How do travel agents get on Africa fam trips?

Africa fam trips are run for agents in the UK and Ireland, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa's own regional markets. The criteria are much the same wherever you are:

• You work for, or own, a trading travel business that sells to the public or to other agents.
• You sell long-haul or Africa travel now, or have a clear plan and client base to start.
• You can show it: a staff ID or membership card from your market's trade body (IATA and CLIA are common in some markets; national travel associations elsewhere), a business website, or a letter from your employer or host agency.
• You are the person who will sell the trip, or train the people who do.

Home-based and independent advisors are eligible for many programmes, especially when a host agency or consortium vouches for them. Agents new to Africa can still get on fams, usually by completing a destination training programme first.

Most places are offered to agents the host already knows. The routes in are:

• Reps for the products and DMCs you already book, who choose agents for their clients' fams.
• Your DMC or ground handler partners, who run fams for the agents that send them business.
• Tourist board specialist programmes, which often offer fam places to agents who complete their training.
• Airline trade sales teams, which co-host fams with destinations on their routes.
• Your consortium, host agency or tour operator partners.
• Trade shows, roadshows and workshops, where hosts meet agents and invitations follow.

Asking directly works. A short note to a rep or DMC saying which of their products you sell, to which clients, and why you would like to see them, is how many first invitations start.

Many tourist boards, and some DMCs, run specialist programmes for agents. The format is usually similar: online modules or webinars on regions, seasons and products, a short assessment, a certificate or listing as a specialist, and access to fam places, which are often reserved for graduates who are actively selling. Completing one is the most direct route onto a fam if you are new to a destination.

The ground is usually covered by the host. What an agent may pay depends on the programme:

There is also the cost of time out of the office. Most employers count a fam as working time; independent advisors should budget for the days they are not selling.

• Attend each part of the programme, including the site inspections and presentations.
• Be on time. Light-aircraft departures and park gate times do not wait.
• Take notes and photos for your clients, not only for yourself.
• Bring a partner or extend your stay only if the host has offered it.
• Treat staff and guides with the respect you would want shown to your clients.
• Follow the host's guidance on tipping and on social media posts.
• Keep criticism for the host privately, and make it useful.
• Do not ask for upgrades or extra nights.

Hosts measure a fam trip by what happens afterwards. Expect to be asked for:

• Written feedback within a week or two of getting home.
• A training session or write-up for your colleagues.
• Posts, newsletters or client events featuring the destination, where your business does them.
• Quotes and bookings over the following months, and a note to the host when one comes through.

Agents who report back are the ones invited again.

When a host asks why you should be chosen, answer with facts they can weigh:

1. Your business, your role and the market you sell in.
2. What you sell to Africa now, roughly how often, and to what kind of client.
3. Why this destination or these products fit your clients.
4. How you will use what you learn: training colleagues, client events, newsletters, quotes in hand.
5. A reference: the rep, DMC or tour operator you already book through.