Gigs gracefully bows out

FOUNDER and co-director
of Travel Connections,
Geraldine Zilk,
affectionately known by her
travel colleagues as Gigs, has
‘retired’ after dedicating 44
years to the travel industry.
“I don’t really like the word
‘retiring’,” says Gigs. “I chose
to sell my shares and exit
the company because I want
to spend more time with my
children and grandchildren
who live in London.” She
says she and her husband,
Thomas, will now be living
between London, Austria
(where Thomas’s children live)
and South Africa.
Geraldine and Lindy Preston
started Travel Connections
in March 1988. The pair met
at school and ended up in
the travel industry where they
worked together at Budget
Travel.
Gigs says one of her career
highlights was selling 60%
of their business to Bidvest
to allow for a BEE partner in
2001. “The biggest lesson
I’ve learnt in my career is that
without your staff you really
have nothing and that the key
to good business is to look
after the people who work
with you,” she says.
Travel Connections will
continue to be run by md,
Lindy, and is now 100%
owned by Bidvest.
“Entering into a business
with a partner is a very
risky endeavour and I think
statistics would show that
most partnerships do not
prevail, and certainly not for
28 years.
“Such was our friendship
that we never gave this
possibility a second thought,”
says Lindy.