Travel Weekly Blog

You have to wonder how they could let their hair down any lower after their five-day jolly in sunny Cape Town. I mean it's not as if they were doing voluntary work in the townships or anything. Can somebody convince me this was really anything more than a glorified Kuoni fam trip?

The agents on this trip completed four test papers and sat an exam. Part of the reason for putting on the trip was also to reward the agents for gaining the highest marks in a 15 module self-study programme taken over the past few months. Yes, part of the trip was to see South Africa, but as their job is to sell the country as a holiday destination, is there anything wrong with that?

I was on this trip and just to let you know yes we got to let our hair down slightly but everyday was constantly on the go very busy all day everyday and to say it was just a jolly would be completly wrong. The trip was very hard work so at the end we got to let our hair down as you said.

In response to the first comment, the purpose for the trip was to take part in the final of the Kuoni Longhaul Standard and Advance Diploma which as commented above consisted of test papers and an exam. A lot of hard work went into organising this wonderful trip but also by the agent's that attended. The trip was to also reward the agents that had completed the 15 modules over the summer, many in their own time. I attended the trip and had a fantastic time enjoying what Cape Town has to offer in both tourist attractions and Cape town's wonderful hotel's. At the end of the day my job is to sell South Africa as a holiday destination. Would just like to say thank you to Kuoni for memorable trip, hopefully see you next year!

So no then, just the usual rationalisations for taking agents abroad and giving them cocktails :-)
OK I admit I am just stirring it. Sorry. I just love all the different ways these things are dressed up and justified.

Let me put it another way Neil.
Most agents, myself included, do not enjoy the elevated salaries of many journalists/ IT advisors and find it increasingly difficult to travel to all of the far flung destinations to obtain the kind of in depth knowledge that our profession requires.
We as travel consultants not only sell holidays but are often the first port of call for advice when clients are considering investing a great deal of money in what is often a trip of a lifetime that they have saved hard for. It would hardly be responsible to recommend itineraries on the strength of brochure copy alone.
Kuoni, through their excellent training and educational programmes, have for a number of years enabled agents to gain invaluable first hand experience of worldwide destinations, which can then be cascaded down to colleagues allowing a much better quality of service to the public.
Yes we did have an absolutely fantastic time, with tours, hotel inspections, hosted meals - all amazing experiences to pass on to clients. It was also hectic, tiring and damned hard work, especially for the superb Kuoni Team who did an incredible job in planning, organizing and running this trip and to whom I would just like to say a very, very big thank you.