Southern Africa’s Travel News Weekly
July 29 2009 I No. 2068
TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLY
TNW3527SD
News
INSIDE
GDS wastage
eastern europe
feature
agentzone
A ‘churning’ issue
Find out what’s on offer
What it can do for your sales
Social media
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SA’s BSP down 31%! Natalia Thomson
T
HE freefall in SA’s BSP numbers in the first quarter continued its downward spiral as the second quarter shows an even greater deterioration with an average 31% decline in sales. April remains the largest contributor to the decline with a 35% drop, with May BSP figures dropping 33% and June’s decline slowing slightly to 23%. Sales out of Pretoria and Johannesburg in June are hardest hit with 1500 declines 34% and 36% respectively. Both domestic and 1200 international ticket sales out of the SA market have 900 declined. Comair executive manager: sales and route 600Stuart development, Cochrane, says the airline
has never seen trading conditions like those of the past six months. “Even though the domestic sector seems to be more resilient, we have seen downtrading and don’t believe we’ve seen the end of the downturn yet.” Emirates sales manager, John Friel, says cutting fares in the SA market to stimulate demand hasn’t actually increased sales, but simply eroded the airline’s yields. “That elastic market – the biggest part of the market – that may or may not travel is just not travelling. The low prices simply haven’t stimulated them to travel.” The slightly better June results reflect improved results globally. Iata’s dg and ceo, Giovanni Bisignani, says the slump in global air travel may have reached a floor. “We may have hit
300
BSP numbers in freefall (2nd quarter) 0
0
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April
May
R1,11bn
2009
2008 R1,04bn
R1,55bn
2009 R994m
R1,53bn
1000
500
2009
1500
R1,46bn
2008
2000
2008
(rand millions)
June
bottom, but we’re a long way from recovery,” he said in a statement. “This crisis is the worst we have ever seen.” Iata says the impact of the recession appears to be stabilising. The organisation’s international passenger demand weakened from the -3,1% recorded in April to -9,3% in May. But both of the past two months have been slightly stronger than the 11,1% decline reached in March. “Even if we look beyond the crisis, it is difficult to see a return to business as usual. This crisis is re-shaping the industry. The burden cannot be placed on airlines alone. All partners in the value chain must be prepared to change – reducing costs and improving efficiencies.” This was echoed by internationally based airlines at a recent Asata airline-agents forum held in Johannesburg. “We need to do business differently. We need to choose our partners very closely and then work together as teams,” said John. Virgin Atlantic sales and distribution head, Yvonne Skerritt, agrees. “We have to find new ways of working together. At least 80% of our business is sold by agents and choosing your partners is going to be increasingly important in this environment.” ■
Wanna win a cruise? Enter Cruises International’s incentive by booking 10 cruises from any of its product portfolio (Royal Caribbean International, Crystal Cruises, the Yachts of Seabourn, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Voyages of Discovery, Swan Hellenic and Variety Cruises) until December 15 and you could stand a chance to experience a seven-night cruise for two. The draw will take place in December and every completed sheet qualifies for one entry into the draw. Once all 10 blocks on the sheet have been completed send the original to Cruises International’s postal address (on Travelinfo). Getting ready to welcome you on the cruise of a lifetime are (from left) Tracey Krog, product manager Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Voyages of Discovery; Candice De Cardoso, reservations consultant, and Jenny Arthur, product manager Luxury Portfolio Photo: Tijana Huysamen
to the point
☞
Discover the World Marketing, Alitalia’s commercial representative in South Africa since 2005, will from July 31 cease to represent the Italian airline in South Africa. From August 1, all enquiries should be referred to the Air France KLM trade helpdesk: fares@af-klm.co.za/refunds@af-klm.co.za