Face to Face: Tony Mason, Falklands Islands
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We speak to Tony Mason, the new managing director of the Falklands Islands Tourist Board on its new travel agent initiatives and more…
Congratulations on your new role, what plans do you have?
I’m looking forward to promoting the Falklands Islands as a laid-back destination but also build people’s awareness. I appreciate a challenge and want to build the islands as a place for people to enjoy; I had said recently that I was looking to join a tourist board for my next role and here I am. In the next two to three years it will be great to work with the UK and European markets. In the past the Falklands Islands has not been pro-active with its product and there will be some great tourism product coming out for travel agents to sell.
What sort of product are you looking to develop?
Given that the focus on travelling here is based on exploration we see a need to increase the infrastructure. We need to boost our style of offering; there are several three and four-star hotels so have recognised the need for a five-star product. To increase the number of visitors we will reach out to niche markets including senior citizens, single travellers and groups. There is a misconception that there is nothing to do in the Falklands but there is a vast amount of adventure activities and expedition cruising opportunities here, as well as all the birdlife, wildlife and plants.
Is this product development part of your travel agent strategy? What other plans do you have for the trade?
Cruising is the biggest part of the market but we want to boost our land-based product. This will be part of a lucrative travel agent incentive programme which will provide agents with packages to sell and offer training and development too. There has not been a product to sell for travel agents so this will be available with incentives and prizes throughout.
There are now two flights a week from Gatwick into Chile and onwards with LAN so we want to expand knowledge on how to get here and the costs involved. There is already an agency sales team in the UK and I am thinking about putting one more person here to help our partners. We will also set up fam trips with me so that agents get that educational experience, possibly taking them from one island to the next. I have worked on the agents’ side myself so I understand the benefit.
Travel agents will also receive commission on what is sold while the client is here as we want to make sure they get the most out of it.
We are in the process of changing our website (www.falklandislands.com) which will include a travel agents section and I am happy to speak to any travel agents and companies about any questions they have about the destination.
How do you expect the programme to boost visitor numbers?
The majority of visitors to the Falklands Islands are from the UK but we have also seen a boost in US. We expect a 20% boost in UK tourist this year but I believe with the travel agent programme we could see this reach a higher level. There will be a new cruise line adding nine new ports of call to the islands too so there are lots of exciting things happening. We are in talks with one Middle East carrier to include the islands in its tour operator programme so that could see an increase in visitors from that region into the islands.
Falkland Islands has been in the press a lot recently, has this impacted tourism?
There has not been a knockback in tourism following the political coverage but what’s interesting is there has been a buzz created around the islands that we have to capitalise on. These reports mean more people have heard about the Falklands Islands and with more air links and products, we’ll expect to see a massive increase in the next five years. We want to continue that buzz and our coverage but let people see the positive aspects. All the coverage is based around the political arena but I want to take this back to travel.