A sunny forecast for etravel

THE eTravel group’s goal
of turnover of R1bn in the
next fiscal year is already
in sight.
This is the word from
upbeat ceo, Garth Wolff, who
addressed delegates at the
recent Bollywood-themed
eTravel Open Forum at the
Cape Town ICC on October 11.
Garth said, also on the radar
was having 200 ITCs join the
fold by June 2015. Pay-outs to
ITCs in the year would average
over 80%, with the biggest
earners achieving 85%.
eTravel has now officially
moved its head office to
Century City in Cape Town,
while keeping a staff of 10
in the Johannesburg hub in
Bryanston. It rents out office
space to ITCs at both centres
at subsidised rentals.
 Looking at the year ahead,
Garth predicted that the rand
would slip to R12 to the US
dollar, before recovering to
R10,50 in the coming 18
months.
 He said the current
administration and prolonged
strikes had led to the
rand depreciating below
its fundamental value. He
believes the true value of a
rand should be around R10,50
to the dollar.
Garth added that an
oversupply of oil could lead to
a lower oil price over the next
12 months, with oil prices at
$90-$95 per barrel. There
should be no increases in
fuel prices in the coming 18
months, and this should have
a positive effect on inflation,
he said.
He predicted that inflation
would rise between 3% and
6% from March 2015 onwards.
This would ease pressure on
interest rates, as long as the
rand found some stability.
A positive factor was the
recovery of the US economy,
Garth said. This improvement
in the largest economy in the
world would spin off well for
Africa with increasing demand
for minerals. South Africa
is also still a very attractive
tourist destination and
Johannesburg is the economic
capital of South Africa, fast
becoming the true economic
capital of Africa due to its
infrastructure. Garth believes
once the world starts investing
in Africa, they will come
through SA. 
Changing times for ITCs
Changes in business mix for eTravel ITCs over the past
nine years as a percentage of total turnover:
2005 2014
International air 60,4% 59,1%
Domestic air 20,3% 11,4%
Accommodation 6,5% 5,5%
Car rentals 1,7% 1,6%
Tour operators 9,3% 12,2%
Service fees 1,2% 7,8%
Insurance 0,2% 0,5%
Forex 0,0% 0,0%
Cruises 0,2% 1,4%
Visas and passports 0,2% 0,4% She’s number 1!
Garth Wolff, eTravel ceo, and Tammy Hunt (operations director)
congratulate eTravel’s top ITC, Angela Blythe (middle), of
A2BTravels in Cape Town.
eTravel’s