Travel agency not registered with tourism board - implications?
Jun 17, 2011, 10:17 pm
#1
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Travel agency not registered with tourism board - implications?
My family and I are travelling to South Africa in December. Through some colleague's recommendations, I've been corresponding with a travel agency in South Africa to arrange a full tour of Cape Town, Joburg, Kruger, Soweto, etc.
The itinerary looks good, but the agency is asking for 50% of the tour cost to be paid by wire transfer immediately, with the remainder to be paid within a month prior to arrival.
I found out recently that the agency hasn't been registered with the local tourism board since 2009. I wrote to the tourism board to check and their response confirmed the agency's de-registration and suspected the agency didn't want to continue paying the registration fee.
Questions: Is it common for travel agencies to cease registration with the local tourism board due to the need to pay registration fees? What are the implications if I book with an agency that isn't registered? I thought of protecting against non-delivery of the tour services as promised by paying using a credit card (even offering to bear any credit card surcharge) but the agency wouldn't allow that and insisted on cash payment only - is this also common for South African travel agencies?
I'm unfamiliar with the practices in South Africa; it's our first trip, hence appreciate any clarification.
The itinerary looks good, but the agency is asking for 50% of the tour cost to be paid by wire transfer immediately, with the remainder to be paid within a month prior to arrival.
I found out recently that the agency hasn't been registered with the local tourism board since 2009. I wrote to the tourism board to check and their response confirmed the agency's de-registration and suspected the agency didn't want to continue paying the registration fee.
Questions: Is it common for travel agencies to cease registration with the local tourism board due to the need to pay registration fees? What are the implications if I book with an agency that isn't registered? I thought of protecting against non-delivery of the tour services as promised by paying using a credit card (even offering to bear any credit card surcharge) but the agency wouldn't allow that and insisted on cash payment only - is this also common for South African travel agencies?
I'm unfamiliar with the practices in South Africa; it's our first trip, hence appreciate any clarification.
Jul 23, 2011, 8:11 am
#2
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Not sure if you're still interested; I'm just seeing this now.
What jumps out at me here is that they want 50% wired to them vs. allowing for a credit card.
I've used a Cape Town-based agent for 9 years, and they'll *always* take my credit card, with the exception that if a vendor won't take cards, then it needs to be a wire transfer or cash.
So if I book a ticket to Namibia for a Wilderness Safari visit, the plane ticket portion (BA or SA or whomever) goes onto a credit card, and then I need to pay cash for the Wilderness portion, since Wilderness doesn't take cards. Because I have a longstanding relationship with my agent, what we end up doing is having her agency take payment from the card, and tack on what the credit card company charges them (so the agency stays whole). They're huge sticklers about getting an imprint and signature, so that's something to note.
If you'd like, I can send your question to my agent to see what she thinks about the registration part, but I don't want to do that if you're no longer following this thread or have finished your planning/booking.
What jumps out at me here is that they want 50% wired to them vs. allowing for a credit card.
I've used a Cape Town-based agent for 9 years, and they'll *always* take my credit card, with the exception that if a vendor won't take cards, then it needs to be a wire transfer or cash.
So if I book a ticket to Namibia for a Wilderness Safari visit, the plane ticket portion (BA or SA or whomever) goes onto a credit card, and then I need to pay cash for the Wilderness portion, since Wilderness doesn't take cards. Because I have a longstanding relationship with my agent, what we end up doing is having her agency take payment from the card, and tack on what the credit card company charges them (so the agency stays whole). They're huge sticklers about getting an imprint and signature, so that's something to note.
If you'd like, I can send your question to my agent to see what she thinks about the registration part, but I don't want to do that if you're no longer following this thread or have finished your planning/booking.