UTRECHT, The Netherlands, January 21, 2019 – BCD Travel today announced that Rennies Travel has joined its Global Network, present in 109 countries worldwide. Headquartered in South Africa, Rennies Travel specializes in corporate travel, incentive and group travel, leisure travel and travel technologies. Part of the Bidvest group, Rennies Travel serves clients in South Africa from six offices, in addition to serving clients around the world.  

BCD will continue to operate its current South African joint venture, BCD Travel South Africa, separately. Based on combined annual sales revenues for the two entities, BCD will consolidate its position as corporate travel market leader in South Africa.   

“Thanks to our current South African joint venture, we have a long-standing partnership with Bidvest, based on mutual trust and a shared commitment to quality,” says Adrian Woodward, vice president of BCD Travel’s EMEA Global Network. “This partnership with Rennies Travel is a logical next step. Rennies Travel is an excellent strategic addition to our Global Network, thanks to its impeccable reputation and ability to service clients of all sizes.”  

Lidia Folli, chief executive officer of Bidvest’s travel cluster, BidTravel, says: “Based on BCD’s track record in South Africa, I have extremely high confidence in our ability to continue offering businesses from around the globe the highest service quality available in South Africa.”  

Bronwyn Philipps, chief executive officer for Rennies Travel, says: “Because our focus is on service and technology leadership, we believe BCD’s Global Network best meets our commitment to our clients. We chose BCD Travel as our global partner because of their global reach, their consistent delivery of and roadmap for innovation, their global data consolidation expertise and their service orientation across all markets around the world.”  

With the sixth largest population in Africa, South Africa also has the continent’s second largest economy, with a gross domestic product of US$349 billion in 2017. The country's economy is highly diversified, with key industries including mining, agriculture and fisheries, vehicle manufacturing and assembly, food processing, telecommunication, energy, financial and business services, tourism and transportation.  Woodward adds: “Our growth strategy prioritizes partnerships and acquisitions in markets with significant customer transactions that also represent large growth and revenue potential. Many of our global customers invest significant travel spend in South Africa, and we project long-term growth in the country.”