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“Bureaucracy can be a problem. For Angola, if you have a business visa issued, you have to arrive in the country within 72 hours of the visa being granted.” Chris Pouney, Severnside Counsulting


“Try to have two passports if possible, so you can travel on one while the other is at an embassy. Don’t try to take any short cuts – visa officials can be exceptionally strict and bureaucratic.” Monique Swart, ABTA


Some forecasts put Africa’s combined GDP in 2020 at around $2.6 trillion.


AFRICA BUYER’S VIEW


BBT spoke to an EMEA travel buyer for a multinational professional services firm, who highlighted points to be aware of in your travel programme.


Safety and security essentials A traveller-tracking tool, but also security advice for the traveller as soon as the booking is made.


Payments Put alternatives in place, in case credit cards are not accepted.


Lack of good public transport Make sure your travellers have access to adequate shuttles or chauffeur-drive services, or car rental where safe.


Demand for non-GDS accommodation This means pre-payment or bill-back solutions are needed.


Communication is vital Both in terms of pro-active communication between your internal travel and your local area internal management; and strong account management and operations support from your TMC.


strategy includes developing Lagos and Abuja as major west African hubs, opening new routes to Asia and doubling its fleet. Ethiopian Airlines has a similarly


dynamic vision. It was the first airline in Africa – and the first country after Japan – to fly a B787, and this year took delivery of its seventh Dreamliner. The International Air Transport Association’s latest airline ranking shows Ethiopian as Africa’s largest carrier by revenue – over $2.3 billion – and profit. The airline’s growth strategy includes building a four-hub network in Africa: the home hub in capital Addis Ababa; a second in Togo in west Africa; a third in partnership with the Malawi government, launched earlier this year; and a fourth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ethiopia has seen double-digit GDP growth in the last decade, and is attracting a lot of foreign investment, particularly from India and China (see panel, p65). Despite all this aviation growth, flights


are an issue for travel managers. Pieter Rieder, global head of energy and ship- ping sales for ATPI, says: “Prices are high, because of supply and demand. And there’s often no choice – that’s fundamentally the issue. We’ll route people through South Africa, and often do charters up from there. He adds: “You’re limited in what airlines


you can use. Many energy companies, right- fully so, are very strict in terms of embargoed carriers. Another issue is booking seats that are not on the GDSs [global distribution systems] – you can book, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’ve got a seat. This requires relationships with those airlines to ensure your people get on board.” Development also continues apace in the hotel sector. STR Global’s latest figures show 151 new properties in the pipeline, with a total of just under 30,000 rooms. In northern Africa, Egypt tops the chart, with


Ethiopia has seen double digit GDP growth in the last decade, and is attracting a lot of foreign investment


more than 7,300 rooms, while in the south, Nigeria heads the list with over 4,600 rooms in 26 properties. In April this year, hotel giant Marriott completed the acquisition of South Africa’s Protea hotel group, adding 116 African properties in seven countries to its portfolio, making it the largest hotel group on the continent. Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said he looked forward to “new opportunities for growth and advancement” across the region.


DON’T GO IT ALONE So what should you bear in mind when managing travel in Africa? Monique Swart, founder of the African Business Travel As- sociation (ABTA), advises: “Partner, partner, partner – don’t try to go it alone. Partner with a TMC [travel management company] that totally understands the region, knows what the limitations are, and can find ways around those limitations. ‘Normal’ travel management principles don’t apply in many of these regions, so trying to copy and paste what works elsewhere is a sure- fire way to failure.We see that companies trying to mandate a policy created in the US or UK don’t understand why strategies that work in more developed markets don’t


62


BBT JULY/AUGUST 2014


BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM


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