Ten agents joined Travel 2 for a one-week educational to South Africa. They flew into Johannesburg and then visited Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, the Drakensberg Mountains, the Hiuhlewe and Phinda game reserves, Umhlanga and Cape Town. We asked three agents for their impressions before and after the trip.
Before: I had always wanted to go to South Africa. Wildlife programmes on television fascinate me and I thought going on safari would be the most exciting thing to do. The educational was first offered to a colleague in another branch but they knew I was desperate to go and passed it on to me.
After: The trip lived up to all my expectations and more. I didn’t get to see a lion but wasn’t disappointed because I did see giraffe, zebra and rhino. I was amazed by the standard of the tree lodges. I thought they would be pretty basic but some have marble bathrooms and four-poster beds. I realise now there is much more to Southern Africa than just safaris. The landscapes are so diverse – beaches, cities, wine-growing areas and national parks – and the culture and history is so interesting. The shopping is amazing too – no matter how I tried I just couldn’t spend all my money, everything was so cheap.
Karen Galbraith, Travel Consultant, Beaver Travel, Elgin, Morayshire, Age: 22
Before: I hadn’t been to South Africa before and had a fairly open mind about what I would find there. You hear of occasional unrest and crime on the television but I thought that would be mostly in local townships and not in the tourist areas, so I wasn’t really worried. I was looking forward to going on safari but imagined we would have to rough it a fair bit out in the bush. In the past few years we have been getting a lot of enquiries about South Africa so I knew it was an up-and-coming destination and felt it would be a very beneficial trip.
After: I was very surprised by just how diverse the landscapes of South Africa are – the scenery is wonderful and changes a great deal from area to area. Cape Town is very beautiful and I don’t think you can fully appreciate the vastness of Table Mountain until you have been there – it is spectacular. The beaches and wine-growing areas are lovely too. A night safari is just awesome and the accommodation in the game reserves is far superior to anything I imagined. The food is wonderful and for just a few pounds you can have an excellent meal and good bottle of wine. I have increased my sales dramatically since I returned and would certainly pay to go back.
Tracey Hodgson, Manager, Travel Options, York, Age: 36
Before: I hadn’t been to South Africa but I had noticed that clients were getting more interested in the destination. It has had a fair bit of publicity and also quite a lot of people have relatives there, which encourages them to book. People did ask us whether it was really safe – obviously they had heard of the crime rate and were worried about that. Others in my office had been and advised against staying in Johannesburg, but were very reassuring about everywhere else. I knew personal recommendation really made a big difference to selling South Africa successfully, so I was certain the trip would help my sales.
After: The highlight was the night safari – I thought that if you had seen one elephant you had seen them all, but seeing animals wild in a reserve is a real experience and I would love to go back and do that again. The people are very friendly and we saw no sign of unrest at all. The decor in some hotels is rather dated. I felt I was in a time warp some of the time – I guess apartheid has held the country back. Cape Town was wonderful – it has a spectacular location and the brochures just can’t do it justice. I sell South Africa with far greater confidence now; I can speak with real authority on the place and, best of all, it is currently very cheap and amazingly good value for money.
Gary Sharples, Travel Consultant, Norseman Travel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Age: 33