Q & A with Roland JunkerChief of Product Development for Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa in Germany´s Neckermann Group (Thomas Cook)
by Jose Carlos de Santiago
Caribbean News Digital talked extensively with a senior representative of Germany´s Neckermann Group about his company´s immediate course of action in some of the top travel destinations in Latin America, such as Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Q.- What do you make of the advance of Cuba´s travel industry right now and its tapping into the German market?
A.- Germany is caught in a situation marked by dwindling numbers over the past three to four years, and right now we´re doing our very best to improve that market, to give it a big boost. As we speak, the World Soccer Cup is looming over our heads and many Germans don´t want to travel overseas, especially on long-haul trips. Nonetheless, we did many things within our reach during this past wintertime travel season, chiefly in terms of promotion and advertisement, in an effort to help put the German market back on its feet.
Q.- Cuba´s new nautical policy based on the improvement of water sport facilities and a drive to make the island nation an upscale travel destination that targets deep-pocket tourists, how does this policy shift affect a middle class-oriented tour operator like Neckermann?
A.- We don´t target just one specific kind of customer. Our clientele includes middle-class travelers and other trippers as well, though I must admit that nautical activities are not part of our main goals. Smaller, more specialized tour operators are the ones that focus on nautical activities. We always offer those packages and have customers who book them. But we also provide packages for tourists that include plane tickets and hotel reservations. So, I believe Cuba´s development of nautical activities is not going to have that much of a ripple effect on our company.
Q.- What new Latin American and Caribbean countries is Neckermann zeroing in on right now?
A.- We started out with a new charter flight to Brazil back in November 2005. We´ve been working in that country for a number of years, including Brazilian travel destinations in our catalogs and going hand in hand with Iberostar, our partnered hotel chain, in the opening of its first lodging in Salvador de Bahia. We´ve pinned our hopes on the advance of the Brazilian market, as well as the Ecuadorian and Panamanian markets.
Q.- How important is the Dominican Republic for the Neckermann group at this moment?
A.- It has a tremendous importance. The Dominican Republic has been a longstanding major market for the Neckermann group in the Caribbean.
Q.- What´s in your view the difference between Cuba and the Dominican Republic?
A.- The big difference as to the number of German tourists who travel to the Dominican Republic and Cuba is that in the latter most travelers go there in search of circuit tours. In Cuba, the Neckermann group offers a baker´s dozen circuit tours, nine of them planned with buses, minibuses and guides, and four others as fly-and-drive individual circuits with pre-booked hotels. Half our customers always take circuit tours and wind up basking in the sun at the beach, while the other half only looks for sun-and-sand choices.
In the case of the Dominican Republic, that percentage is that high. The kind of German sunbather who travels to the Dominican Republic is uninterested in circuit tours.
Q.- What Cuban hotel groups and travel destinations lodge the largest chunk of tourists brought to the island nation by the Neckermann group?
A.- Our products are pretty much branched out in Cuba, so we work in all local hotel groups. There´s not a single hotel company from the island nation that we have kept out of the game. We send tourists to all major travel circuits in Cuba, including Santiago de Cuba, Marea dle Portillo, Pilon, Guardalavaca, Santa Lucia, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Santa María, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Largo, Trinidad, and of course, Havana and Varadero. We cover the entire island nation, unlike other German tour operators that settle for less and focus on just a handful of travel destinations.
A.- Does the Neckermann group receive support from Cuba´s local authorities and institutions?
A.- We´ve always had excellent relations with local authorities and institutions in Cuba. We always see eye to eye when it comes to embarking on new joint projects, either in marketing, special events and the launch of special products. We´re working together, as I said at the top of this interview, to help the German market be up and running again.
Q.- Condor is the one German airline –part of the Neckermann/Thomas Cook group- that fly the most passengers to Cuba, isn´t it?
A.- Oh, absolutely. We have seven weekly flights during the wintertime season. In the summer of 2006 we´ll flash a couple of flights because of the World Soccer Cup. Right now, we´re flying to four different Cuban airports an in 2005 we brought some 135,000 travelers to Cuba. Condor comprises approximately 60 percent of all plane seats from Germany to the largest Caribbean island.
Q.- Will Neckermann benefit from the establishment of a nonstop flight by Cubana de Aviacion between Germany and Cuba?
A.- Back in the 1990s, we counted on Cubana de Aviacion´s flights, as well as those provided by Condor and LTU. It´s been a while since Cubana de Aviacion stopped flying to Germany and I think it´s a natural thing for an air carrier like this one to resume those flights to a destination that´s on such high demand. Anyway, right now we count on all the plane seats we need to secure the Cuban market, and for a tour operator like ours that has its own air company is not necessary to buy more seats in Cubana de Aviacion. That´s something that smaller tour operators, like Sol y Son, do need to do because they have relied on Cubana in the past. They will be the ones interested in having those Cubana flights back.
