The stronger rand over the past few months has seen South Africans dip into their pockets and book overseas holidays as the exchange rate became more favourable against major currencies such as the euro, pound and dollar.
The volatility and weakening of the rand in the past day now means that tour operators and travel agents will be forced to invoice their customers for the full amount of their travels or face exceedingly higher charges if the rand continues to weaken.
Yesterday, several South African tour operators sent memos to their travel partners and customers warning them that they would have to pay immediately to secure their bookings at the same price due to the declining rand.
Global guided holiday experts, Trafalgar and CostSaver introduced a rand guarantee on all their holidays, no matter what the rand is doing, over a year ago.
“So, for travel in 2017, the price that was stipulated in our September 2016 brochures remains in place without any worries about the fluctuating rand,” explains Theresa Sjezwallo, Managing Director, The Travel Corporation South Africa.
“All departures and trips until November this year are at a fixed price so our guests can budget well in advance and not pay more, and within a very short lead time, when the rand declines suddenly.
“A great deal of the costs involved in travel are also included in a guided holiday – such as porterage, accommodation, full breakfast daily, many dinners, entrance fees, tipping and in-depth sightseeing – so travellers have the peace of mind that they know upfront what their holiday includes and they know that the rand amount they booked at, will be the rand amount they will pay.”
Perfecting guided holidays for over 70 years, Trafalgar and CostSaver enjoys an independently verified 97% satisfaction rate for their holidays with independent reviews featured on their website.
Travellers who have travelled with any other The Travel Corporation Brand (Contiki, Insight Vacations, Uniworld, Busabout, Trafalgar and CostSaver) in the past 10 years also qualify for a 5% discount on the full land package price, in addition to other deals.
“None of our customers and travel partners will be receiving a notice from Trafalgar and CostSaver requiring them to settle their amounts immediately or sending a revised invoice. So, they can relax in the knowledge that Trafalgar honours their rand price for the duration of that brochure.”