Friends bid travel stalwart farewell

AFTER 12 years as one of
the founding members
and coo of XL Travel
Consortium, Rod Rutter has
retired. He has been in the
travel industry for 35 years
and told TNW he had enjoyed
an “amazing career” that
had been “full of emotions,
anecdotes and ups and downs,
but it’s the people who have
made it what it is”.
Rod has extensive travel
management experience with
various travel and related
operations. He said he started
out “in a run-down ‘rat-hole’
in Commissioner Street” in
Johannesburg’s CBD.
He was previously sales
and marketing director, and
later md of American Express
Travel in South Africa, growing
the agency from 25 people
in 1982 to around 600 to
become one of the largest
franchises outside of the US.
Bold growth through innovation
has been the hallmark of his
and his colleagues’ success.
At the time XL Travel was
founded in 2004, Rod and
the team started a new
consortium using a new
business model, where
members had input into the
direction of the company.
Currently the consortium
represents some 13% of
the industry, with over 120
member agencies generating
more than R3bn in sales
annually.
Rod said the strength of the
group lay in its people, their
diversity and entrepreneurial
approach to business.
He has been overwhelmed
by the support he has been
shown by his colleagues over
the years. “I’m really proud to
have been in this wonderful
industry and made so many
good friends.”
At Rod’s farewell at
Maximillian Restaurant in
Sandton on April 14, Marco
Ciocchetti, who has taken
over as ceo of XL Travel, said:
“Over the last 12 years, the
XL Travel consortium has
grown into one of the most
respected travel brands in the
South African travel industry.
During this time, vast changes
transformed our exciting
industry. XL Travel, under
Rod’s leadership, has not
only adapted to the changes,
but also anticipated and
responded to these changes.”
Rod said the current move
was more a case of “taking
my foot off the pedal at a
stage in my life when I want to
spend time playing more golf,
travelling, and seeing to my
family commitments”.
“It’s been a 24/7 type of job.
My priority now is to take a few
months’ relaxation and then
review my path after that.