| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 21/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 13 |
| Copyright: Other |
REGULAR
olumn§st
Noel Josephides
Producing an interesting and accurate brochure is not an easy job. Mistakes can easily happen. Maybe one day the Web will relieve us of this task?
I’ve just managed to finish the Sunvil Cyprus brochure for this winter and next summer.If the public knew what went into putting a quality tour programme together then perhaps it would be more sympathetic towards problems that arise.
I like to think our brochures are very accurate. They may not be the best written, because we do not employ professionals to do the job but years of tour-operating experience to a destination are reflected in a good brochure.
Every angle has to be covered, every possible reader interpretation anticipated.
In these modern times a word out of place can cost a tour operator tens of thousands in lost revenue or court action for misrepresentation.
My biggest fear is making a mistake on the costings. It is easier to do so now using spreadsheets then it was when we were used to a more manual system.
It’s so simple to make an error on these computers. It all comes out too fast, almost too easily.
We have to check and double check again and again. Even then, some strange prices appear and calculation formulas tend to corrupt, throwing up ridiculous prices.
I also worry when I’m told all I have to do is check thecorrections. God knows where copy comes from when it just appears in the middle of a checked piece and is completely unrelated to what has gone before and what comes after.
As if checking the brochure is not bad enough, we also have to check our Web site for wrong descriptions of resorts and properties.
Properties can easily become transposed under the wrong resort. Sometimes whole descriptions are put under the wrong name. The possibility of error is high and the cost of making an error even higher.
I always look at the information pages very carefully. This year, for instance we have been getting more than our normal share of aircraft problems and the clients always try and recover from us. The charter airlines are just not good at handling people – I would much rather they concentrated on making sure their aircraft are in top-notch condition – and so, after a few tries with them the customer writes to us, duly informing us that his/her contract is with us – as if we did not know.
So, I have inserted a paragraph saying we will not be paying for missed connecting flights or extra hotel accommodation because onward transport, not booked by us, has been missed because of a flight delay.
I point out they can claim on their travel insurance for a delay and the amount claimable is not pocket money but is designed to cover costs.
Of course, many policies are just not good enough. They don’t pay out soon enough and they do not pay enough.
The client then ends up kicking himself/herself for not taking out the Sunvil policy.
I wish we did not have to play cat and mouse with the client. However, very often their attitude forces us to do so.
Anyway, one brochure done and seven to go! There’s a lot of work to be done by all of us over the next three-and-a-half months.
Will the Internet ever really relieve us of this task? I very much doubt it.
“The possibility of error is high and the cost of making an error even higher”