By Frank Meke ([email protected] 08057511885 (sms only)
THE global travel market has enjoyed
the most profound and effusive interest
from the world of technology.
It started many years ago with
major airlines with global market
peneration, looking for authentic ways
to distribute their inventories and also
accommodating accountability and
sales barometer.
Global distribution system networks
also triggered off debates on the
continued necessity of commission
baselines, tempting some airlines to
cut down commission paid to travel
trade professionals, insisting that their
investment in technology, birthing
invetory distribution ecosystem and
eliminating certain marketing costs,
could not justify commission deals paid
to travel trade operators.
Three decades ago, that position
caused a major shiver in America, with
European carriers following suit. In
Nigeria, that issue rankled organised
trade operators, and efforts were made
even though it was not sustainable to
find an agreeable solution.
Everyone knew it was not going to
be easy to keep the foreign airlines in
check on the commission ecosystem,
which hovered between 15, 12, and 10
per cent, depending on the aggregate
sales output of a travel trade operator.
That was then but clearly eroded these
days.
Indeed, the entire cost of the trade
ecosystem, for the airlines, passengers,
and travel trade companies, has
continued to fuel the quest to find
affordable distribution and payment
ecosystem in the global travel and
tourism industry. While the majority
of travel tech giants have their eyes
factored in the growth solutions
in their home counties, Africa has
continued to struggle and dependent
on those products or solution
ecosystem, usually with unfactoured
low purchasing power of the African
business owners.
In recent times, President National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies
( Nanta) and chief Executive Officer,
Topaz Travels, Mrs Susan Akporiaye,
has taken the battle of engaging travel
technology providers beyond the shores of
Nigeria. She has been talking about poor
peneration of travel tech in Africa to the
world
Akporiaye, whose administration
of Nigeria’s biggest travel trade
professionals body in the past three
years, has processed and engaged
available opportunities in the local and
international collaboration metrics
beneficial to travel trade operators, most
of them, if not all, struggling without
government protection and tax holidays,
and seeking breathe pipe windows.
The Covid pandemic instigated the
need for travel trade professionals to think
hard for survival outside the commission
on trade sales, which has emaciated
them to look as victims of kwasiokor,
thus engendering a fresh blood infusion
strategy to keep trade professionals going.
Whether in tourism, hospitality,
logistics, ground, or air transportation,
the growing desire for travel tech solution
services is the Catholic creed of the new
era in global travel.
Akporiaye is convinced that in this
very desirable and challenging reality,
Nigerian trade professionals, ambushed
by poor investment opportunities
and massive government tax payment
platforms across board, must navigate to
find a way bring down the cost of a full
profitable set up without crashing out of
business.
Akporiaye who spoke at the Africa
technology summit and Expo in Nairobi,
Kenya two weeks ago and currently
in Botswana, as a headline resource
facilitator on the Africa Youth Tourism
Innovation Summit, appealed to global
travel tech solution giants to collaborate
and open up the Travel technology market
for small and medium sized enterprises in
Africa nay Nigeria.
She noted that since technology and
travel have become inseparable, time has
come to advantage affordable technology
products that could stimulate broad
participation of all trade professionals to
market travel experiences.
Advocating for a focal Nigeria centric
travel and tourism technology solution
platforms, Mrs Akporiaye, who has
through private initiatives, empowered
a Nigerian Teachers Tourism Reality
show on national/ international television
channels and at the forefront of youth
tech start-up empowerment and global
exposure, noted that Nigeria has the most
active and vibrant tech inspired young
population in Africa, a market waiting
for innovation in affordable travel tech
solution providers in tourism, hospitality,
cuisines and leisure services.
She submitted that the
future is in sustainable
collaboration to unveil
the huge opportunities in
affordable, efficient and
reliable travel tech platforms
which would connect the
huge Nigerian cum African
markets, waiting eagerly for
grabs by the most resourceful
and responsible travel
tec entrepreneurs, and
urged global investors to
take advantage of Nigerian
government digital space
economy to make the travel
world an exciting global
village.