{"id":13052,"date":"2010-10-18T09:52:58","date_gmt":"2010-10-18T07:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=13052"},"modified":"2010-10-18T10:03:04","modified_gmt":"2010-10-18T08:03:04","slug":"tourism-news-south-african-loses-value-for-money-image-in-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/accommodation\/tourism-news-south-african-loses-value-for-money-image-in-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourism News: South Africa loses ‘value for money’ image in UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Tour operators say South African accommodation has become too expensive for their UK clients, and they have called on local accommodation suppliers to relook their prices for 2011, reports South African Tourism Update.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Portfolio of Places representative in the UK, James Westrip of Africa Collection, says that the “good-value-for-money perception” of South Africa\u00a0has gone in the past year.\u00a0 This changed perception about tourism prices, coupled with tough economic times in the UK and the strong Rand “…is proving problematic for us all”, he said.\u00a0 He feels that “SA is pricing itself out of the market”.\u00a0\u00a0 Portfolio of Places has experienced its worst year ever in its more than 20-year existence, we have been told.<\/p>\n

Another operator said that it is no longer feasible for local establishments to increase their rates by 10 % annually, in excess of the inflation rate.\u00a0\u00a0These increases effect the value for money perception of South Africa, says Louise de Waal of Baobab Travel.\u00a0\u00a0She stated that budget accommodation options\u00a0often are questionable as far as quality goes, and therefore cannot be booked.\u00a0 Tourvest Inbound’s Martin Wiest says that high pricing makes our country less competitive globally.<\/p>\n

&Beyond’s Gary Lotter acknowledges that not all\u00a0accommodation establishments have increased their prices above the inflation rate, or at all, but it is the strong Rand that is the root of the problem.\u00a0 He also said that if establishments were to drop their rates, they could receive more business,\u00a0although this is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Westrip also complained about establishments charging their direct clients better rates than they do tour operators, even though their clients may be a once-off and tour operators usually are loyal to establishments and book them regularly.\u00a0 De Waal queried the wisdom of last minute rate reductions, and called for early-bird discounts instead.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to read that tour operators cry wolf about high rates when it is the operators that are exceptionally greedy in their commission demands.\u00a0 Africa Collection takes 20 % commission on bookings it gives Portfolio of Places clients, on top of close to the entry level R20000 annual advertising costs for the Bed and Breakfast Collection advertisers.\u00a0 While the standard commission rate is 10 %, tour operators tend to do business with establishments if they can get commissions of 20 % or more, leading their business to go to hotels rather than guest houses and B&B’s, which would be far more affordable for tourists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It may well therefore be the tour operators that are\u00a0the cause of\u00a0the loss-of-value-for-money\u00a0image that they are complaining about!<\/p>\n

A survey on the Southern African Travel News<\/strong>\u00a0 website shows that the majority of respondents indicated that they have frozen their rates.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tour operators say South African accommodation has become too expensive for their UK clients, and they have called on local accommodation suppliers to relook their prices for 2011, reports South African Tourism Update. Portfolio of Places representative in the UK, James Westrip of Africa Collection, says that the “good-value-for-money perception” of South Africa\u00a0has gone in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,124,22,21],"tags":[7884,32367,7874,7876,130,7880,7889,32378,2139,7883,7888,7885,129,27,709,7877,7887,7879,7882,7875,3221,7886,32388,7878,7873,763,5,1721,7881,561,1824,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t