Agents are struggling to deal with poor service from hotel reservations’ call centres, with recent comments on closed travel trade groups on social media, including Open Jaw by Travelinfo showing a growing tide of dissatisfaction.
One agent said most hotels she dealt with were still understaffed and were not prepared to deal with the increase in business. ”I battle to get booking invoices sent through and I have to phone hotels several times to follow up.”
Another said she thought this was a huge issue worldwide. “Bookings take twice as long to confirm and are laborious due to a lack of reservations staff.”
Antje Mouton International Sales and Marketing Manager at Martin Meyer Safaris believes some establishments are using COVID as an excuse for shoddy service. “I have been waiting for three months to get rates from a big hotel group and nobody there cares or follows up. It was only when I informed them that I had booked my 24 bed nights with the competition that I got a scripted email to apologise for the delay.”
Asked how the Radisson Group was dealing with staff layoffs and having enough staff to sustain their model and be efficient at the same time, William McIntyre, Regional Director Africa at Radisson Hotel Group, said the only way to navigate this period was to constantly review demand and occupancy and staff up or down accordingly.
“Pre-pandemic, our hotels had years of trend lines to follow, however, as we all know too well, the one thing the pandemic has been is unpredictable. At Radisson Hotel Group, innovation is one of our core focuses and with this at the fore, we are currently piloting automation systems that will directly assist these challenges and support not only our teams but, importantly, deliver a smoother guest experience.”
Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, COO of City Lodge Hotel Group told Tourism Update that it had been a balancing act operating under COVID. “We were able to avoid retrenchment of staff by lowering salaries during the lockdown. Our staff became multifunctional and able to serve in different positions.
“We continue to ensure they are a very integral part of the delivery of the overall guest experience. All receptionists at City Lodge Hotel Group's properties serve as a reservations department and have the ability to make reservations at any sister hotel across the country.
“Calls to our reservations line are redirected to the closest available hotel switchboard. Whether the guest is destined for that hotel or another in the group, our receptionists are equally professional and able to assist timeously."
