Pentravel opens new ‘Sunshine’ stores

PENTRAVEL opened its
first ‘Sunshine’ store
in Durban’s Watercrest
Mall last month, followed
by a second store in
Pretoria’s Woodlands Mall.
The new retail concept is
designed to enhance oneon-one
consultations with
customers.
“The inspiration behind
our new stores is simple:
to elevate our customers’
experience. This means
giving them our undivided
attention, understanding
their interests, such as
cruising, skiing, and then
advising on holidays that
match what they’re looking
for,” says Sean Hough, ceo
of Pentravel.
Given that a quarter of
Pentravel’s sales are walkins,
Sean says its retail
stores are central to its
continued strong growth,
which – despite prevailing
industry challenges
and tough economic
trading conditions – has
increased by 734% since
the recession in 2009, up
from a R2,7 million loss
in 2009 to R20 million
profit PBIT in 2014, he
says. Sean attributes the
success to the Pentravel
consultants. “Without a
doubt our success as a
business is based on our
people. At a time when
we experienced losses we
could have cut staff and
stopped investing in travel
and staff incentives but we
didn’t. In fact we went on a
recruitment drive to look for
people whom we considered
outstanding. The ability to
find outstanding people
is the ultimate throttle
on our ability to grow as
a business and often we
feel we are more of a
recruitment business than
a travel business.”
Customers walking into
the new, ultra-modern
stores can browse one
of the various tablets
at the iPad station for
inspiration for their next
holiday before chatting to
a travel consultant, who
are all now also equipped
with ‘interactive’ desks
that allow both the client
and the travel consultant
to see the screens. The
colour palette has also
changed; previously bright
green and grey, the new
look is fresh with white and
plywood being added to the
aesthetics.
Pentravel has had a
phenomenal response from
consumers in Durban to the
first shop, Sean says. “It’s
really made the impact we
were hoping for. Even the
malls have thanked us for
raising the bar in customer
experience.”