P
erceptions play a great role in the influence of how Domestic Tourism in
Sub-Saharan Africa grows. There is limited knowledge about availability of
affordable accommodation options; as such people assume that travelling
is only for high net-worth individuals. Across the region, there is generally
lack of a savings culture towards holiday travel amongst most Africans. Travelling
is generally perceived to be none essential across most African countries. Foreign
visitors are perceived to have more spending power than locals; therefore,
travelling is seen as not affordable in the eyes of locals. Travelling is the last
thing money should be spent on unless there is a reason; for example to attend
funerals and weddings. Family comes first before spending on travelling.
Locals are, however, increasingly embracing the culture of travelling around
the country. Thanks to increasing efforts to boost Domestic Tourism by Travel &
Tourism industry players such as the ‘Shot left’ promotional campaign by The
South African Tourism Board; more locals are travelling around the region. Many
players in the industry have introduced packages that are targeting different
classes of citizens and different levels of spending power. However, many locals
still have to save up due to limited purchasing power; they tend to focus on cheap
road travel, budget accommodation options and visits to public beaches, as well
as public sites which have either no entry fee or a minimal charge.
Domestic business tourism continues to grow in South Africa and Kenya. In
South Africa, the numbers of domestic business trips taken during 2013 show
significant growth. Cost of travel between key cities is relatively low as there is
stiff competition on domestic routes among airline operators. Kenyan tourism has
seen stronger growth in business travel as opposed to leisure travel and cities
like Nairobi are seen as a centre for business.
Another key factor in Domestic Tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa is airlines. The
region does not have many carriers and as such international airlines mainly
operate in the region, taking a large chunk of the business. It is a very
competitive industry as everyone is ‘rushing’ for the little business – price
is therefore, a factor. Flights are expensive as the competitors are few and
economic woes have resulted in quite a number of airlines shutting down or
scaling back on routes. There are no direct flights to some destinations, resulting
in long travelling time as travellers have to use connecting flights. The airline
industry is capital intensive; fuel is expensive, airport taxes are expensive –
airlines normally make only between 7 – 10 percent off each ticket, resulting
in many airline operators shutting down as they cannot access funding to keep
them afloat. Regulations and bureaucracy also affect domestic tourism – for
instance in South Africa for any investor to operate an airline in the country, it
should be 75 percent owned by a local entity.
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of low cost airlines – Jambo
Jet in Kenya, Fast Jet, Fly Safair, Fly Africa and Skywise in South Africa, which
has impacted on the prices of flights – they are being reduced. However, these
low cost carriers do not do long haul flights. Securing funding is challenging too
as airlines like 1time and Velvet Sky were liquidated as a result of not paying
creditors on time. Airlines are also increasing their digital presence, which goes
hand-in-hand with improved payment platforms as such it makes it simpler for
customers to compare prices and easier to make flight bookings.
Going forward, there is an expected focus on developing domestic markets; for
example, Shot Left in South Africa. Cheaper alternatives are likely to remain a
challenge in most African countries i.e. accommodation and food. More airlines
are expected to enter various countries as governments relax FDI policies. Airlines
like Fly Africa have started expanding to other markets. Differential pricing is
likely to be introduced in most African countries in order to encourage locals to
travel and more payment options are expected to be introduced in other African
countries like M-Pesa in Kenya, Eco-Cash in Zimbabwe and FNB Cell-Pay Point
currently used by Mango Airlines in South Africa. Also Strategic partnership
between retailers and suppliers of tourism services will continue to help develop
Domestic Tourism, like the partnership between Edgars and Mango Airlines in
South Africa.
Nex Media •
Vol 3 Issue 2
27
