tau

Thanks for all the info.

We'll see what the future brings.


Cheers,

George

divine54

"Author: climbhighsleeplow
Date: 01/09/2009, 04:16 pm

Let me add something that has not been mentioned.

Some supplier contracts stipulate that agents may not sell or promote their products at rates lower than rack.

Even if they want to, agents do not always have the power to offer sweet safari deals!
****

CHSL

what in your view is a "supplier"?
if not the contractor acts a s "supplier" who does?
any "contractor" who hasn't got the "deals" before the camp/lodge in question publishes these should be in the position to react.
if not - any deal is noth worth the money it's printed on......

div

andybiggs

Have you ever booked a hotel or airplane in other parts of the world? The same business model applies. An agent gets a fee for bringing in business, as well as servicing the customer. There is *much* more to a safari than just booking rooms in lodges or camps. There is the extra time helping select the camps, setting up bush planes, getting transfers made between airports and overnight hotels, etc etc etc.

I rely heavily on the agents in my own business, and I wouldn't want to take on all of the extra work that they have to go through for me. Yes, you can book directly in some situations, but why would you want to?

Just a defence of the agent network. And pricing is a pretty good supply and demand model. If prices are too high and people don't pay them, then the prices come down. For premium camps in premium locations, prices are naturally going to be higher than in other locations. It's like saying that you want to pay Cleveland hotel prices but you want to stay in downtown London.

tau

Andy,

Just a few questions

- top locations and selecting camps: have you ever been to the locations you are going to in July 2009 in Botswana. If the answer is negative - how would you know then if those are the ultimate safari spots in Botswana? Do you select your camps yourself or does EOA/WS that for you?

Top locations compared to the ones in the same country or compared to the ones in other places in Africa.

- Setting up bush planes. I think those safari companies have their own aircrafts and planning is done by them and not by the TA.
And I guess the cost of planning is included in their airfare.

- I don't think the commissions go as high as 30 percent in other parts of the travel industry. Let's say I want to book a hotel in downtown London and want a taxi to pick me up at Heathrow. If I don't book that directly, I won't pay a huge fee for that.
Do you think I am wrong here?

I hope you are not offended but as you make a living out of this business, I couldn't resist to ask you a few questions.

Cheers,

George

climbhighsleeplow

div

I am not sure what you are asking. So I will explain the basics.

When I read your posts I am pretty sure you are 'in the business' of selling safaris. But you do not own safari vehicles and lodges. Therefor you are a travel reseller/agent/consultant, and not a supplier in the true sense of the word.

The owners of the vehicles, the ground operators and lodges are suppliers. They set the rates of the safaris and accommodations for you, the reseller.

They have rack (public) rates for their products and they offer you a nett (private) rate so you have an incentive to sell what they supply.

Most suppliers do not want you (the agent) to sell their products at nett rates because it will undermine their direct rack sales.

When they offer 20% off rack specials on their web sites, they will usually lower the nett rate by 20% and notify their agents. So the incentive for the agent remains the same.

Div, as a prolific poster on this forum and many others, why don't you come out and tell us who you are?

andybiggs

George-

I appreciate your taking the time to ask questions, and I do notice a bit of tension coming from your end. Since I am in the industry, I may have a different view on a few things, but one thing is sure: I don't know as much about what goes on behind the scenes as much as agents may know, so any answers I give may be only part of the information.

I rely on others sometimes when selecting camps. Since I haven't been every place in Africa, it is only logical. My value is the instruction I give while out on safari, and I have more experiences in some camps over others. Yes, I have been to some of the locations on my July safari.

The bush planes are not owned by the safari companies. They are separate. Do some research on Sefofane in Botswana and Namibia, for example. There are many others.

30% commission? I don't know what commissions are, but 30% cannot be right for all agents and all properties and all of the time. Probably an urban legend. I am not in the information loop here.

There are other components when putting together all of the costs, actually. I know we pay much more for bush planes than others, as we have our own private charters and also extra room for our camera gear. This comes out to be 2 planes for about 12 people, and the costs can get up there, for sure. Add in xfers between JNB and the hotel, meals in JNB, etc.

I hope this helps. I think you are asking the right questions, but at the end of the day the business model that goes on just 'is what it is', and we all work within the parameters.

If you have any additional questions that are directed my way, I am not confident that I will be able to reply for at least 20 days, as I am about to shove off for safari momentarily. Just kicking back and replying to emails before I leave. I hope you find what you are looking for, which is a good safari for a price that you are willing to pay. It is certainly out there, for sure.