Connectivity biggest hurdle for African business travellers

Cape Town - A struggle with internet connection is one of the biggest challenges for business travellers in Africa, according to Kagiso Dumasi, commercial manager Africa of BCD Travel.

"Technology can be one of the biggest enablers of our continent right now, especially if we can standardised technology," she said at the World Travel Market (WTM) Africa in Cape Town.

She pointed out that service delivery is another challenge for business travellers, especially at some of Africa's airports.

"Africa's travel industry should find opportunities to up service delivery and to create and maintain talent in the workforce," she said.

READ: More concern about safe business travel in Africa

Another challenge for business travellers in Africa is payment. Not all credit cards are always accepted and often cash is needed. This causes anxiety for business travellers.

As for accommodation, the lack of a uniform grading standard throughout the continent causes frustration for business travellers.

"A five star hotel in one place is not necessarily the same standard in another," Dumasi pointed out. "The website pictures might look like a four star, but in reality it could be a two star establishment."

She would like to see industry players and organisations on the continent working together more in order to enable leap frogging by sharing information and lobbying.

"Look for opportunities to interact with travellers. Consumerism is about instant gratification. No business traveller can be productive when he is stuck without internet access, for instance," she said.

"We must treat our travellers as consumers and keep on improving what we offer them."

ALSO READ: Business travel spend to reach record