THIS month The Holiday
Factory moved to new
premises to cope with
its growth. It has made its
mark on the industry. The
3 000 customers it handled
in its first year have grown to
20 000 this year. It is actively
used by 2 500 agents.
In an interview with TNW,
Jackie was adamant that
there was no magic recipe.
It just takes experience and
common sense, she says.”
e
with shopping malls.
Understanding the business
I was born in Glasgow and
my parents immigrated to SA
40 years ago.
“I started in travel as a
receptionist at what is today
Sure Witbank Travel. There
was little choice for travellers
then. TFC Tours was an easy
sell because people felt
safer and more comfortable
travelling in groups. KLM and
BA flights to London were
the big sellers.
“I went on an educational
to Greece with Thompsons
and, for the first time,
realised there was life
outside Witbank. When
I came back I moved to
Cape Town and found a job
with Gundelfingers. When
I moved on to Compass
Tours, the wholesale division
of Rennies, I had solid
experience in retail, which
proved invaluable in the
future.
“I was in sales at Compass
and did not like it but it did
give me the opportunity
when it was bought by the
Thompsons group to manage
a new leisure retail division
that Anton Thompson
set up.
It was here that I was
introduced to the big picture
of the relationship between
wholesale and retail. I also
saw the value of hands-on
leadership. Anton knew
everything that was going on.
“We became the numberone
supplier to World Leisure
Holidays and in 1991 the
md, Bruce Hutchinson,
approached me to join them
as operations director.
“Bruce taught me about
marketing. He was quite
exceptional and very
determined once he set out
to do something.”
Jackie learned the
business thoroughly. She
was there for 15 years, the
last four as md.
A new business is born
“When I left WLH the decision
was whether to work for
somebody else or start
something new.
“Adrian Hollis, my partner
and husband, had been with
WLH for 10 years and was the
financial director. Between us
we had a wealth of experience
and strong relationships in
the industry.
“We took the plunge despite
the economic woes and were
quite confident that if we
started out properly and ran
it well, The Holiday Factory
would succeed. People we
knew were counting on us;
failure was not an option.
“What we learned was
that in hard times, people
realised the need to do things
differently. Perhaps if times
were good, they would have
continued in their set ways,”
she says.
Facts about Jackie
• She has three daughters
– two are attorneys, one
a chartered accountant.
• She does not take work
home.
• She gets her stress
relief from being a
self-proclaimed ‘Olympic
shopper’.
• Her favourite
destinations are thos
A successful recipe
“We did not want this to
be a garage operation. We
wanted to start properly,
with good call centre
technology and a stateof-the-art
reservation
system,” Jackie says.
It was a call from
competitor Terry Munro
of Beachcomber that put
them in touch with the
right people.
“We started with the
One&Only brand. We
also decided not to
contract with hotels as
general wholesalers but
rather work wherever
possible, like WLH, as an
extension of the hotels
we represented. That
means we understand the
properties better and they
go the extra mile for us.
“It has been a real
advantage to have a retail
background when running
a wholesale operation.
I know what it’s like for
the consultant with the
client on the other side
of the desk. They need to
be able to trust and rely
on us to handle things,
including problems,
quickly. We have to be fast
so consultants can move
on to the next client.
“Our system allows us
to send multiple options
to the client 20 seconds
after their call has ended.
This also shows them
what the client pays and
what their commission is.
We may not be the biggest
tour operator but we aim
to be the fastest.
“All departments are
aligned to make agents
more productive. Our call
centre handles about 700
to 800 calls a day. It is
a hybrid between a call
centre and a one-on-one
service where we try to
cater for agents who want
to deal with a specific
person. It is difficult to
manage as the person
they want to speak to will
often be on another call.
“Another touch point is
the finance department,
where we make it easy for
agents to get documents
and account information
easily.”
Value the key
Jackie believes there is
a future for travel agents
because they add value
that travellers can’t receive
by going direct.
“International holidays
are fraught with problems
when people go direct.
Things go wrong and who
do they call? The cheapest
is rarely the best option. In
fact when we help agents
rescue a sale by analysing
an alternative direct quote,
a lower price is usually
an illusion where taxes,
services fees and even
breakfasts are left out.
“We really support the
retail trade and believe
that, whatever we do, we
must do it exceptionally
well! We have an amazing
team of passionate people
here. Every job I have had,
I have treated as my own
business. We have lots
of people at The Holiday
Factory with that same
philosophy.”
Jackie’s advice? “Stick
to what you know. I know
operations, Adrian knows
accounting and Matthew
[Fubbs] knows sales.
The secret is that we are
hands on – completely and
totally.
