Agents, we’re hiring!

TRAVEL agencies are
looking to increase their
staff numbers this year,
predominantly in the leisure
sector, despite the economic
slump.
Pentravel aims to up its
staff numbers by a minimum
of 10% this year, says
ceo Sean Hough, with the
opening of three new stores.
Travelstart, too, is planning
to grow its South African
office by 15%, following
Amadeus Capital and MTN’s
recent investment in the
online travel agency.
Flight Centre has
already increased its staff
component by 8% this year.
“Even with the downward
turn in the economy, Flight
Centre has had an incredible
year so far,” says Sam van
Gool, gm of the group’s
retail, wholesale and human
resources arm, Peopleworks.
At its recent Travel
Expo, Flight Centre ran a
recruitment drive using the
hashtag #workforflightcentre.
Md Andrew Stark says
the campaign received
an overwhelming amount
of interest and saw the
recruitment team walk away
with over 100 hand-picked
CVs from the many that were
submitted on the day.
“We are seeing nationally
that travel companies
are recruiting,” says Kim
Botti, director of Lee Botti
and Associates. “While
the value of the rand has
made it expensive to travel
internationally, there seems
to be an increase in demand
for consultants who can
come up with innovative
ideas while also offering
unique experiences to the
local market who are looking
to travel domestically.”
“We are not seeing a
slowdown in enquiries
coming in from travel agents,
which automatically tells
me that they are busy and
vibrant,” says Thompsons
Holidays PR and media
manager, John Ridler.
“Demand for travel is still
there, therefore the appetite
for employing and replacing
staff is still good. Internship programmes are
also making a difference.
Travelstart HR manager,
Shireen McWhite, says:
“We have several permanent
employees who started out
as interns at Travelstart.”
Nurturing and developing
raw talent is also a top
priority for Thompsons
Holidays this year, says HR
manager Lynn Phipson.
“For the most part, tertiary
institutions do not focus on
the skills needed to develop
a travel consultant, thus
we have our internship and
mentorship programmes
to retain our existing staff
and grow them into future
promotion roles,” she said.
Lynn admits that technology
plays a part in the number of
opportunities available – to
graduates in particular. “With
technological developments,
job roles have changed.
There are no longer as many
reservation assistant roles
or document processor
roles because all of that is
automated,” she says. “So
now, when we recruit, we are
looking for sales consultants
who can do more than just
issue documents.”
This trend is particularly
evident in the corporate
travel space. Tourvest Travel
Services’ online travel
management tool, TravelIT,
has been developed to
improve productivity and
operational efficiency, says
chief sales and marketing
officer, Claude Vankeirsbilck.
“We can now do much more
with our existing resources
than before.” As a result,
Tourvest will look to continue
to grow with its current
resources, he says.
Wings Travel Management,
too, is focusing on retaining
rather than recruiting
staff. Frank Palapies, coo
for Africa and the Middle
East, says: “The current
economic climate, which is
dominated by a weak rand,
a significantly low oil price
and a slow-down in business
travel, has made it imperative
that travel businesses
implement a human capital
strategy reflecting this
economic situation.”