Travel, tour businesses walk on tight rope as economic woes bite

Ahmed Mohammed Sani has been in the tourism sector for over a decade. He is currently the Managing Director of Amco Travel and Tours Limited and Chief Executive Officer of Temple Touch Global Investment. The tour company is presently building a bride to help Nigeria leapfrog key sector challenges. In an interview with Ifeoma Okeke, Sani discussed how recent government policies is killing the sector and plans to reduce hurdles in the coming Muslim Hajj.

The country’s economy is currently experiencing shortfall, a situation attributed to falling commodity prices, particularly oil, how has this affected aviation travel?

Just like other sectors, we are all affected by the current situation. There is drastic drop in travel activities and the weakness of the Naira is forcing some international players out of business in the country. There has also been increase in travel fare.

There is no money in circulation and few people who have the money are not ready to spend unlike before. Take the Muslim Hajj as an example, in the past only one politician could pay for up to four people, but now there is serious decline in patronage.

In fact, the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria has adversely crippled activities in the sector. It is extremely difficult for operators to book hotels and handle other logistics because of recent government policies. Tour operation has been seriously affected this year. 

For us as an organisation, we have been able to plan around the situation and give customers flexible travel plans. No matter what happen, people need to travel, that is the only way to keep the economy going. So operators must always have to do more for less and help Nigerians survive current challenges.

How is the FX policy affecting you and what have you done to ensure customers are still given the best treatment despite the biting policy?

Like I explained above, the FX policy is seriously affecting the travel industry just as it is affecting other businesses in country. Flight tickets have jumped up to about 300 per cent due to the policy. The airlines don’t have options than to increase fares in the face of the dwindling passenger volume.

Despite, this, we try as much as possible to let our customers know about the foreign exchange policy. We do our best to see customers are not affected directly by the services we render. The airlines are charging high and that is why we advice our clients to book their tickets ahead of time so that they will not be affected so much on this policy. The International Hajj commission has written to the federal government to give intending pilgrims forex at the official rate.

Most customers understand the critical time we are going through in the country. To make things easy and satisfy our customers, we now do more for less to the extent that we leave out our commission so that customers only pay the fares. We are hopeful that things would not continue like this as we expect the situation would improve in the near future.

As a licensed tour operator, what can you list as your achievements and contribution to your clients and the nation?

In South Africa and Kenya, at least every average investor in that country had visited the country as tourist. Go to Cape Town and see the huge investment the country put into tourism, right now the country is making huge amount of money yearly from tourism capable of even sustaining the economy. We didn’t just go for license because other operators are going into it; our dedication is to build tourism in Nigeria to another level. 

Since we started we have been able to provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to help reduce unemployment challenge in the country.

You know what it means to be indigenous investors. There are series of challenges with online ticketing in Nigeria, particularly on trust and quality of service. We have been able to address that challenge in our part and have enjoyed commendable recognition from notable Nigerians. The online ticketing and reservation we launched earlier this year has a global focus and will help to project the image of the country positively.

From the records, AMCO Travel and Tour Limited prides itself in delivering various travel packages to its customers promptly. How have you done this over the years?

From the start of our operation, we know that for the tourism sector to grow in the country, indigenous operators must be ready to boost investment and concentrate on a sustainable plan to harness the potentials in the sector. That is what South Africa and Kenya have been able to do. So, our basic focus is to treat customers with all respect and handle them like they are all we have got. We are not only in business to make money but to do some things different from others, build trust and integrity and show that we can live up to our expectation sustainably. It is until you have an encounter with us that you will realize what I am talking about.

We have achieved this over the years by understanding our customers better and knowing their needs. We come across customers who have not travelled before and we enlighten them on the best packages for them.

What are your preparations on the coming Muslim Hajj trip?

We have been having the Hajj trip year in and out. We have been in the sector for years so we understand the market accurately. We come across different set of people and challenges yearly but AMCO Travel is determined to make Hajj this year memorable for pilgrims.  Seeing the current challenges in the country, there is a need for us to do better than what we have been doing. My joy is always that each pilgrim that travel through us have remarkable experience in terms of accommodation, transportation and feeding.

In situations like this, all that has to happen is for operators to plan a cost effective trip for travelers.  One of the biggest challenges the country has been is late preparation. That has been addressed this year. What that means is that we would be able to plan adequately and help pilgrims to cut cost. So I really want to commend the Chairman of Hajj Commission, Addullai Mukthar. Unlike other years, when Nigerians are the last set of people to go to Saudi Arabia, the allocations early will enable Nigerian Tour Operators to get prepared early enough.

For those who are new comers, we give them more priority because they don’t know anything about the Hajj trip. We enlighten them; organize forums for both new and old ones. We tell them what they should expect in the holy land and what they should not do during the time of their visit. We enlighten them before they embark on the trip, for instance there are some food items travelers are not supposed to go with to the holy land. We tell them what they can go with and what they cannot go with. We are on it now, and preparation is on ground.

What are the pre-travel and post-travel packages you have for your clients going on this trip?

We have various pre-travel arrangements. We have to first see their travel documents. Their passports must be valid for six months before they apply for any visa. We check their health history, age and payments.  If they all meet the requirements, then we can start processing their documents, including air tickets, visas and other documents. After this, we hold a conference for intending travelers on the journey. Our post travel packages includes enlightening travelers when they are there not to have excess luggage while coming back and  how to spend wisely there, so they don’t run out of cash.

How costs effective are your services compared to that of competitors?

Our prices are affordable because we have in mind the higher class, the middle class and the lower class. Our prices are more flexible than others. For those who can afford higher services, we have affordable services for them. Those in the lower class still have benefits they enjoy. We can put two or three persons in a classy hotel and room, so that they can also enjoy the benefits those in the higher class enjoy. I also give discounts on air tickets for clients. Sometimes I give customers discount from the commissions the airlines give me.

Ifeoma Okeke