According to Bheki Zwane, SANParks general manager of sales and marketing the new rules will apply to all accommodation bookings made from 1 January next year and will affect the general public, pensioner clients, tour operators and donor clients.
The reason for the new rules are to be in line with industry standards and also to increase short and long term availability of the accommodation. "The problem that SANParks encounters with its current terms and conditions is that, customers hold bookings for longer periods and only decide at a later stage not to utilise such a booking. This often results in loss of sales and revenue."
Zwane said often people complain about camps being fully booked but upon arrival several units will be vacant. "The new terms and conditions will encourage full payment long before arrival and minimise no shows without payment."
The last review of the deposit terms and conditions was done more than ten years ago. The new rules state that the first deposit to be paid 30 days after the booking was made will be increased to 50% as compared to the current payment of 33%. The second deposit of 50% must be paid 60 days before arrival in the new rules, whereas in the past 67% payment had to be made 30 days prior to arrival. This will minimise last minute dumping of inventory especially by the public and travel trade that leaves SANParks with reduced time and opportunity to sell unused accommodation inventory.
"This new rule will not affect old bookings that are already in the system unless a new arrival date is requested by the client. Web and online bookings will not be affected as they require full payment upfront. The current public cancellation fee rules will also not be affected by these changes," he said.
With the new rules, the due date of the deposit will not be able to be extended as reservations consultants at central reservations and at camp receptions will not be able to change the date as the system is programmed to only confirm reservations that have an exact amount of the deposit due paid on time. "Any reservation with a short payment of the deposit or no payment will be automatically cancelled," concluded Zwane.
