Specialist Africa & Beyond is considering a raft of measures including bespoke training, fam trips and on-the-road sales support to raise awareness of the brand and drive up trade sales.
The plans come a year after the tour operator completed a management buyout which saw sales director Jamie Taylor increase his stake in the business and Matt Purser (pictured), Ian Finlay and Stewart Lambert, of The Firebird Partnership, become shareholders.
As part of the deal, husband and wife founders Richard and Charlotte Howell retired while Purser took on the role of managing director.
Since the MBO, the operator has boosted staff numbers, with three new members of the sales team, run a trade marketing campaign using consultancy 3FOR and a fam trip to South Africa for Designer Travel agents.
Purser said the success of these measures had led to the decision to further boost the operator’s profile, with plans underway to develop online training for agents, run more fam trips and potentially recruit a business development manager on the road. The company had a BDM pre-Covid.
Agents already represent 95% of sales. The luxury tailormade operator, which specialises in Africa but also offers the Indian Ocean and Middle East, has struck a deal to work with The Advantage Travel Partnership and is already a member of The Specialist Travel Association (Aito).
He said: “We were undecided about whether getting a person on the road was the best route but the campaign with 3FOR worked and the fam trip has resulted in an increase in enquiries too.
“We are looking to grow with agents and looking at what support we can give agents, whether it’s online or in person training or fam tips. I don’t think there is one answer, it will be a mixed approach.”
Sales have already “gone up hugely” since the marketing campaign and fam trip, he added, but said it would take time for the projects to be implemented.
He urged agents to try the brand, adding feedback from agents showed they were not using one other specialists but booking generalist operators for Africa trips. “That surprised me,” he said, citing this as an opportunity for the brand.
But he stressed growth would be ‘organic’ and steady. The operator has just renewed its Atol licence for the same number of passengers, around 1,000.
“It’s a profitable business and there is no growth target; we can do it at a speed that everyone is comfortable with and is achievable,” added Purser.