INTERVIEW SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS
GARY KERSHAW In Person With...
Editor Steve Hartridge talks to Gary Kershaw, South African Airways’ country manager for UK and Ireland, about new aircraft, current bookings and the importance of agents
GARY KERSHAW UK and Ireland country manager South African Airways
What are your main job responsibilities? I’m here to ensure that we maximise our successes in our most important international market. I’m responsible for all SAA's commercial and operational activities in the UK. This includes sales and marketing, our call centre,
Flysaa.com, airport operations, finance and HR. I also represent SAA on the Star Alliance Country Steering Committee.
Update us on SAA's product news and route developments. We’ve recently replaced our older-generation A340-200 with a brand-new A330-200 aircraft on our London-Cape Town route. The A330 already operates one of the two daily flights to Johannesburg, so now over 60 per cent of our UK operations are operated by aircraft less than a year old. The A330 is not only more fuel efficient
– it reduces our carbon footprint – but also offers service enhancements like state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment.
How is SAA doing this year and how do bookings look into 2012? The SAA Group announced a net profit of R782 million for the 2010-2011 financial year – a 77 per cent increase from 2009-2010 financial year. So we are doing well as a company, but we aren’t seeing the price of oil fall and we’re fighting declining UK visitor arrivals to South Africa. Our bookings are holding up, but we
are having to work harder and smarter to secure our business. We continue to invest in our products and services and increase support to the trade and I’m optimistic about the future.
Operators say that since the World Cup bookings to South Africa have been sluggish. Why was there no post- tournament boost to travel to South Africa? South Africa sustained growth even during the worst of the world's economic crisis, outperforming most other destinations. We had two major sporting events – the British & Irish Lions Tour in 2009 and the World Cup in 2010 which kept South Africa in the spotlight with year on year growth. So, with such strong performance then, it may feel a little 'sluggish' now.
How have rising taxes and APD affected travel to South Africa? I don’t think we can look at rising taxes and APD in isolation. It’s disappointing that APD is simply used as a blunt revenue generating tool by the government, without taking into account the impact on the UK family annual holiday, UK business and inbound tourism to the UK. However, there are many contributing factors that affect travel to all destinations, not just South Africa. These include exchange rates, ground product prices and the perceived value for money whilst in the destination.
Do you see SAA as a ‘trade friendly’ airline? In short, yes, The large majority of our business comes from the trade and we are working hard to improve our levels of support to them. It’s an area which we need to work on continuously, to ensure we keep up to speed with what the trade needs from us to drive their business forward.
What trade initiatives – such as fams, workshops, etc – have you partnered on this year? SAA partnered with SA Tourism to participate in eight Explore South Africa road shows this September and October as well as two pre-WTM road shows at the beginning of November. The focus of the workshops is to educate travel agents about SAA’s product and services and promote the new product A330-200 aircraft.
74 November 2011 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com
Like any businesses, agents will only deserve to survive if they can demonstrate value to their customers
In September and October, SAA hosted
a joint trip with Protea and African Pride Hotels. And we have also partnered with the Tourism Board of Kwazulu-Natal, TravelUni and Selling Long Haul to host a fam trip to the province this December. The objectives of these trips include showcasing SAA’s brand new product A330-200, arrivals and departures lounge, and ultimately, South Africa.
Do you think travel agents have a future when it comes to selling long haul travel? Absolutely, the public needs the expertise of travel agents when booking a long haul destination. Our trends indicate a continued support for the travel agency sales channel and reflects long haul customers’ desire to feel comfortable and supported with their choice of destination. In our case, the expertise of a travel agent enables the first time traveller to
South Africa to travel to the right places for the right amount of time and see the most important icons in each place. However, like any business, they will
only deserve to survive if they can demonstrate true value to their customer base. It simply can’t just be about price, it
needs to be about perceived levels of value and that only comes with great service. I’m a firm believer that service is king, and that businesses that succeed do so from delivering outstanding individual customer service.
Finally, what’s your idea of a ‘perfect’ holiday? I’ve recently returned from The Palace of the Lost City at Sun City (pictured) in South Africa's North West province and that comes pretty close – great weather, amazing service and hospitality, the ability to relax and do nothing, or to get out and be active.
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