Saffers show UK the love
SOUTH African
operators are
reporting growth in
sales to the UK for 2019.
The SA market appears
unaffected by the “Brexituncertainty”, which has
caused a 2% drop in global
arrivals between June
and May 2019 compared
with the previous year
(according to VisitBritain).
“Brexit hasn’t affected
bookings to the UK at
all this year,” says Kirsty
Rebelo, airline contracts
and relationships manager
of Flight Centre Travel
Group. “Air sales are up
11% on the previous year
and London continues to
rank as one of our top
destinations. The growth in
sales has been driven by
competitive pricing on the
London route offered by
direct carriers.”
From a land perspective,
FCTG’s Anusya Papia,
product manager for Indian
Ocean Islands and Europe,
also reports that the group
has seen growth. “The UK
remains our top European
destination and room
nights have increased
substantially compared
with the previous year.”
“Sales are up after we
introduced our second
service on to the route in
November last year and we
continue to see demand
for travel to the UK,” says
Mandy Lerena, commercial
manager of Virgin Atlantic
in South Africa. “We
have a mixture of both
corporate and leisure on
the route.”
Bronwyn Strydom,
marketing manager of The
Travel Corporation, reports
that its 2019 figures for
trips to Britain and Ireland
have increased by 7,8%
year on year. While she
agrees that there has been
no drop in UK bookings
that could be attributed
to Brexit, she says many
clients still opted to start
multi-country European
trips on continental Europe
to avoid the additional visa
costs for the UK.
Sarah-Jane Silburn,
RwandAir’s sales manager
for SA, says the airline’s
UK route has not been
significantly affected by
Brexit. She told TNW
Rwandair has seen
“significant” growth in
sales to the UK, especially
over peak periods, on a
route which attracts mostly
leisure and VFS travellers
who are seeking very good
value for money.
“South Africans are
resilient. We travel
regardless,” says Travel
Vision reservation
supervisor Venice Barris
who confirmed that Travel
Vision had also not been
affected by Brexit.
Anusya says South
Africans mostly look for
historical and heritage
tours, palace tours,
London passes and
theatre shows.
“Our top UK destinations
are London, Manchester
and Edinburgh,” says
Kirsty, adding that its
destination split to the UK
is 70% leisure and 30%
corporate.
London has a lot of
corporate and ‘bleisure’
traffic as many companies
have branches there,
says British TIPS’ Susan
Thesen.
“Edinburgh is a gateway
for exploring Scotland, with
the Festival and the Tattoo
in August also attracting
a lot of people,” adds
Susan.
Manchester is popular
as a gateway, agree
Thompsons Holidays’
John Ridler and
Serendipity Tours’ Karen
Donkin. It has a good
geographic location and
is a popular fly-in point
for LCCs offering cheap
flights from Europe. They
also agree that the city is
a great springboard into
central Britain.
Regardless of which
team travellers support,
agents and operators
agree that London,
Edinburgh and the ‘football
capitals’ are the most
popular UK destinations
for South Africans.
The destinations are
predominantly a four-star
market, drawing a good
mix of leisure, corporate
and bleisure travellers.
Travel Vision has started
selling football match
tickets through its Joint
Venture with Side Street
Explorers. Venice says
that tours of Liverpool’s
Anfield stadium and
Manchester’s Old Trafford
stadium are very popular
with South African
football fans.
A weekend in the Cotswolds
THIS picturesque area of
ancient woodland, farmland
and wildflower meadows is
dotted with quaint cottages
and country pubs.
“The Cotswolds are always
popular and lovely year-round
– the perfect destination for
a self-drive itinerary and not
too far from London,”
says Thompsons Holidays’
John Ridler.
The area is an easily
accessible part of rural
England located only two
hours from London and
close to Bristol, Birmingham
and Oxford.
Visit Britain recommends
the following activities for a
48-hour visit to the area:
Visitors can take a tour
of Prince Charles’ private
residence – Highgrove
House – and its organic
gardens.
Travellers can browse for
antiques and art in the
historic town of Tetbury,
famous for its traditional
honey-coloured Cotswold
stone houses and shops.
There is a farmer’s market
to sample local cheese,
sausages, mustard and
other artisan goodies. The
Stroud, Tetbury, Gloucester
and Cirencester markets
are recommended.
Visitors can attend a
prestigious polo match at
the Beaufort Polo Club.
Tourists can immerse
themselves in history with
a visit to the Cirencester
Amphitheatre – one
of the largest Roman
amphitheatres in Britain –
and the Corinium Museum
in town to view its
collection of Roman relics.
Suggest a visit to the
model village of Bourtonon-the-Water, a one-ninthscale replica of the actual
village containing miniature
reproductions of landmarks
such as the churches and
old water mill.
The hilly Cotswolds are
a walker’s paradise with
over 3 000 miles of public
footpaths, including the
challenging 102-mile
Cotswold Way meandering
from Chipping Campden to
Bath.
Visitors can enjoy a
G&T at The Feathers in
Woodstock, listed in the
Guinness World Records
Book for stocking more
than 400 gins from around
the world.
Book it!
Europamundo Vacations is offering a 13-day England, Scotland and
Ireland tour from €1 865 (R30 180) pps. The tour visits London,
Cambridge, York, Edinburgh, Inverness, Loch Ness, Glasgow,
Belfast, Dublin, Killarney, Limerick, Liverpool, Stratford and Oxford.
Included in the package are select transfers, basic travel insurance,
breakfast daily, two dinners and various ticket admissions.
Next year’s tours at this year’s prices
TRAFALGAR is promoting its
pre-sale offer until October 3,
offering 2020 tour departures
at 2019 prices with a 10%
discount over and above this.
Trafalgar’s six-day Best of
Devon and Cornwall tour is
currently on sale from
R18 270pps. Highlights
include London, Windsor,
Bath, Bristol, Dunster,
Exmoor National Park,
Lynmouth, Bideford, Tintagel,
Exeter, Plymouth, St. Ives,
Dartmoor National Park,
Stonehenge and Salisbury.
The tour includes five
nights’ accommodation,
transportation as per
itinerary, five full breakfasts,
one lunch, two dinners
and sightseeing as per the
itinerary.
The eight-day Amazing
Britain explores the rugged
landscapes, the shimmering
lochs and ancient kingdoms
of Scotland and England.
It is currently on special
from R23 220pps. The
tour includes seven nights’
accommodation, seven
breakfasts, one lunch, three
dinners, transport and
sightseeing as per itinerary. A
Be My Guest highlight of the
tour is a visit to a Cumbria
farm to enjoy tea with Farmer
John and his wife Christine.
Did you know?
Virgin Atlantic charges a £35 (R635) fee for Advance Seating Assignment for the upper deck of its
B747 aircraft. This charge is applicable to customers booking Economy Classic or Economy Light
fares. Passengers can pre-assign seats through My Booking or by contacting the Virgin Atlantic
Contact Centre. Travel agents are still able to assign seats for customers at the time of booking for
passengers travelling in Upper Class, Premium or in Y and B booking classes in economy.
Eerie Edinburgh
EDINBURGH is a great place
for clients who have an
interest in the supernatural
and fantastical.
The distant tune of a young
piper who disappeared
without a trace can still
be heard from the walls of
Edinburgh Castle itself, says a
folk tale. This iconic building
is also known for sightings
of a headless drummerboy ghost and visitors have
reported sudden, spooky
drops in temperature.
ITC Claire Hanley of
Cheshire Cat Adventure
Travels, recommends a tour
of the Real Mary King’s
Close in the warren of 17th
century streets, homes and
passageways beneath the
Royal Mile. Visitors walk
through scenes from 17th
Century life to the sounds of
squeaking rats.
“Abandoned Annie, the
ghost of a crying girl who
has lost her toy, is known
to reach out and grab your
hand in the darkness,” says
Claire. She says visitors now
bring toys for Annie, which are
distributed to charity.
Claire also suggests a visit
to The Elephant House coffee
shop and Greyfriars Kirkyard,
where JK Rowling wrote
the Harry Potter books. It
overlooks both the graveyard
and a turreted school that
was probably the inspiration
for Hogwarts Castle. “Rowling
probably spent a lot of time
walking through the graveyard
for inspiration as many of the
gravestone names feature
in the books, including
McGonagall and Moody,” says
Claire.
The graveyard is famous
as the location where the
faithful Skye Terrier, Greyfriars
Bobby, guarded the grave of
his master for 14 years. The
faithful dog is buried next to
his master and immortalised
in a statue on nearby George
IV Bridge.
Claire says the spookiest
location she visited was
the Niddry Street Vaults.
The underground complex
is a series of underground
chambers beneath the South
Bridge. Infamous Edinburgh
citizens, the body snatchers
Burke and Hare, are said
to have stalked the vaults
looking for victims.
“The first chamber is set up
as a witch’s coven displaying
pentagrams, chairs and
altars. It is said that if you
step into the stone circle
in the middle of the third
chamber you will die. A ghost
dog haunts one corner of the
chamber,” says Claire. She
describes the middle chamber
as the most terrifying. Guests
are shown a little door on
the far side of the chamber
where a number of people
are rumoured to have burnt to
death. Claire says that some
people in her group reported
being able to smell the scent
of burning flesh. She says
she was relieved to be given
a shot of whisky when she
emerged from the chamber.
All aboard BritRail
BRITRAIL passes, available
from Thompsons Holidays,
can make a difference to
clients wanting to explore
Britain by train.
A BritRail pass is an
easy and cost-effective
way for clients to simplify
their travel around the
UK, and help agents avoid
the stress of sorting out
individual bookings for
every leg of the journey
and sifting through
timetables and multiple
train companies. For a fixed
price, the client can make
unlimited train journeys,
either around the whole
country or a region of their
choice.
Day passes cost from
£13 (R238), offering big
savings compared with
buying individual tickets.
Children travel free on
most passes.
Free airport transfers are
included on some passes.
Your client can walk
straight onto the train
without having to wait in
line at the ticket office.
BritRail passes are only
available to overseas
visitors.
Travellers’ Tip
If your clients are renting a car in the UK, they can stretch
their rands by planning their last trip to the airport via a
Tescos or Morrisons, where they can fill up their petrol tank.
The petrol sold by these chains is much more affordable than
the price they will be charged if they allow the car rental
company to fill the car.
Book it!
RwandAir is offering fares from Johannesburg to London, starting from
R9 185 (including taxes), valid for travel from October 1 to 31 and
from January 13 to April 1 next year.
