Economic Downturn
Posted by Jason | Filed under Articles
During this world recession, how can we think out of the box? As everyone is in the same box, we need to be ahead of the pack and therefore, being pioneers in our field in South Africa, just gone 14 years in business, we have always strived to do things differently and have our customer care our very top priority. We therefore do not have scheduled tours and also do not have printed brochures with set dates, so our guests always have the freedom to choose their time of travel and destination and design their own tour, which is all part of the excitement around going on holiday, the anticipation leading up to the journey is always very exciting and everyone is eager and wonder what it will be like.
So for the guests who are anticipating a holiday this year or early next year, plan now for your land travel. I went on cruise with family to Luderitz Namibia last week and the ship was half full, must tell you that with cruise ships, wait until the last moment to book, if you have the freedom to take a break at will, as we paid more for an inner cabin booking early, than my family – brother-in-law and cousin and their spouses, whom I booked late did and they had outer cabins with large portholes, also I did not receive any comm from their bookings!!! I asked for an upgrade, the ship being half full and an agent and was told by their management in Johannesburg, that I could not get the upgrade I wanted, so my advise about cruises is – if you are thinking of going on one – wait for the specials, as they have schedules to keep, you will save a good R1000+.
This was not very good managerial skills in my book, but then I think laterally and not like most tour operators or agents, as I feel my type of service does not fall within the mainstream thinking of the general theme of travel. So, in this time of having to be different to stay ahead, I will remain schedule(less) and brochures (less) and keep my private personalised itineraries to suit my guests and their interests and “ability”. We will overcome this if we all work together and have the guests interests at heart and not the $$$ in mind.
Tags: Cape Town, custom tours, Pam Taylor, private tours, South Africa
