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NANTA canvasses for consolidation of travel agencies

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi
12 February 2015   |   11:00 pm
THE National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) has called on the travel agencies in the country to consider emerge as the best option to grow in the business.    Speaking recently in Lagos, the Deputy President, NANTA, Tinuke Nwakohu said: “All over the world people are coming together, professionals are coming together and working…

THE National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) has called on the travel agencies in the country to consider emerge as the best option to grow in the business. 

  Speaking recently in Lagos, the Deputy President, NANTA, Tinuke Nwakohu said: “All over the world people are coming together, professionals are coming together and working together. We organised this seminar to educate our members and to let them know that consolidation is not a bad idea”. 

 She added: “In Nigeria you see people working separately and individually, but we have noticed that there is no growth; particularly in this era of no commission. The agencies are surfing”. 

  Tinuke, who said that countries like South Africa, United Kingdom and some other countries in the world are consolidating, pointed that smaller agencies can merge with bigger agencies and forming a critical mass and together they talk with the airlines. 

  She however stated “But our agencies are scared of merger; you know the Nigerian factor. Some agencies will be asking, can I work with this agency? Not possible; they are bigger than me; they will swallow me up. But luckily, some agencies have come together and they are operating as one. 

“Some will say that they will lose their identity and that is what we are trying to make them understand; that you will not lose your identity; you are not forfeiting your license, you are just working together for the benefit of the group.”

  Speaking further, she noted that when the agencies emerge, they merge all their resources, all volumes and in that way they string enough to actually speak with the airlines.

  When you are so big you can actually tell the airline that they have to listen to you and give you what you want or they won’t work with you. It can even get to a situation where they will ground the airlines, but as long as we are limited. And then we found out that we are duplicating things”. 

  “We are all working for company A. we need bank guaranty to give to International Air Transport Association (IATA), we are all recruiting similar staff, so why can’t we come together and join these resources. The banks did it, the lawyers are doing it and they are successful. So that is what we are trying to make our members understand”, Tinuke added.

  According to her, it will not be compulsory; but going to be voluntary. “So we try to make them understand. If you like to do it, you do it. As an association we will guide you to go through the process, but if you are not desirous of it, you want to stay in your little corner to do your show, then we are okay with it, but we will give you the opportunity to grow your business, so that it will thrive beyond you so that you leave a legacy behind”, she said.

   Furthermore, the President noted that, “We need to be proactive. Would you rather let your business die because you don’t want to merge? So this issue of me, my own is dying. Already we have travel agencies that have come together. We have a little group in the association called Women Travel Executive of Nigeria. We work together, we exchange ideas, and we go on farm trips together. That is the beginning of consolidation”. 

  “We see that we can have a perfect relationship working together and we think alike and our aspirations are the same. Everybody is moving from the archaic idea and coming together”.

To survive without commission from the airlines, she stated that; “the service charge is there. There are so many things we can do. We can sell cruises and tour packages. We can sell hotels. In fact, in my office, ticketing is a little part of what we do”.

Therefore, Tinuke called on the Federal government to assist the travel agencies financially to help them grow and develop the economy of Nigeria.

She said: “There are so many areas that government can assist but honestly they are not doing much in that respect. We had a meeting with the Nigerian Civil Aviation NCAA (NCAA) and they have promised that there is going to be more meetings. There are a lot of things government can look into. They can look into the taxes. 

“That is what makes the ticket higher. Government can loo into this. Aviation fuel should also go down. If the price is going down, why are they still adding fuel surcharge on the tickets? We are talking with NCAA and they have given us their words that they will help us”.

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