Simon Segal finds South African service standards will=20 not cope with an Olympic influx of tourists
THE Rugby World Cup (RWC) provided the first major=20 opportunity to rate South Africa’s service standards.=20 The result is less than spectacular.
Sid Cohn, a consultant who teaches at the Wits Business=20 School, surveyed 400 local and 400 foreign tourists at=20 16 RWC games for the business school’s Services=20 Network, a group of senior executives concerned about=20 service in South Africa. His conclusion? “Yes, we can=20 deliver world class standards but not consistently.=20 When things go wrong service and attitude slip. Service=20 standards around the RWC were not a disaster, but they=20 were also not acceptable to compete internationally. It=20 was a middle of the road performance.”
Fedhasa director Daan Viljoen, who has looked at the=20 study, agrees with these findings. “We are not=20 consistent. The depth of knowledge and training is=20 thin, so, when there are problems, they are=20 complicated, and go horribly wrong.”
Of the foreign rugby tourists surveyed, 21 percent=20 found the service standards “excellent”, 58 percent=20 felt they were OK and 21 percent experienced them as=20 “bad”. On this basis, South Africa’s standards probably=20 compare with those of countries like Jamaica, Turkey=20 and Mexico.
Those who experienced bad service highlighted three=20 areas — poor availability of a service when promised,=20 slowness of delivery and a lack of confidence in staff.=20 On the lack of confidence in staff, Cohn detects a=20 racial issue. “It is definitely there. Some people=20 believe black staff to be less efficient and=20
Cohn notes that a 21 percent “bad” rating is high,=20 especially when one considers that bad news travels=20 much faster than good news, and certainly outweighs the=20 21 percent who felt the standards were “excellent”.
So where are the problems and successes? Public=20 transport on land — buses, taxis, trains — is a=20 disaster. Out of a top score of 10, foreigners rated=20 this 5,4, when anything under seven is considered bad=20 and over nine excellent. Johannesburg was the worst and=20 Cape Town second worst. South Africa’s airports failed=20 (rated 6,3) despite all the renovations. Also poorly=20 rated is fast food (6,3).
The most attractive service aspects to foreigners are=20 the rugby stadiums (8,8), restaurants (8,1), car-hire=20 (8), South African Airways (8) and foreign exchange=20 dealings (7,8).
Viljoen is confident airports are being seen to and=20 should improve sharply. He adds that Fedhasa research=20 shows hospitality service has improved remarkably over=20 the past two years. He attributes this to the=20 industry’s training board.
In the end, 46 percent of the tourists said service was=20 better at home and 22 percent said it was worse. Of the=20 foreign sample, 46 percent were from the United=20 Kingdom, 20 percent from New Zealand, and six percent=20 each from France and Australia. Viljoen reckons around=20 18 000 foreigners visited over the four weeks of the=20
“This is disappointing, especially if you consider that=20 local tourists and non-rugby foreign tourists did not=20 travel in anticipation of the rugby taking up capacity.=20 The rugby offered the hospitality industry no net=20
The profile of the typical foreign rugby fan was not a=20 five-star tourist. They are, as Cohn says, “three-star=20 tourists with five-star wallets”. Viljoen admits that=20 business travellers are more critical: “In the hard=20 areas such as hotel buildings they feel South Africa is=20 good. It is the soft areas like friendliness, speed and=20 efficiency that South Africa has problems.”
One is also left wondering that if South Africa were=20 not so cheap for foreigners — all noted the country’s=20 value for money — their gripes would multiply. Getting=20 a bargain does wonders for the feel-good factor. On=20 this basis, Cohn is clear that “there is no way South=20 Africa can presently handle the Olympics”. The Olympics=20 will attract an expected 200 000 foreigners to the=20 Western Cape. National Olympic Committee president Sam=20 Ramsamy has seen the report.