Southern Africa’s Travel News Weekly
“Get in, get out, get going... with Fastbreak.” 1554E
October 14 2009 I No. 2079
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INSIDE
TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLY
TNW3641SD
feature
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agentzone
Cruisin’ out of the USA
Chaotic, but a bustling hub
Credit card vs forex
United states
Lagos
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Mythbuster
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BSP – out of the woods? Natalia Thomson
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HE freefall in SA’s BSP figures appears to have slowed down, with July and August still reflecting a deep decline, but lower than April’s low point of a 35% drop compared with April 2008. According to the BSP ZA figures, July and August both showed a 28% decline in revenue. The decline in domestic revenue was marginally greater than the average with both months showing a 29% decline and international revenue 27% decline in each month compared with the same periods last year. Cathay Pacific country manager in SA, David Ryan, agrees the decline has levelled off. “Cathay’s figures were significantly better than the industry BSP decline. A 28% decline is a big hole for the industry to dig itself out of and while the worst is almost certainly behind us we still appear to be some way from any kind of meaningful recovery.” British Airways spokesperson Stephen Forbes agrees that the industry is still in trouble, but believes there are some encouraging signs. “Load factors improved towards the end of September and in early October when the market to the UK typically spikes up.” According to Stephen, although there’s been
April was BSP ZA’s lowest point in 2009 Jan -21%
Feb -27% Mar -20%
Apr -35% May -33% Jun -24% Jul -28%
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Care for a cuppa?
-35 some volume improvement, yields are still down as a consequence of keen price competition to fill capacity and to attract discretionary leisure travel. “It’s hard to say to what extent this improvement will continue as a sustained recovery will require increased consumer spending. Consumers remain cautious and even with an improvement in consumer confidence, recovery in the leisure market to the UK may be somewhat hampered by the visa regime. This has also affected transfer traffic.” Acsa’s statistics for July and August also reveal that the decline is levelling off. Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban airports still saw marginal declines in
international and domestic traffic during those months, although international arrivals fared better than domestic, with OR Tambo actually seeing a 1,7% increase in international traffic in July, and a 1,9% increase in August compared with 2008. For both months, international traffic passing through OR Tambo almost exceeded the domestic traffic flowing through that airport. Demand is improving, but profitability remains “distant”, says Giovanni Bisignani, Iata director general and ceo. “Fares have stabilised but at profitless levels. Meanwhile cost pressures are mounting from reduced aircraft use and rising oil prices. The industry is not out of the woods yet.” ■
By drinking 51 600 cups of tea and coffee over 12 months, thirsty guests at 17 Road Lodge hotels have boosted the Cancer Association of South Africa’s coffers by R129 000. Through its ‘Cuppa for Cancer’ campaign, City Lodge earmarks R2,50 from every cup of tea and coffee sold at a Road Lodge for the fight against cancer. Phew! This is thirsty business, say City Lodge’s Belinda Coetzee, sales executive, and Angus MacMillan, public relations Photo: Tijana Huysamen
Fraudsters – ‘e-Watch’ out! Natasha Tippel WITH nine fraudulent actions in the Johannesburg area over a two-year period, the travel industry has suffered a loss of just under R2,5m. Alarmingly, in most cases, the individuals responsible have a record of defrauding their employers and remain working in the industry. But all of that is about to change. Asata has launched
Need to get away? —
DESTINATIONS. SWISS STYLE. TNW3646SD
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the e-Watch system, an industry-first initiative developed to keep a record of fraudsters within the travel industry. “There have been ongoing discussions in the industry over the years regarding the problem with staff fraud where the same culprits pop up in various companies, committing the same acts of fraud,” says Laurie Wilkinson, To page 20