Tech troubles still plague payments
DESPITE major advances,
payments in Africa
remain a challenge
due to lack of technology
and infrastructure as well as
communication between front
and back office.
This is the view of Travel
Vision gm, Marelize Le Roux,
who says it is critical to have
reliable partners who are
available 24/7 to assist with
any issues, especially on the
ground, so clients are not left
stranded.
Electricity supply and the
ability to make payments
continue to hinder growth in
the online area and this is an
ongoing limiter in the middle
and northern African regions,
agrees independent business
travel strategist and founder of
Merrill’s Travel Company (MTC),
Merrill Isherwood.
“Some TMCs link their own
purchasing cards to the online
systems and allow clients to
pay on a cash or EFT basis,
either upfront or once the
booking is confirmed.”
Wings Travel Management
technology is accessed
via a standardised global
platform, ensuring clients
receive the same consistent
high-touch service levels,
reliable on-demand data
and critical traveller safety
support wherever the booking
originated, says Luis Mata,
head of business development
– Oil and Gas for Sub-Saharan
Africa. “Many global TMCs
rely on local agencies in Africa
to supply services via a joint
venture or franchise affiliate.
In our experience, there is
very little alignment between
the services offered by the
global TMC and their partners
in Africa.
“This often results in
frustrating inconsistencies
with processes, data capture,
reporting, service levels and,
most importantly, traveller
safety and risk management,”
says Luis.
GetThere is rapidly
increasing its share of the
SA corporate market and is
seeing an uptick in demand
from TMCs of all sizes for
shared sites offering online
capability to SME customers
who would not normally build
their own dedicated sites,
says Jim Weighell, director
of Simpliflyer, reseller and
support service provider
for GetThere.
The larger multinational
corporations with operations
in Africa and elsewhere in the
world, are increasingly looking
for a single solution that is
an integrated process from
a booking, approval, traveller
experience, duty of care and
financial control perspective,
says Jim.
“While Sabre is the preferred
GDS for GetThere users, we
can and do emulate our sites
to Travelport and Amadeus,
which adds flexibility
when considering multicountry online solutions for
corporations and TMCs where
a specific country may only
have a single GDS available.”
GetThere as a global solution
is operational in 95 countries
with around 11m active users.
“Our African support base is in
South Africa.”
Online payments for fastjet
made with a credit or debit
card incur a fee of 2,5% of the
total ticket fare, according to
the airline.
“To ensure a quick, easy and
more secure payment process,
fastjet offers customers the
option to register their credit or
debit cards with 3D Secure.”
For customer convenience,
the airline offers the option of
paying later for a flight, with a
hold period for each booking.
“Our travel partners may
opt for the online travel agent
portal, with pre-payment
arrangements based on a
value of choice.”
Hotel prices still a challenge
HAVING the bigger global
brands available in Africa
has made communication
and negotiations easier,
says Travel Counsellors
operations manager, Ian
Keane.
“Prices are always a
challenge considering they
are US dollar-based, but
having local relationships
and being able to show
potential and support does
help.”
Hotel prices in Africa
seem to have remained
fairly consistent, despite
wages, maintenance
and service costs having
increased by 5%-6%
annually, says independent
consultant, Merrill
Isherwood.
“Economic downturns
play a key role in this, and
in South Africa many rates
are lower than in the past,
despite demand being
high.”
Karin Sieberhagen, sales
and marketing manager
SA of Serena Hotels,
Lodges and Resorts, says
increased demand has not
helped bring hotel prices
down across the region
and she feels higher prices
are destination specific.
RELATIONSHIPS are a key
factor in the success of
travel companies dealing
with corporate travel in
Africa due to the sense of
locals feeling isolated from
the main global players in
the travel industry.
This is the belief of MTC’s
Merrill Isherwood, who says
building trust is critical.
“Be willing to offer cash
accounts, as card payments
are still an obstacle in some
countries.”
To retain the business,
communication is essential,
she says, as is ensuring
standardisation of services.
Wings Travel Management
recently won a global
contract for one of the
world’s largest providers
of drilling, pipeline and
construction products and
services, says Luis Mata.
“A contributing factor in
winning the business was
that the client’s knowledge
of the African market was
nowhere near as vast as
ours.”
Wings only operates wholly
owned and managed offices
in Africa. “This is a key
point of difference to other
global TMCs. We have our
own operations in South
Africa, Angola, Nigeria and
Mozambique.”
It’s important for
corporates to work with a
partner who has on-theground knowledge and local
expertise, particularly in
high-risk destinations like
Angola and Nigeria, he says.
“It’s one thing to answer
the phone when a traveller
is calling with a challenge.
It’s a whole other skill to
know how to solve that
challenge.”
Pre-arrange ground
transport with a trustworthy
private supplier, for example,
as it may be unsafe to use
taxi services, says Luis.
“When the airport in Abuja
was closed for several
weeks, Wings contracted
helicopter operators to
get travellers in and out of
Nigeria.”
To attract corporate
business, fastjet sells
FlexiFlyer travellers a new
inclusive offering with
dedicated check-in, airport
lounge services and priority
boarding for prescribed
routes in the Zimbabwe
network. These recently
introduced benefits are
at no additional cost to
travellers. The airline’s Drop
& Fly cabin baggage option
also enables a seamless
experience when travelling
with cabin baggage only.
Save with Labadi
Legacy’s Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra is a buoyant
corporate and business group destination in
the regional and global market. The hotel is
offering a complimentary welcome or farewell
cocktail function when booking a conference
for 20 delegates or more. The promotion is
valid for bookings until August 31for stays
until September 13. It is applicable to new
bookings only and a minimum of 80% of guests
conferencing must also be staying in the hotel to
qualify for this special. Photo: Legacy Hotels and Resorts.
Travel Counsellors’ clients are the best ambassadors
TRAVEL Counsellors (TCs)
operate in all segments
of corporate travel, from
multinational companies
to micro enterprises and
individual business travellers,
says operations manager,
Ian Keane.
“Our business is based
on and defined by our ability
to create lasting personal
relationships with clients.
When we execute this well,
clients become our best
ambassadors so it is no
surprise that our clients refer
most of our business. In
addition, we assist our Travel
Counsellors in responding to
any procurement opportunity.”
He says TCs are all senior
travel professionals. “Unlike
other ITC options, Travel
Counsellors is a partnership
where the company provides
global support. This includes
a duty-of-care support desk
in Manchester where our
Duty Office team keep track
of any global event 24/7
as well as an after-hours
ticketing desk.”
This support, coupled with
technology, makes it possible
for TCs to not only match,
but also outperform any TMC
competitor, says Ian.
It’s important to ensure the
ground partners with whom
you engage have the ability to
extend a duty of care to your
customers, especially when it
comes to transfers, he adds.
“Ensure all travellers have
travel Insurance that includes
evacuation benefits as well
as screened blood and full
malaria cover, access to
information on travel bans
and the after-hours service to
support any emergency.
Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Namibia show growth
OF THE top-ten fastest
growing destinations for
business and leisure
travellers in South Africa
booked through GDSs
last year, three African
countries made the ranking,
according to analysis
conducted by Travelport.
The African countries
that saw the greatest
growth in flight bookings
from travellers in SA in the
12 months to September
2018 were Mauritius
(1st), Zimbabwe (3rd) and
Namibia (8th).
From September 1,
2017 to August 31,
2018, bookings made in
SA through all GDSs to
Mauritius increased by
17 764 (up 17% on the
previous 12 months);
by 9 506 (up 20%) for
Zimbabwe; and by 4 663
(up 9%) for Namibia.
Wings sees good growth in Africa
WINGS Travel Management
has seen a notable increase
in business from clients
in the engineering, IT and
support services sectors in
Africa.
Growth in Mozambique,
however, is still mainly in
the oil and gas sector, says
Wings’ Luis Mata.
The company established
an operation in Mozambique
two years ago to support
clients moving into the area
following the discovery of
85 trillion cubic feet of
gas reserves. “We’ve seen
increased traffic of 35%
over the last 12 months,”
he says.
The major investment
in the market by energy
sector companies has also
prompted the movement of
employees to Mozambique
from countries such as
Ghana, Luis adds.
“Africa is an expanding
market and travel buyers
moving into the continent
need the support of a TMC
that has a high level of
expertise on the ground.
“Travellers who haven’t
booked via a reputable
TMC frequently face
challenges about incorrect
or insufficient information
regarding passport and visa
requirements as well as
vaccinations.”
Duty of care is paramount,
but bookings made with
travel agents in-country
aren’t always handed to
the corporate’s third-party
security vendors, resulting
in a serious gap in traveller
tracking and reporting, he
says. Luis believes many
passengers are denied the
chance to travel within Africa
because of unnecessary
restrictions on establishing
air routes.
“Many Wings customers
are in Africa and we observe
the EU-banned carrier list,
which restricts us to the
use of only 70% of African
carriers. The open-skies
policy will allow us to
provide more travel options
for customers, facilitating
direct flights and budget
savings."
A real and urgent need for business travel training – MTC
MERRILL Isherwood has
come a long way since
her days as a PACT ballet
dancer. While she no
longer performs on stage,
she continues to act out
an important role in the
travel arena by sharing her
expertise.
With close on 40 years
in the travel field, Merrill is
positioned in her new role
as independent consultant
and founder of Merrill’s
Travel Company (MTC) to
guide TMCs and business
clients on issues including
governance, processes,
systems, data management
and intelligent reporting, as
well as expense and travel
management.
Her most recent position
was as a travel management
specialist at SARS, where
she stayed for six years until
February this year, when
she went backpacking in
Australia and Thailand – and
then launched MTC.
Lack of knowledge
She believes there is a
real and urgent need for
formal business travel
training. “Administrators,
co-ordinators, travel bookers
and those in procurement
and facilities are assigned
the travel portfolio with no,
or limited, practical and
theoretical knowledge and
experience. “This continues
to put them in a precarious
and unfortunate position
where they are responsible
for a field of work and they
have no understanding of
the subject matter.”
This lack of knowledge has
dire consequences for their
careers, their company’s
financial stability and their
travellers, who are on the
receiving end of potentially
bad decisions made due to
ignorance.
“In the business travel
environment, ignorance
can cost a traveller his or
her life and the company
where they are employed a
fortune in either settlement
terms or medical costs if
something does go awry
with their travel plans.”
Merrill is keen to expand
further into the region to
assist the various travel
industries.
“There has not been
much exposure to our travel
companies and to the
benefits of comprehensive
account management, travel
risk management and travel
data analytics.”
In 1981 Merrill moved
into the travel industry as
a travel manager at MTN
and from there to American
Express as a corporate
services account manager.
After that, she has spent
the years in business
development and account
management in various
roles at World Travel, Avis
Rent A Car, Hertz, FCm
Travel Solutions and BCD
Travel.
Kenya Airways continues network expansion drive
KENYA Airways is
drawing corporate traffic
through its network
expansion strategy. It
currently flies to more
than 42 destinations
in Africa with a number
of additional routes
launched around the
world.
“The number of large
corporates spread
throughout Africa
gives us scope to
drive corporate traffic
extensively,” says Vivian
Ruwuya, the airline’s
acting country manager
South Africa.
Kenya Airways also
recently launched flights
to Rome and Geneva, the
airline’s fourth and fifth
European destinations
after Amsterdam, London
and Paris. The Geneva
flights are connected to
Nairobi as circular flights
with Rome, a top source
market for corporate and
leisure travellers.
Sebastian Mikosz,
Kenya Airways Group
md and ceo, says the
new routes will play
an important role
in facilitating more
business and tourism
opportunities to
strengthen Nairobi as the
top business hub.
Passengers on the
Geneva and Rome routes
enjoy a range of newly
introduced services,
including extra leg-room,
access to KQ’s businessclass lounges and an
improved menu. The
airline operates the new
routes four times a week
using its flagship Boeing
787-8 Dreamliner.
The carrier has also
commenced direct fights
between Nairobi and
Malindi and finalised
a codeshare deal with
Alitalia.
Since 2018, KQ has
focused on expanding
its network. Four new
routes – Mauritius,
New York, Libreville
and Mogadishu – have
launched. The airline has
also increased flights to
Amsterdam and Paris,
added a direct flight to
Cape Town, and included
an additional daily direct
service from Nairobi to
Bujumbura.
By operating the
Boeing 737-800 to
Livingstone, Victoria Falls
and Cape Town, with a
similar aircraft flying to
Mauritius, the airline
has also increased
passenger seating
capacity.
Travel agents booking
KQ on Amadeus can
book, price and issue
tickets for chargeable
seats and the carrier
has been working with
Travelport and Sabre to
activate this functionality.
RwandAir caters for corporates with new offerings
RWANDAIR has just opened
its new busines-class Dream
Lounge at Kigali International
Airport, which offers flat-screen
TVs, USB ports, children’s play
area and a small smoking pod,
confirms the airline’s SA sales
manager, Sarah-Jane Silburn.
“Our approach to winning
corporate accounts is to
understand expectations and
needs for business travel,
and offer an appropriate
agreement. We have on-board
WiFi on our A330s, which have
lie-flat business-class seats.”
In TNW’s August 14 issue it
was reported that the airline
had introduced a fifth direct
weekly flight to Harare from
Cape Town, following the
successful introduction of four
direct flights last year.
Sarah-Jane says there is a
mix of leisure and business
travel on the route. “As
RwandAir operates the only
direct flights between Cape
Town and Harare, this allows
passengers the quickest and
most convenient way between
the cities.”
The airline has also
commenced direct flights three
times a week to Tel Aviv from
its Kigali hub.
“Tel Aviv is one of the world’s
leading tech hubs and we
look forward to flying business
travellers as well as pilgrims
visiting the Holy Land on this
new route,” says RwandAir
ceo, Yvonne Manzi Makolo.
This year, flights have also
launched to Kinshasa and
Guangzhou, the provincial
capital of Guangdong and
the third largest city in China.
RwandAir also plans to enter
the American market with
flights to New York.
Additions to TIC Corporate product
TRAVEL Insurance Consultants
(TIC) constantly researches
changing markets in a drive
to meet and exceed clients’
needs in the travel industry.
All TIC’s business
plans include emergency
evacuation benefits as well as
comprehensive medical cover.
“Our Corporate product
offers three plans for business
travellers, including optional
benefits within the range. We
also have an expatriate policy
and we offer private medical
insurance,” says TIC’s Simmy
Micheli.
“Our annual declaration
business travel policies are
designed for companies whose
staff members travel regularly
on business. The various
plans offer a range of options
that include cover for luggage
loss, cash and document
replacement, accidental death,
permanent total disablement,
as well as war and terrorism
cover to the full limits,
provided policy holders do not
willfully expose themselves to
danger.
“TIC also offers full malaria
cover and access to screened
blood from the Geneva-based
Blood Care Foundation.”
Simmy says a valuable
addition to the TIC Corporate
policy is a benefit that provides
cover should travellers
have a medical emergency
or accident abroad that
forces them to return home
without completing their work
assignment.
“TIC will pay the economyclass travel costs for a
replacement employee to
complete the assignment.
Another unique benefit is
that TIC covers the business
traveller for damage or loss of
trade samples.”
TIC has seen an increase
in public liability claims
(especially relating to skiing
accidents in the USA) and
provides third-party liability
cover up to R25m under the
Corporate business policy.
“We offer products that
are specifically designed
for travellers to high-risk
areas and patients are often
evacuated to SA if the local
medical facility is unable to
manage the patient, or if
the patient is in a remote
location".
Did you know?
Airlink has launched published discounted fares (all-inclusive) valid for travel until September 30. CPT-WDH
(from R4 210 return); CPT-GRJ (from R1 450 one way). From JNB to: NLP (from R1 510 one way); PMB (from
R1 510 one way); PHW (from R2 450 one way); MUB (from R7 260 return); BBK (from R6 970 return) and POL
(from R10 810 return). JNB-HLE is from R9 100 return, for travel on/before September 28 (min. stay 14 days).
Travel insurance – much more than a ‘nice to have’
LEISURE travellers tend to
avoid countries suffering
from political instability or
natural disasters but the
same is not the case for
corporate travellers. These
travellers may need to go
to Cameroon to secure
that oil deal, for example,
or to a volatile area in the
Middle East to expand the
company.
For this reason, says Travel
Insurance Consultants
(TIC) sales and marketing
manager, Simmy Micheli,
a comprehensive travel
insurance policy, with
emergency evacuation
assistance, can be a
traveller’s saving grace.
“Companies are more
aware that it is their
responsibility to ensure that
employees – secondees,
expats and short-term
business travellers – have
adequate insurance should
they be injured in a riot in
a conflict-ridden region, or
fall ill in a country without
adequate health-care
facilities.”
The corporate liability
of an employer toward
employees travelling abroad
on company business
has serious legal and
fiduciary considerations, so
companies are taking their
duty of care seriously, she
says.
According to Simmy, TIC
policy holders in SA travel
to Africa (57%), followed by
Europe (21%), Asia (13%),
North America (6%), Oceania
(2%) and South America
(1%).
Biggest risks in Africa
With Africa topping the list,
malaria and motor vehicle
accidents (MVAs) remain the
biggest risk for travellers,
she confirms. The cost
of treatment for malaria
escalates rapidly and TIC
recently paid a claim for
R950 000 to a client with
the disease.
Most claims for MVAs are
from clients travelling by
road in Africa, she adds.
“In Songo, Mozambique,
a TIC client was involved
in an MVA with a 30-ton
crane and suffered multiple
injuries. He was evacuated
and airlifted to a hospital
in SA. The claim came to
R122 622.”
MTC’s Merrill Isherwood
says kidnapping is also a
high risk in Africa followed
by diseases such as Ebola,
microcephaly in infants
born to mothers infected by
the Zika virus and the risk
to people not vaccinated
against certain diseases
such as measles.
“Business travellers can
be targets of opportunists
and since they are
valuable assets to their
organisations, they enable
hefty ransom demands.”
