I dream of Africa! How I ignited travel during lockdown

Asante Travel launched in October 2019. Very excited for the opportunity to visit our agents in USA and Mexico, I embarked on a 5-week sales trip to Mexico and USA. It was fantastic! We were received very well and immediately started receiving requests for 2020. It was going to be a fantastic great year.

Little did we know what was in store for us. In the beginning of March 2020, due to Covid-19 we were inundated with postponements, cancellations and general panic and uncertainty. People started to postpone or wanting to cancel their bookings. Overnight, we found ourselves in a hard lockdown – something we could not have imagined in our worst nightmares. A death sentence for any travel agency is one where countries are shut down and where no travelling is allowed.

After spending at least a few days in PJ’s and acting like a zombie, staring the end of my dream squarely in the face, I realized I that even though I could not change the current situation, I could not just mope around and accept my fate. I held steadfast and remembered where I come from: a place of service. It is my greatest wish to show people the magic and beauty of Africa. I could still share the knowledge I have built up over the past 20+ years in the luxury inbound travel industry.

While on my sales calls in 2019, I realized how little people really know about Africa. I had a clear vision: to make sure that agents and operators stay excited about Africa. And once things return to normal, they will think of Africa first before any other destination when a client asks what they recommend.

How could I, locked down and with only time, expertise and technology at hand, do something about tourism to Africa? I decided to put pen to paper and show the agents my Africa by creating a free, very in-depth destination training for our agents, covering 14 of the most popular African and Indian Ocean Islands’ countries.

How could I, locked down and with only time, expertise and technology at hand, do something about tourism to Africa? I decided to put pen to paper and show the agents my Africa by creating a free, very in-depth destination training for our agents, covering 14 of the most popular African and Indian Ocean Islands’ countries.

The development of the course took about five weeks - there was very little sleep, although I might or might not have stayed in my PJ’s - and in the beginning of May 2020, I extended the invitation started to offer it to our agents. Each course was seven weeks long and presented live via Zoom and with each session two hours long.

On our first course, we only had eight people belonging to one agency and I thought we would eventually end up with 40 to 50 people attending the course.

The bug really bit me by now and I started running multiple courses to different agencies and operators throughout the week, with different times in order to cater to the different time zones. I spent about 40 hours per week on training.

The response was overwhelming! Many said that it is the first time they felt confident and comfortable to offer Africa to their clients.

But staying inside your beautiful room would mean missing out!

Dreamily float over the savannah in a hot air balloon, experience the local Maasai culture, take a walking safari along the vast plains, or indulge in a wide variety of wellness and relaxation options.

By now I was so excited and on a roll!

I decided to open the free course up to any agent or operator who wanted to increase their knowledge of Africa, how to offer it to their clients with confidence and to understand why certain routings work well and others not, which destinations combines well with others, distances between destinations, how to get there and how long it can take.

As an incentive to complete the course, I approached some of our key suppliers to assist with prizes.

From very low expectations, we ended up with over 900 participants from 35 countries around the world!

From very low expectations, we ended up with over 900 participants from 35 countries around the world!

Some of them were even competitors of ours, but I felt that this is a time to stand together! If I can help someone in their career to offer itineraries and services that is in the clients’ best interest, they would have a wonderful experience when they come to Africa, which in turn, means that they will spread the positive messages about their experiences here, bringing more travellers would come to Africa…. Something that will benefit all of us.

It kept me sane and focused during lockdown. I had the most amazing opportunities to talk daily to people about what I love most: travelling in Africa. It gave me a purpose and kept me excited about being a boutique inbound tour operator.

Nobody could come to Africa, but that did not stop me from igniting travel from my living room and taking Africa to the world!

Nobody could come to Africa, but that did not stop me from igniting travel from my living room and taking Africa to the world!

We would like to thank our sponsors from the 2020 destination training. It would not have been possible to accomplish what we did without them on our side. Thank you to all who were involved, we appreciate you so much.

For all your travel enquiries or to find out more about our next Destination Travel course, get in touch with us on Contact Asante Travel. Visit Asante Travel Website

Do you want to offer Africa with absolute confidence?

We're extending our popular Destination Training to you and your team - an opportunity you don't want to miss out on!

We want to help you sell Africa, so this FREE destination training is going to do just that by guiding you in the right direction. Africa is a beautiful location, from the wildlife to the culture to the history and the landscapes. We want to empower you to sell Africa with complete confidence to your clients. To know the best routes, really understand the different areas, understand airports, culture and combinations and introduce you to many secrets gems that often get overlooked when stock-standard itineraries get created.

We want you to impress your clients with your superior African knowledge.

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