Have you read the travel editorials lately? From Travel Weekly to Conde Nast Traveler to Budget Travel the message is the same- travelers are relooking the value-proposition when booking travel.
People want more for their money, they are tired of getting nickel-and-dimed, they want price transparency, personalization, and one-of-a-kind experiences. All-inclusive vacations are increasingly popular while meaningful travel and “learncations” are generating lots of buzz.
For more information, please read one of the recent articles here.
Just think about it for a second. How much personalization and one-of-a-kind experiences do you get on a group safari with 25 participants? Not much, if any.
Then think about this. At Hampton Inn a $100 room includes very respectable free Wi-Fi whereas many 5-star properties charge you from $10-$30 a day for wireless access in addition to your $800 room! Is this extra charge really necessary or are you being nickel-and-dimed?
If you want to book a safari things get really murky because standard safari quotes are generally not itemized so you won’t even know if you are being nickel-and-dimed!
Transparent pricing is the way to go and in my opinion consumers should demand it when booking safaris. I have personally tried transparent pricing successfully in the past with select clients and have recently revamped our internal processes to provide it to all new clients! Please visit my website to see an example of a transparent quote.
Let’s look at the benefits of transparent pricing and all-inclusive quotes:
It will certainly expose the price gouging by international tour companies. Exorbitant safari prices are hurting safari tourism. I hear every day from people who want to go on safari but think they cannot afford it. When a family of 5 downloads a brochure and sees a safari price tag of $46,250 plus $10,000 in international airfare, the immediate reaction is to place a safari on the back burner as an unnecessary luxury. In reality, with a bit of research and transparent pricing they can possibly have a better experience for around $25,000 (or less) plus airfare when they consider outfitters with lower profit margins!
It will help manage indiscriminate discounting or rebating. In the safari industry NETT rates are offered to outfitters by their suppliers as compensation for marketing/selling their camps, lodges, internal air, travel insurance, vehicles for hire, etc. The actual NETT rate is often negotiable and may range from 10% to 30% off the RACK rates depending on supplier-outfitter relationships. When an outfitter turns around and gives up this compensation in a desperate attempt to gain a customer it sets of a chain of events that often create problems down the road when something goes wrong such as costly vehicle break-downs. For the consumer, transparent pricing should set off the alarm bells when prices from one outfitter are consistently and remarkably lower than others for the same line item (for example, the daily rate of the vehicle and guide). Transparent pricing also offers some protection against fly-by-night outfitters who disregard the terms of their supplier contracts by offering confidential NETT rates to clients in order to make short-term sales. The travel industry as a whole frowns upon this conduct because discounting/rebating has the potential to destroy the very fragile income model that all sellers of travel rely upon to stay in business. Even the suppliers do not like it and many do not allow reselling at rates lower than those listed on their official websites. Imagine yourself as a lodge owner with a nice website who manages to sell out most of your rooms at fair prices with comfortable profit margins. Then you are approached by a tour company who negotiates a 20% discount. Soon afterwards you experience a slowdown in direct bookings only to discover the tour operator is selling your rooms for 15% less than you! The end-result is lower overall monthly profits even though your occupancy numbers may have increased!
It will make it much easier to optimize your safari budget and it will save time. When you see the actual itemized costs of your safari it becomes much easier to make informed decisions about managing your money. If your private guide and vehicle cost $350 per day, how much money can you save by sharing a camp vehicle for a few nights during your safari? What if you drive from point A to point B instead of fly? Or how much will it cost to splurge with an extra night at a very exclusive tented camp instead of staying at a cheaper lodge? Without the convenience of itemized pricing these changes will take a considerable amount of back-and-forth interaction with your safari consultant and when you stare at only a single gross total you will never reap the benefits of a la carte itinerary building!
It will allow for true apples to apples comparison shopping. When you have to choose between 2 or more comparative itineraries from different companies, or just different options from the same outfitter, it will be impossible to make an informed decision without seeing the itemized details. The devil is often in the details and the details are difficult to figure out without looking at a price breakdown of each itinerary.
It will minimize sticker shock. Imagine stretching your budget to the limit to afford $21,000 for a 2-week safari and then learning at the last moment you have to budget an additional $700 for tips, $200 for drinks and $900 for trip cancellation insurance (a must in today’s turbulent world)! That’s almost $2000 more than you planned to spend! By including “compulsory” extra costs on quotes safari companies can successfully mimic all-inclusive vacations and help consumers be better prepared for the true costs of their safaris. Trip cancellation insurance is a tough one to quote but safari companies can assist by sending their clients to established underwriters who can often provide online quotes in minutes! Travel Guard and Travelex are examples of companies who provide online quotes and consumers should contact them during (and not after) the safari planning process.
Are there any drawbacks to transparent pricing?
I cannot think of any for the consumer! If you disagree please let me know!
Ground operators who sell safaris directly to the public will discover only minor adjustments are needed to change to a transparent pricing model.
At first, travel agents, safari consultants and international tour companies will most probably not like the transparent sales model because they have to justify their overhead costs in ways that do not alienate their client prospects. They will have to depend on their suppliers for itemized costs breakdowns and this may be easier said than done because of the many layers of “middlemen” involved. If their current suppliers are reluctant to provide transparent pricing then they should find new partners!
At the end of the day, I believe transparent, all-inclusive pricing presents new opportunities for travel agents and safari consultants because it makes their jobs easier too! Any travel agent who is serious about his/her value-proposition will welcome transparent safari quotes from different suppliers in order to help the client choose the best possible safari!
And like any other profession, the truly professional travel agent and/or safari consultant should adopt a fee-based business model if they bring their expertise to the decision-making table and help the client choose between different safari options.
But when they merely act as “order-takers” for brochure safaris then price transparency is not an option and they may find themselves treading water in an “old-school” sales model with a rapidly shrinking market.
