Dale Plage, gm of XL Millennium Travel, spoke to Travel News about how the agency, made up of just over 40 staff members across its offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, are gearing up for the reopening of travel.
“The team is ensuring that we are training as much as possible during this period, so that we are 100% up to date as soon as we are able to start trading again,” Dale said. “I can’t wait for that!”
Dale said the staff had been doing ‘loads and loads’ of product and fare training online. “We are also training on a few new innovations at the moment in the virtual conferencing space, which is very exciting.”
She said XL Millennium marketed its brand constantly, but once local travel opened up, they planned to increase that marketing, and do the same once regional and international travel commenced.
“We are walking very closely with our clients, I believe even more now, than normal. Showing care for your team, clients and suppliers is key. This is a very challenging time for our industry and for most people,” she said.
Dale looks forward eagerly to the recovery period for the travel industry post-COVID-19. “I am hoping that there will be less of an impact, but I would imagine it will be between six and nine months.”
For now, all staff are operating from home. “That is all we can really do,” Dale said. “We are working remotely and catching up on refunds, and training, as well as any administration that needs to be caught up on.
“South Africans are generally very resilient in challenging times, but there are so many other factors that come into this equation,” she said. “When will the airlines resume travel? Are visa restrictions going to be increased? There is also the impact of the lockdown on businesses in SA and globally, in addition our Moody’s downgrade. Also, our rate of exchange has a huge impact on travel.”
