Can travel managers truly advise on African destinations if they've never travelled into Africa?

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Monique Swart, founder of the African Business Travel Association (ABTA), explains this is becoming a pressing question as companies often don’t have the budget - or don’t want to make a budget available - to send their travel managers to African countries to learn about the different destinations.

“Travel departments increasingly need to tighten the purse strings within their companies, and they simply don’t have the budget to send out a travel team to various destinations across Africa,” she says, adding that safety concerns and a fear of the unknown can also play a role for travel managers when they turn down educational offers.

Turning to the internet in the era of ‘fake news’

Instead, travel managers turn to the internet for information, which is a worrying trend in the era of ‘fake news’. Says Swart: “Unfortunately, information received online or from consultants who have not travelled into these regions can’t always be trusted and can even lead to confusion.”

Even if the news is reliable and comes from a reputable source, such as a government institution, confusion can still arise as the information between the various government advisories often varies. The Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) for example has been advising against all but essential travel to Tunisia since 2015, while the US State Department advises only against travel to certain areas in Tunisia. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade tells Australians not to travel to the southern part of the country, the Algerian border area, or Mount Chaambi National Park. So, who should travel managers believe?

Insider tips

If travel managers don’t have time to explore destinations themselves, they should have a system in place where travellers or advisors can share their experiences, says Kagiso Dumasi, Commercial Manager: Africa for BCD Travel.

Dumasi explains travel managers today are not always travel specialists but have a great variety of different responsibilities within their companies. “Travel is only one aspect of their responsibilities, so when the opportunity presents itself to travel into Africa, travel managers often can’t find the time to get away from the office.”

However, Dumasi also points out it’s crucial for companies who send out travellers into Africa to either have an Africa desk or a dedicated Africa advisor. “Experience is the best teacher. You never know how much impact certain challenges have on a traveller until you experience it yourself,” she says. “A lot of my clients ask me to come and speak to their PA or travel manager to help them with inside information into destinations in Africa. It’s important to have reliable advice on which accommodation to book, what to expect from the airport and have insider tips on the destination. That kind of information is important to travellers.”

Educational trips to Africa

Swart agrees and explains that ABTA advises companies with big travel teams to send different consultants to different destinations. She says: “These consultants can then become the expert on that specific country. If the company has five or six different consultants who have each been to a different country, that allows for a wealth of information.”

Michelle Jolley, corporate marketing leader Flight Centre Travel Group, explains that corporate travel consultants are always keen to embark on educational trips to Africa, as it helps them advise their clients on unknown destinations. “Our last educational saw travel consultants heading to Rwanda and that was very well received. Our consultants are always asking for more educationals and specifically to Africa.”

Travelling to destinations perceived as unsafe

According to a study by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) in association with American Express GBT and Business Traveller, at least two-thirds of business travellers believe that being sent to destinations that are perceived as unsafe has a psychological effect on both them and their families. Swart explains that travel managers and travel consultants can help mitigate these effects.

As ACTE Executive Director Greeley Koch explains: “Business travellers are not really warriors. They are people with families, mortgages, college tuition, and car payments. They are people whose offices happen to be the world.”