A note from head office
BACK in 1997, an international business
delegation landed in South Africa
with the aim of opening up a Harvey
World Travel franchise. At that stage, HWT
had been in operation for over 40 years,
having started as an Australian familyowned
business in 1951.
Presentations were held around the
country. The opportunity to join a leading
international travel brand generated
much excitement in the trade. BidTravel
bought 50% of the franchisor and the very
first store opened its doors to the public
in Groenkloof on March 1, 1998. In 2015
BidTravel purchased the remaining 50%
and now owns 100% of Harvey World
Travel South Africa. As part of this group,
which has significant market share in the
SA travel sector, we ensure unparalleled
negotiating power with all travel suppliers.
Twenty years later, HWT is one of South
Africa’s most well established retail travel
brands, boasting the most geographically
expansive network in Southern Africa
with over 70 agencies located in South
Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and
Zimbabwe. Each one of our franchises is
staffed with an efficient team of expert
travel consultants waiting to send the
public to their dream destinations. We
also pride ourselves on being some of our
preferred suppliers’ top supporters.
Our network services both leisure and
corporate, with an approximate split of
70/30 in favour of corporate travel. Our
broad product range ensures
that we can personalise
travel experiences, whether
for a tailor-made holiday
or a high-pressure business
trip.
Our agents have access
to a wide variety of
training and skills
development,
which is a key
focus area in
order for them
to remain a
step ahead.
Our head office offers operational
assistance with brand management,
marketing, lead generation, and IT tools
and support.
We attribute the longstanding
relationships we have with our franchisees
to the unchanging core values of our
brand – that is transparency, honesty
and good, old-fashioned ethical business
practice, which HWT head office and
agencies have embodied for the past two
decades. We also do our utmost to keep
with the times, changing our outlook,
services and products as needed.
We have many plans and goals for
the future, a number of which will be
launched later this year, so watch this
space... .
The story behind the Harvey’s
Karin van der Kaay
Owner of Harvey World Travel
Groenkloof
“I started out in travel with SAA in the
late Sixties before moving into retail
travel and progressing through the ranks
at various agencies. I was managing a
Pretoria-based agency when the Harvey
delegation arrived in South Africa. At
the presentation I was inspired by the
prospect of starting my own agency and
so I signed up,” says Karin. Harvey World
Travel Groenkloof was the first franchise to
open in South Africa and Karin quips that
one of the benefits of being the pioneer
was that they furnished her entire office.
Karin says that, from the outside, one
consortium may seem very similar to
another. The benefit of being part of the
HWT group is that all outlets are ownermanaged.
“This really adds something to
the mix in the form of commitment to both
the business and its public,” she says.
“It has been so personally fulfilling to
open and run my own business. People
ask me when I am going to retire and I
always say: ‘death or lotto – whichever
comes first’,” Karin jokes.
Brigitte Gonggryp
Owner of Harvey World
Travel Highway
Chairwoman of the Harvey World
Travel Franchise Advisory Council
(FAC), Brigitte Gonggryp joined the group
17 years ago. “I was running about five
other businesses when I heard that Harvey
World Travel Kloof and Hillcrest was for sale.
I bought in with partners and
over the years it became clear
that this was the business to
focus on and I remained in
the travel game.”
Brigitte has always been
passionate about travel,
having visiting over 60 countries
in her lifetime. She feels that it is
important, as an agent, to be able to speak
with authenticity about the destinations
you are selling. She adds that her staff were
the foundation of her business as she relied
on them for consulting, as she had no prior
experience in the industry. Most of her staff
have been with her for the full duration of her
time as an HWT agency.
Over the years the agency grew, winning
the ‘Harvey Office of the Year’ twice, once
in 2008 and again in 2012. “It was also a
great honour to be selected by Club Med
as the launch agency for its new Club Med
‘shop within a shop’ concept two years
ago,” she says.
Craig Cowgill Owner of Harvey World Travel Randburg
20 years ago Craig attended the
Australian delegation’s presentation in
South Africa and says he found it very
impressive. He was running an agency
which was registered with another
consortium at the time but decided to
switch across to Harvey, attracted by
the international brand. Craig says he
has never looked back.
“The group offers us great value
for money, and the support head
office offers is a particular benefit.
We love the balance of being able
to make use of excellent preferred
supplier negotiated rates, while also
enjoying the freedom to maintain an
independently owned and operated
business,” he says.
Alan and Jackie Viljoen
Harvey World Travel Centurion
In 1998, Jackie Viljoen was working
12-hour days as a travel consultant.
Hearing through the grapevine about
the HWT delegation that were signing up
franchisees in South Africa, Jackie and
her husband, Alan, set up an interview,
prepared a business plan and soon
afterwards found themselves opening
their own franchise in Centurion. The
business grew, and when the couple
decided to open a second travel
office, Alan joined the business full
time, overseeing the marketing and
accounting functions of the businesses.
Twenty years later, Jackie and Alan’s
office ranks as one of Harvey’s top 10
agencies, and their 2015/16 Harvey
Office of the year award is a matter of
much pride. “Looking after our staff has
been the reason for our success. We
wouldn’t be in the position we are in
today without them. Our entire team,
except one relative newbie, has been
with us for nine or more years,” says Alan.
Over the last two decades the industry
has changed so much, but throughout
this time we have had the continuous
back-up of head office. They are
reliable and approachable, and the
support structure works well as they still
allow us the flexibility to be our own
bosses and to run the business as we see
fit,” he says.
Mahesh Clover
Owner of Harvey World Travel
Gaborone
In the early nineties, Mahesh heard about
a travel agency in Botswana that was up
for sale. He investigated but when the
deal didn’t work out he ended up starting
his own agency called ‘The Travel Centre’.
The Harvey delegation visited Botswana
at about the time when independent
agencies were starting to align with
consortiums, as airlines and suppliers were
cutting back on direct deals.
“It was definitely beneficial to be part
of an international
brand, and also to
have BidTravel’s
buying power behind
us. Head office took
on all the preferred
partner negotiations on
our behalf and we were
able to generate extra revenue
from introducing a leisure department
right at the time when commissions were
cut. It was also great to be able to attend
the HWT conferences, which were held
in different cities around Australia and
New Zealand. I learned so much from the
international exposure,” he says.
Zakira Osman
Branch Manager of Harvey
World Travel Springfield
In 1992 founder Yunoos Osman,
bought Marathon Travel, an existing
agency in Springfield that specialised
in sports travel. He remembers it being a
great time to be a part of
travel, with a lot of support
from airlines and suppliers,
and the opportunity to
interact personally with
clients.
Over the years, the agency
diversified into leisure and
corporate markets and became the
leading travel agency in the country
for pilgrimage tours to the Middle East.
In the late Nineties they were the first
agency to charter a 267 EgyptAir aircraft
from Durban to Jeddah for pilgrims. This
market continued to grow, with their
charter expanding to a 400-seat jumbo,
picking up 200 pilgrims in Durban and 200
in Johannesburg the following year.
Jay and Misha Bhula
Owner Managers of Harvey World
Travel Fordsburg
Harvey World Travel Fordsburg, as it is known
today, was founded by KL Modi more than
40 years ago and is one of the oldest travel
agencies still in operation in South Africa
today.
Mr Modi studied law with George Bizos
but, due to apartheid restrictions, found
it difficult to practise and turned to travel
instead. He retired a year ago at the age
of 86. His daughter and son-in-law, Jay and
Misha, have now taken over managing the
agency.
“We have remained a small agency,
keeping things manageable and building up
our reputation through the years by trying to
operate ethically at all times, says Jay.
“We joined Harvey 20 years ago to take
advantage of their international reputation
and to pool our resources with other agents
in order to negotiate better rates with our
suppliers. Over the years, head office has
provided a backbone of support, great
service and good deals, which have helped
us to flourish,” says Jay.
