In this edition of Travel News’s ‘Who is’ series, we introduce you to one of the unsung travel heroes of the COVID-19 era in SA – travel specialist and owner of African Sky of Diamonds, Luciemarie Swanepoel. Amogela Modise reports.
Luciemarie says her journey and long career in the travel industry was never planned and began by mistake. Having enrolled for a tour guide course, she accidentally stepped into the wrong class one day, and joined a game ranger course and then went on to achieve the title of national game ranger in 1998, at the age of 23. She cancelled her original plans to leave the country because she had fallen in love with her work and her country, and found a passion for travel.
“I was a game ranger for few years before one international disaster after the next happened. The 9/11 Twin Towers was followed by the Sars outbreak. I then became a consultant,” she says. This is where her talent for dealing with crises blossomed, and today many seek her advice in navigating the difficult process of repatriating South Africans back home.
Luciemarie, fondly known as Lucie, gained years of experience working for a large South African tourism company doing emergency consulting. She worked on several emergency flights and she remembers it as “amazing work”. Two and a half years ago she started her own company and has not looked back.
A month ago, she actively started spearheading team efforts to bring South Africans home as the COVID-19 crisis took hold. Many agents have come to her because of her experience in dealing with emergency flights and she has lost count of the number of successful repatriation flights she’s been involved with.
She says, even with her wealth of knowledge and talent for situations such as these, nothing could have prepared her for an emergency on this scale. And although it’s hard work she loves it.
Lucie says she has her mother and her faith to thank for keeping her focused. “I remember the first call from someone asking for my help, in the middle of the night. I burst into tears and immediately called my mother who then reassured me that I was stronger than I thought. Today I have expertise and a talent for helping people and I must push on,” she says.
