Exemplification Essay about Travel - Special Academic Support

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Travel Afrika is a local travel agency which is located in the city of Bulawayo. The agency specializes in the compilation of tailor-made packages itineraries as well as safari tours in and around Zimbabwe, car hire, hotel, and airline reservations. Its mission is to present impeccable service on top of being friendly and sincere. This agency is part of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and the African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA). Travel Afrika’s purpose is to satisfy the safari wildest dreams of tourists and offer culturally colorful encounters, beyond comparison wildlife adventure, amazing views to startle your eyes, and infinite skies to soothe your soul. This agency has a number of steps that are followed in their reservation process and encounter various challenges in this new dispensation era, which this essay serves to discuss.

Planning an African safari is supposed to be more fun than the trip itself. Their reservation process initiates by telling what you’re thinking. The journey is started by submitting an inquiry via an online form. The traveler is required to comprehend as much information as possible, like the budget, days of travel, and places of interest including any special requests as all this will be of assistance to the travel agency. The provided information is used to match the traveller with the correct consultant who is well acquainted in your desired activities, destinations, accommodation and experiences. The consultant then works together with the tourist to tailor make a trip of a lifetime.

The expert then creates specialized options of itineraries to review together with the tourist. The trip plan is fiddled with until the traveler is fully satisfied so as to design the best trip. After the desired itinerary is reached, the consultant reserves a space for you. The booking remains pertinent for at least a time frame of 2 weeks before it is open to other awaiting travelers. Thus the traveler still has an opportunity to make any last-minute changes.

A deposit is paid so as to confirm the booking. 30% is the required amount for all the services including road transfers and accommodations. The booking is confirmed after paying this deposit. The agency then verifies your trip with their suppliers and also ensures that they get your and your associate’s essential travel particulars. Your travel dreams are now coming to life. Several payment methods have been set up to facilitate the ease of payment, either by credit card payment or electronic bank transfer. Payments can easily be made from almost every corner of the world with much ease and at a low cost. It is key to advise from which country you from and the form of currency you are paying with and whether you would prefer to pay using electronic bank transfer or credit bank. The agency will then discuss the easy method of payment for you. Prices for the trip are quoted in US dollars and if using another currency, a conversion is done at the existing exchange rate of that day.

After the payment has been received, the agency emails your confirmation vouchers as well as an itinerary. These will contain information about what you will be doing, where you will need to be, and any due balances that will need to be paid onsite. The same vouchers are sent also to the activity tour operator, lodge, hotel or safari camp depending on your trip. It is the traveler’s duty to check the vouchers circumspectly and ensure that every detail is correct before printing them out. These vouchers are to be presented to your operator or hotel upon arrival, as simple as that. Handy resources like what you can pack, medical requirements, and a visa are advised by your travel coordinator. Travel insurance is a necessity for international tourists traveling to Africa and it is strongly recommended, though it is up to the traveler to secure one.

A payment reminder is sent to the traveler a week or two before the balance is due. The traveller can either pay using a credit card or EFT through the payment link on the private online itinerary. For some reason, if the traveler might require rescheduling or even cancel the trip before or after the 60 days, the safari expert will kindly offer guidance on the terms and conditions and assist in resolving the situation. In about 2-4 weeks before the departure date, the Coordinator confirms again every individual service, leaving nothing to chance. A trip document containing important and useful information like transfer times, flight numbers, supplier’s local emergency numbers, confirmation codes, flight luggage restrictions, foreign exchange policies, and others. All the details are double-checked.

The day then finally comes! The travel agency has taken care of each and every small detail so the traveler can enjoy and relax. A direct 247 phone line which is operated by the agency’s Africa Safari Experts is provided and it offers any form of assistance at any time, during the trip. After returning home, the Safari expert will do a check-up to acquire details of how the trip progressed, just to share your thoughts and provide them with feedback. It may be about what you loved or what might have missed the mark, and if there are any ameliorations that can be implemented for the future. Honest feedback is valued as it is the agency’s priority to excellence in all they do.

The challenges that the travel agency faces in the new dispensation era include maintaining and building the credibility of its online presence. The greatest concern for a travel agency is establishing and maintaining a reliable online presence. Having a website is not enough to help the agency be visible in such a demanding and abject competitive era. It is known that a website does show online presence, although, without a responsive website equipped to deal with guest bookings and also answer the questions of clients efficiently, makes the success of the agency a dream. Thus responsive website should be developed, with a user-friendly interface and traveler cantered features.

Moreover, high competition is another challenge that is encountered by travel agencies. The business is highly competitive in nature. Potential travellers are surely not short of options when it comes to arranging or researching their trips, with a wide variety of agencies, deals and service offerings. Earning the client’s trust is the biggest challenge, as many feel they can easily go online to an online travel agency and acquire the same rates, which is mostly not the case. Customers are attracted by either great service or offering the best-discounted rates. However, this lowers the margin of any booking, thus survival becomes a huge issue.

In the current situation, travel agencies have to deal with cancellations or refunds as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the world. Covid-19 has dramatically tailored people’s lives as we all know and the tourism and travel industry is particularly exposed. Considering the impact if this crisis, the future of the travel agency business could be fundamentally altered. The majority of customers have canceled their bookings and it is hard for the travel agency to manage refunds as multiple suppliers are struggling to refund as a result of cash flows. So the management of cash flow is a frustration, paying for salaries of employees and running other expenses.

Also, the international boarders are closed off, as a measure of curbing the spread of the novel Corona Virus. A majority of international borders have been closed and until the borders open, travel agencies are reliant solely on domestic travel which is very much limited due to the restrictions on inter-city travels. There is no insight as to when this will be resolved. This has led to the uncertainty of the future, as most people are hoping for things to start normalizing but still nothing is certain, at least for the year 2021.

To add on, the uncertainty of the future has led to the travel agencies losing key people. Due to limited cash flow, travel agencies have been forced to either let their employees work without pay or get laid off. As a result, this has led to them losing good resources which may not be recovered when needed.

Moreover, another that is faced by local travel agencies is the traveler’s behavior. Consumers are now fearful of traveling again because of much uncertainty that still exists about the Covid-19 and the different procedures all around countries. According to the survey carried out by IATA, more than 80% of travelers are still concerned about possible quarantine restrictions, as they are cautious about catching the virus during travel. With respect to this, there is a need for trusted guidance and information, from travel advisors so as to strengthen their roles as a reliable and trusted resource.

Further, there is increased traveler independence which poses a challenge to the travel agency. Travelers are now more keen to get out and explore with a little independence. They are shrewd enough to know what it is they want and how to acquire it and so they no longer require to have everything organized for them instead. This has resulted in lessened general reliance on travel service providers. Needed information is now accessed on the internet, and gone are the days of having to head to a local travel agent to enquire about exotic places far away. Travel companies have to adapt and present something more apprehensive than the general information that one can access over the internet.

Two airlines that operate in Zimbabwe are Air Zimbabwe and Fastjet Zimbabwe. Air Zimbabwe is the country’s national airline which is based at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, also known as the Harare International Airport. The airline currently operates mostly regional and domestic flights around Zimbabwe. Air Zimbabwe is exclusively a government-owned entity and is also a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the African Airlines Association. Fastjet is an African low-cost airline that is based in Zimbabwe and its airline is also situated at the Harare International Airport. It flies to a limited number of destinations around Zimbabwe and Johannesburg in South Africa. Fastjet Zimbabwe is a Zimbabwean registered company, with 49% being owned by Fastjet PLC. These airlines have a number of policies when handling special needs customers.

The cabin staff is assigned to ensure the comfort and safety of all passengers during their flight. Passengers with reduced mobility are granted permission to carry up to two mobility aids, free of charge. This encompasses foldable wheelchairs, electric mobility aids, and walking sticks. As a safety measure, no item must surpass a weight of 32kg and a maximum dimension of 81cm + 119cm + 119cm equalling to 319cm.

The on-board comfort of guests is very important for Fastjet and Air Zimbabwe airlines, which is why they have ensured that deaf or hearing impaired customers are assisted throughout their journey. Starting from checking in at the airport to disembarking the plane, obtaining luggage at the baggage claim, and moving past immigration, they see to it that you continuously attain language. The cabin crew will go through the safety briefing with you. They all been trained to converse with hearing-impaired guests and others are competent to converse in sign language.

Furthermore, the above airline does cater to guests with development or cognitive disability. If travel does easily overwhelm you, if one has a cognitive or developmental disability and finds it upsetting or confusing to travel, the airlines propose that you arrange a travel companion to help throughout the journey. If one can easily comprehend and react to instructions from the cabin crew and doesn’t require personal care during the flight, you may travel on your own.

Also, if traveling with a pneumatic splint or plaster cast, certain policies are followed to cater to such. When traveling with a plaster cast that has been applied within 48 hours of the flight, the airlines demand a Fitness to Fly certificate from your medical practitioner or doctor, dated and signed. A pre-approval from the Assistance team is needed and a filled-in Medical Indemnity form. The cast must be fitted loosely so as to allow for swelling and expansion at high altitudes, to give maximum comfort on board. If traveling with a broken arm or lower leg in plaster, you may require to purchase an additional seat so as to ensure maximum comfort. Guests traveling with a pneumatic splint, are allowed provided that they partly deflate before flying, for comfort and to reduce swelling.

In conclusion, it can be noted from the above essay how Travel Afrika, a local travel agency processes its reservations and the challenges that they are facing in this new dispensation era. Also, it is highlighted how Air Zimbabwe and Fastjet which are airlines operating in Zimbabwe, handle special needs customers.

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