eTravel – two decades, still growing

IT WAS in May 1999 that

Garth Wolff was drawn to

the ITC model because of

the lack of overheads. He

already knew the biggest

expenses for a traditional

travel company were the

salaries and rent. “I thought:

How could we get rid of

these expenses? If you had

independents, working from

the offices of corporate

clients or from their own

homes, you wouldn’t have

to accommodate them in

an office space. And if you

took away the salary, and

used incentives instead, you

wouldn’t have to worry about

that expense either!”

Today, eTravel is a

household word in the travel

industry, a successful,

respected and much-awarded

travel brand and Garth is ceo.

Tammy Hunt, eTravel md,

believes this particular ITC

model has many advantages.

One is that it protects both

the client and the agent.

And by removing all the

onerous tasks like debtors

and creditors, the client,

suppliers, and eTravel itself

are protected through its

central management of

funds.

Despite the company

having started in the Gauteng

region, today 60% of its ITCs

are in the coastal region. “It’s

the people who make the

difference. Tammy was key in

facilitating the growth in the

coastal region,” says Garth of

his md.

Family-style

From a management point

of view, Garth believes

eTravel fosters a culture of

family. “Making decisions

is like sitting around the

dinner table making a

decision about what the

family is going to do,” says

Garth. The company handles

each situation on an ad

hoc basis, examining the

cases at hand individually.

“We look at the ITC, how

long have they been with us,

what kind of ITC are they,

how good are they to our

preferred partners,”

he says.

Tammy agrees that the

company employs a familystyle management. She

adds that, importantly,

the company is not in

competition with the ITCs.

“They know they can trust

us and we aren’t going to

take their clients away from

them at any point,” she

says.

24-hour troubleshooting

As technology has shifted

over the last 20 years, the

travel agency models have

changed too. “ITCs can

work from anywhere in the

world these days. Some

ITCs will go on holiday with

their families and actually

take their laptops with them

and be able to service their

clients via email,” says

Tammy.

This shift has allowed the

ITC not to have to worry

about what to do with

clients when the consultant

is on leave.

To ensure the right level

of support, eTravel employs

professional ticketing

consultants, who make use

of advancing technology to

assist ITCs. “They use iPads

so they can assist an ITC

who has an irate passenger

stuck in China, for example,

regardless of the time of

day. The ticketing consultant

could be sitting in a

restaurant or in the queue

at a supermarket,” Garth

says. “People are scared of

technology. But we are using

it to our benefit.”

Fraud protection

eTravel takes steps to

protect head office, ITCs,

clients and suppliers from

fraud. Tammy says: “We

have a strict cleared funds

policy. We don’t process any

transaction unless we have

cleared funds in the bank

or we have a CCCF for every

single transaction.” eTravel

functions as the Iatalicensed agent for its ITCs,

but does not have direct

contact with clients, so the

company employs a ticketing

and quality department that

will double check the details

of every transaction.

Tammy, who was an ITC

herself, understands the

need of ITCs to look after

clients and ensure easy

booking and travel, and that

by removing the stress of

worrying about cash flow

and risk, the ITC is able to

do this efficiently. “It’s up

to us as eTravel to protect

the industry and continue to

give the ITC model a good

name.”

eTravel aims to ensure

that the ITC is never in a

position of being under

pressure to book travel

but not having the funds

in hand. “Ultimately poor

management of funds gives

us a bad name, it costs

the ITC money and it costs

us money,” says Garth. By

removing the need for the

ITC to manage cash flow,

these instances are rare.

Future looks bright

Although there is pressure

in the economy, Tammy and

Garth are not concerned.

Garth sees opportunity in

the travel industry. “People

who take advantage of the

opportunity that comes out

of change will come out on

top,” he says.