Pioneer of South Africa’s ITC travel industry since 1999, eTravel held its Open Forum and Awards Ceremony in Cape Town on Saturday, November 7, at the Century City Conference Centre.
ITCs, their partners, industry suppliers and friends of eTravel turned up in droves.
Garth Wolff, ceo of eTravel, congratulated MD, Tammy Hunt, on her skill in managing and directing the business day-to-day, reporting that this year, she had told him: “Get out of the pilot seat, I’ve got control. You go sit in the back.”
Wolff said he felt strongly that although the industry was in tough times, we should celebrate our successes.
“I know we've been feeling sorry for ourselves because the turnover is down. The emails are not coming through as quick. The business-class seats have turned to economy class. But we're here to celebrate what we are.”
He noted the massive effect the Middle East geopolitics had had on travel, but said he did not believe that the Brent crude price would remain above $80 a barrel for very long after the end of the first quarter.
Wolff noted that the company now had 172 operational ITCs and eTravel had paid out R110 million in commissions for the year.
“We're still here. Our business is healthy. We're together. We are all just South Africans – and I’m happy about that.”
Smile FM Broadcaster, Ryan O’Connor was MC for the evening.
