ONE single log-in for
info on all travel
suppliers, where
travel agents could
get information that
was updated daily and
guaranteed accurate – that
was the founding vision for
Travelinfo in 1989.
Invented by Now Media,
Johannesburg, Travelinfo
remains unique to South
Africa thirty years later.
The appeal of just one
log-in and a standardised
format for all suppliers
wanting to do business
with retailers remains just
as strong today.
Travelinfo was conceived
before the Internet was
known. It would not have
happened but for the
vision of the then head of
SAA Information Services,
Joe Humphrey, buying into
the idea of hosting it on
the airline’s reservation
system, SAAFARI.
SAAFARI was a cuttingedge system that
connected all travel
agents to SAA in real
time. It meant that instead
of agents taking more
than a minute to access
information, the answers
popped up in three to five
seconds for Travelinfo
users.
Travelinfo never looked
back as suppliers realised
how they could make it
easier for the trade to get
the operational information
they needed in a way that
was much less resourceintensive than using
telexing, later faxing and
still later, call centres.
There are over 494
suppliers who maintain
their information on
Travelinfo and, while
many even have their own
trade websites, the retail
trade in South Africa still
appreciate the efficiency of
a single log-in, says longserving manager, Linda
van der Pol.
The average Travelinfo
user keeps the site open
all day. They also use it for
training and, more recently,
over 4 100 are part of a
‘club’ called Open Jaw,
where they ask each other
for advice on dealing with
the more unusual client
requests and problems.
Travelinfo doesn’t exist
anywhere else.
