Industry agony aunt or industry caretaker
KNOWN for regularly
updating agents
on Travelinfo’s
OpenJaw Facebook group
and responding to calls
for help and advice on
that platform, David Van
Den Heever-Liebenberg,
Marmalade Toast travel
director, is a firm believer
that the members of the
travel industry should help
each other and grow the
industry together.
David was born in
the Cape and attended
a small school in the
Overberg after his parents
decided to move to their
holiday home.
At school he was the
quiet kid at the back,
although he was also
the one passing around
jokes and frequently got
thrown out of the class for
talking.
Learning German
However, he was
disciplined enough to
take up conversational
German as a third
language over and above
his school subjects for a
year and a half, spending
many hours every week
after school to learn the
language. It would prove
helpful in his career later
on.
David knew early on
that he wanted to be
in the travel industry.
About halfway through
high school, he went on
his first international
holiday – a trip with his
father to Australia. “It
was a defining moment.
I knew I wanted to get
involved with something
that would allow me to
travel, although I didn’t yet
know how I would make it
happen.”
Fast track to tourism
With this in mind, after
school he completed a
six-month condensed
course in travel and
tourism. “I wanted to
get into the industry as
soon as possible.” Given
how fast things change
in the travel industry, it
made sense to complete
a course as quickly as
possible so that the
information would not be
obsolete by the time he
finished the course.
Unsurprisingly,
David seized the first
opportunity that came
after completing his
course.
“Luckily for me they had
a job placement for me
at the end of the course,
working in a tour operator
in Cape Town.”
In this role, David put
together guided tours with
a vehicle and guide, for
routes into the Winelands
and along the Peninsula,
including many local tours
that are still offered by
the same company. The
role also saw him dealing
directly with hotels, as
requests came through
the concierge desks.
David also liaised with
tour guides and foreignspeaking guests, where
his German proved useful
(Germany is one of South
Africa’s top-three source
markets).
“German was almost a
second language for me
and I used it a lot working
for the company because
most of the tour guides
and the clientele were
German,” he says.
After about a year,
he wanted something
different and switched
from inbound to outbound,
with his BSP knowledge
coming in handy.
Perpetually itchy feet
have seen David work
across the travel sector,
in ticketing, airline
reservations, working
at an airline, managing
corporate accounts and
leisure travel consulting.
“The corporate side was
a whole new ball game for
me. I loved the busyness
of it and the drive,” he
says.
“I almost enjoyed the
stress of it because of the
adrenalin.”
Huge responsibility
It was working at BCD,
when he was was made a
team leader for the global
accounts team managing
between nine and 10
senior consultants, that
David was really pushed.
“That was a good
position,” he says. “It
gave me a sense of being
but came with the huge
responsibility of dealing
with large global accounts
and managing senior
consultants, some who
had been in the industry
easily twice as long as I
had.”
But David did not want
to stay in the corporate
environment and decided
to make a lifestyle change
with his life partner,
Lance Van Den HeeverLiebenberg, and moved
to the coast, ending up in
Knysna. “Changing from
big city life to small town
coastal living was a huge
adjustment, but we loved
the easier lifestyle.”
Lifestyle change
After a few years at the
coast, David and Lance
decided to start travelling
while still managing their
clients.
“We decided to pack up
the house, put everything
in storage and head to
South East Asia.”
They started in Thailand,
where they spent a
year and a half, staying
in Koh Samui, Phuket
and Bangkok, and also
travelled a lot around
Malaysia and Vietnam.
They continued to travel
for another two years
between South Africa and
South East Asia, during
which they developed the
relationships with DMCs
that have helped them
grow their business and
develop a niche.
David and Lance
partnered to form
Marmalade Toast
bespoke travel, where
Lance’s experience in
logistics, large-scale event
management and public
relations, complements
David’s skill and
experience in the travel
industry.
It’s from his parents,
who owned and ran
a company together,
that David learned his
business principles.
He steers away from
clients who are price
shopping, instead offering
a high-touch service, doing
anything from making sure
travellers know the name
of their driver and making
reservations at local
restaurants, to arranging
for specialist tour guides
or shopping assistants.
“We’re not about ordertaking and selling out of
a brochure. We build and
tailor every trip uniquely
according to the traveller.”
Loosely based in
Johannesburg now, the
pair spend more time
travelling outside South
Africa than at home,
taking five to six trips a
year.
“All we need is a
WiFi connection and a
cellphone,” David says.
Getting to know David
• David is a foodie and, as
a child, food and travel
programmes were his
favourites.
• While he says he has
lost some of his German
because he doesn’t get
the opportunity to practise
it, he can still read and
write in German.
• David likes to travel slowly,
spending weeks in one
location so that he can
immerse himself in the
local culture – discovering
its food and people and
also visiting countries
throughout the seasons,
experiencing destinations
out of season. “Any time
of year can be the best
time of year depending
on the type of traveller
and what they want out of
travel,” he says.
