Vanessa Sand of AA Travel Guides has something to say about2010 to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
The matches played for the Confederations Cup and the Lions Rugby Tour went off well. There were no major incidents which would have labelled SA as unfit or unsuitable for 2010. However, as a guest house owner who has hosted guests for both events at Ellis Park, I believe some areas of concern need attention before 2010.
Eight Lions supporters at my guest house who compared travelling around SA for three weeks with travelling around New Zealand for six weeks when the Lions toured there a few years ago have found the South African experience wanting in several areas.
First there were flight problems. On one flight (SAA) their baggage did not come on the same flight but on the next plane. The other situation was more serious - their BA flight was double booked.
They arrived on Friday morning and wanted to do something for the day. I could not get them onto a Soweto tour, so I got into the mini bus they had hired for an unofficial tour of Joburg and then helped them return the minibus to Eurocar in Rosebank. They spent the afternoon in Rosebank and ate dinner at a steakhouse I recommended and then went to a cigar lounge which they enjoyed. They returned after 1 am, making use of the taxi service I had suggested.
About 30 minutes later I was woken because one of the guests had collapsed in the driveway.
They needed an ambulance to take him to hospital and had telephoned for a municipal ambulance, but were told none were available because of the strike.
This was horrifying to them and standing outside in the freezing cold around their collapsed friend, they told me that in England the army would have been called in.
We called Netcare 911, but their ambulance was busy, so we waited 35 minutes for an ambulance to come from Sunninghill. I went along with them to help. As it turned out, their friend did not need to be admitted and we all returned to the guest house at 4.30 on Saturday morning.
When it came to trying to pay the bill for the medical treatment, there was more trouble. The cashier took the card to a back office and swiped it - then looked up puzzled, saying it was asking for a pin number. I realised it must be a chip and pin credit card. Ultimately, the treatment was paid for in cash.
Recently in Pick n Pay I stood chatting to a friend from London for 15 minutes while the cashier struggled and then finally gave up trying to swipe an English credit card. Again the chip and pin technology was the source of the problem.
Eventually, the customer paid with a local card which she had because she is an ex-South African.
It is important that anyone likely to be taking credit cards from tourists be trained in how to handle chip and pin credit cards.
After the final Test, my guests listed the issues where their South African experience fell short:
- No medical back-up.
- No public transport and the high cost of taxis, coupled with drivers who don't know their way around.
- Inefficiency on the airlines.
With regard to medical back-up, you, Mr Minister, need to impress on your colleague the Minister of Health the importance of having all ambulances operating at full capacity during 2010. If there are strikes, the army has to be trained and ready to fill in seamlessly for such emergency services.
With regard to the airlines - if they are having problems coping with normal loads how will they cope with bringing guests for daytrips from the accommodation hubs within South Africa, let alone from over the border?
Your colleague in the Department of Transport needs to check with the airlines that they have their systems up to speed.
With regard to urban transport, even with Gautrain and Rea Veya running, getting around in the suburbs will not be easy without a hire car and a GPS, or a taxi driver who knows where he or she is going.
It makes sense to use the accommodation located closer to the actual venues in the host cities.
This brings me to the guest houses who have not joined the Match pool. Overseas guests require a lot more looking after than local business travellers. I had to devote much attention to ensuring that they enjoyed their visit to Joburg. To ensure that they could fit in both the Rooftop Market and Gold Reef City, I dropped them in Rosebank and fetched them. I arranged the taxi transfers to Gold Reef City and back. For their last day I arranged a Soweto tour and then a direct transfer to the airport.
I made use of connections I have built up over the years both via AA Travel Guides and via the guest house networking experience to ensure their time was not wasted.
I don't mind doing this for guests next year - but my regular rates do not come anywhere near making it worthwhile for me.
So let's be realistic. Let's use the guest houses and Bed and Breakfast establishments and encourage them to be part of 2010, to treat their guests as family and ensure their guests can get around and make the most of the time they spend with them.
Most guest house and Bed and Breakfast owners can do this and they must be allowed to charge a fair price for all the effort - probably three times their normal rack rates. The transport costs far outweigh the accommodation costs if guests want to get out and about.
Guest houses are adopting some of the roles of tour operators and guides, just as top hotels have concierges and transport with drivers available. Transport is a challenging issue and bringing in the accommodation operators to help with the transport is much more likely to solve the problem.
This way we can have a large chunk of the visitors who come to the World Cup going home truly impressed by the ubuntu-style hospitality that comes so naturally to so many of us.