsuspecting tourist.

In this incident, a TIC policy holder was holidaying in Colorado and inadvertently knocked over a fellow skier. He was forced to sign an admission of liability and was later tracked down in SA where he was served with a summons of US$100 000 (about R1,4m).

TIC’s investigations revealed that the accident ‘victim’ caused accidents like this all the time. TIC settled out of court (inclusive of legal expenses) to the value of R430 000.

Out and about with Contiki and BusaboutCONTIKI has ski products in Europe, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, says Kelly Jackson of The Travel Corporation.

In Austria there are over 280km of ski runs for all levels of skiers, from beginners to intermediate and advanced. “They also have their own traditional Gasthof

in Haus Schöneck, which is newly refurbished.”

A popular Contiki itinerary is ‘Austria Ski Plus’, an eight- or 15-day trip that whisks travellers from London for two weeks to the Austrian Alps, from R19 815pps. The ‘Ski Austria Weekender’ is a five-day extended weekend trip from R5 655pps.

Kelly says the Busabout brand offers two ski products in Les Deux Alpes in France. These are ‘New Year’s Ski Adventure’ (15 days) and the ‘Rise Festival Ski Adventure’, a seven-day round trip from Paris, with the Rise Festival and skiing in between, from R16 450pp. Both itineraries include a ski pass.

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www.airfrance.co.za

DAZZLING COMFORTNEW FULL LIE-FLAT BUSINESS SEAT

13084-Air France TNW Advert (80x90).indd 1 2019/04/16 10:52

Skiing on a shoestringTHE UK Post Office Travel Money Ski Resort Report 2018 lists these five resorts as the most affordable ski options in Europe: Bansko in BulgariaBansko is the most affordable ski resort in Europe at present. Situated at the foot of Pirin mountain in south-western Bulgaria, this resort town is 160km from Sofia. It offers excellent ski and snowboarding conditions and a large selection of bars and traditional restaurants called ‘mehana’. It also boasts the cheapest ski resort beers in Europe, says the report. Bardonecchia in ItalyOffering the second-best value in Europe, Bardonecchia in the

Piedmont region is a quiet resort offering 100km of mainly intermediate pistes. Visitors can also experience traditional dishes from the region, including veal tartare, marinated peppers in tuna sauce and venison stew. Karsnjska Gora in

SloveniaSlovenia is an up-and-coming tourist destination and this resort, located close to the Austrian and Italian borders, offers beginner to intermediate level pistes that are easily accessible from the village. The resort is perhaps best known for ski jumping, as nearby Planica is home to more world record jumps than any other ski jumping centre in the world.

Vemdalen in SwedenIn addition to its 24 ski lifts and 58 slopes, this Swedish resort also offers cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, dogsledding, horseback riding in the snow, ice-climbing, snowcat rides and snowshoeing activities. Rauris in AustriaNestled alongside some of Austria’s highest mountains, between the Gastein Valley and Zell am See, the quiet resort of Rauris offers extremely affordable Austrian alpine skiing. The summit lift carries skiers to an altitude of 2 175m above sea level and visitors can also try their hand at ice-climbing whenever the nearby Barbara Falls freeze solid.

Accidents can happen, so it’s best to be safe rather than sorry.

Gasthof in Haus Schöneck. Photo: Contiki

JOBSCOMMUNITYNEWSBirths, deaths, marriages, promotions – we want to know! Please fax or e-mail TNW’s Deena Robinson, at deenar@nowmedia.co.za

QUICK READ FOR BUSIEST PEOPLE Wednesday May 1 2019 n 11

City Lodge Hotel Group has promoted Erich Oberhauser to gm of Courtyard Hotel Port Elizabeth. Erich has been with the Road Lodge brand in Port Elizabeth for the past nine years and has previous experience with the Courtyard Hotel brand, having worked at Courtyard Hotel Port Elizabeth as junior assistant gm from 2005 to 2007 and as assistant gm from 2007 to 2010.

Hideaways has appointed Nicole Jacobs as a sales manager. Nicole has moved to her new position from Jenman African Safaris’ Series division and has

been with the company for six years. In that time, she has established a proven track record in delivering service excellence for guests and agents, first in the Operations department and then over the last two years as manager of the Series department.

Jenman African Safaris has appointed Peter Pittendrigh as the new head of sales. Peter comes from a background of sales, adventure travel and online technology, having previously worked for Xscapesa and Travelbud.

Taj Cape Town has appointed Candice van Heerden as the new director of revenue. Candice brings a wealth of experience in global hotel brands, including Radisson Hotel Group and IHG. She intends to deliver a world-class reservations process to ease booking for guests and help drive market share.

Appointments

TNW7979

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Pick of the week

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Celebrating Earth Month

On April 11, the Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold teams hosted two tree-planting events in Soweto and Goodwood where 21 team members of The Travel Corporation (TTC) volunteered to plant 60 trees in celebration of Earth Month and Insight Vacations’ 41st year. All TTC brands have moved to e-documents where possible and for every set of travel documents not printed, a tree is planted. Pictured here (back left): Pieter Beyers, area sales manager; Louise Stoltz, financial controller and Kelly Jackson, head of sales, all of Insight Vacations. In front is Bronwyn Strydom, marketing manager at TTC.

TNW5119

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12 n Wednesday May 1 2019 QUICK READ FOR DECISION-MAKERS

TNW NEWS

brought to you by eTNW and TRAVELINFO

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TNW7136

Less Significantly less Roughly the same More Significantly more

Compared to the same time last year how much corporate travel into Africa have you booked?

Corporate travel takes a knock

Bon voyage!

Royal Caribbean is offering a ‘buy one, get 60% off the second guest’ promotion for bookings made before June 30. On top of this, kids aged 12 and under sail free on selected sailings. Terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Enjoying the sunshine is Thaybz Khan, contemporary brand manager at Cruises International. Photo: Shannon Van Zyl

CemAir refunds ‘slow but ongoing’Jason simpson

AGENTS have taken to Travelinfo’s OpenJaw to express their frustration

at not receiving refunds from CemAir after the airline’s grounding in December 2018.

In the January 9/16 issue, TNW reported CemAir’s confirmation that refunds would be granted within eight weeks. But, by the March 6 issue, CemAir ceo, Miles van der Molen said that payment of refunds had been delayed as a result of the airline’s suspension on BSP, as well as duplicate and fraudulent claims.

On April 5, the md of

Travelstart, Jerome Touze, sent a communication to Travelstart customers on the issue, saying it remains the responsibility of the airline

to issue refunds. “Whilst we cannot confirm the exact date as to when your payment will be issued, we have been told by CemAir that those refunds will take place between April and July of this year,” he said.

Jerome said the first payment batches were being processed at the time of writing the letter, and said when the refunds took place, clients would receive further communication from Travelstart confirming that the money was on its way.

In response to TNW questions, Miles said CemAir had been processing refunds continuously during this period. “The process has been slow but ongoing,” he said. “We really are doing all we can to move things forward.”

CemAir is appealing its grounding before the Department of Transport.

Air Mauritius debuts new aircraftDeena Robinson

AIR Mauritius has received the first of two brand-new Airbus A330-900neo aircraft. This makes the carrier the first airline in the Southern hemisphere to operate the aircraft.

The carrier says it will operate the aircraft on routes connecting Mauritius to Europe (mainly London and Geneva), India and South-East Asian routes and on regional destinations

including Johannesburg, Antananarivo and Réunion. The aircraft will start operating on the Johannesburg route in December and will be used during peak seasons only. It will operate permanently on the London, Mumbai and South-East Asia routes.

The A330-900 will feature 28 business class lie-flat seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, each with direct aisle access; and 260 economy class seats

in a 2-4-2 configuration. Passengers will also enjoy better cabin humidity to reduce jetlag, bigger windows and more overhead bin space.

The A330neo family is the new generation A330, with the two versions – the A330-800 and A330-900 – sharing 99% commonality. It builds on the versatility and reliability of the A330 family, while reducing fuel consumption by about 25% per seat.

Sri Lanka tourism under threat?Deena Robinson

THE series of blasts in Sri Lanka, which hit churches and hotels in three major cities, comes after a surge in tourism in the country. Lonely Planet ranked Sri Lanka as the number-one country for travel in 2019 and in 2018. Over two million tourists visited the island state in 2018, up 11% from the previous year.

Manan Mahajan, md of Orange DMC, believes that this incident will not affect Sri Lankan tourism in the

long run and says Orange DMC did not received any cancellations from South African travellers immediately or for the coming months.

Lal Jayamaha, md of Serendipity Travel, says the company has been getting cancellations from travellers booked to Sri Lanka in the near future but who have now changed their destinations.

According to Lal, all services in the cities are still operating but a curfew has been imposed. This curfew will not affect tourists with

flights around the curfew hours, who may be asked to present their travel documents to police should they be stopped.

A statement from the airport requests that passengers arrive at the airport at least four hours before departure. People are further requested to avoid accompanying travellers to the airport as only passengers will be allowed in the terminal building until further notice in order to facilitate the security measures.

Insurance advice...Simmy Micheli, sales and marketing manager at Travel Insurance Consultants, says TIC will reimburse travellers non-refundable portions of travel or accommodation if

the traveller cancels their journey prior to departure as a result of a terrorist incident within 14 days of departure, in the same city noted on itinerary. TIC also

provides full medical and accidental death cover for travellers in an area where a terrorist activity occurs. Bryte Insurance and Hollard have the same policy.

“We have been told by CemAir that those

refunds will take place between April and July

of this year.”

30%

25%

20%17%

8%