I like to be in charge of my life and my decisions and no more so than when it comes to booking online for family holidays, a business trip or some ‘me’ time, but then I found myself stuck at an airport in a foreign country – I had travelled here on business and had the family join me for an extended holiday - when our flight home was grounded due to bad weather and there I stood like a deer in headlights, unsure of what to do, who to call or how to get out of there. 

Chaos surrounded us as other weary travellers scurried about trying to make alternative plans, shouting at their cellphones (and their kids), standing in ever-growing queues to try and get on another flight, being jostled and shoved.  I could not get a hold of an online agent or help desk as the lines were busy – 20 minutes of listening to an automated voice message did not help either, I had no-one to call to help me with at least a hotel for the night, or alternative travel arrangements and it dawned on me that had I given up my ‘independence’ and booked through an agent, I would not have been literally stranded, with my kids tugging on my jacket and my wife giving me ‘I told you so’ look. 

Regardless of the reasons for taking a trip, be it a holiday to rejuvenate after a long, hard year, a business trip or conference, or just a long journey to anywhere to connect with yourself or with your loved ones - travel these days is not for sissies! 

Terror attacks, natural disasters, airport closures and theft are concerns for each and every person embarking on a trip and regardless of how much planning and thought has been put in, from travel insurance (a must) to back-up plans, photocopies and contact people, if you have booked the trip yourself online and possibly forgotten a few must-haves on your to-do list, need information fast, or you get stuck in a City with literally no way out, who can you call?   

It’s well worth it to spend a nominal service fee and book via a travel agent for peace of mind when travelling for business or leisure knowing you have someone to call who will take care of EVERYTHING in a crisis, or even just to say thank you, make a change to your itinerary or extend your stay.  Not only can your travel agent negotiate competitive prices on air fares, they can also in some instances secure corporate rates for hotels and car hire.  They can also manage your corporate travel budget and save you additional time and money by arranging car hire, the best insurance, collecting visas, booking transfers and being that 24/7 go-to person in a sticky situation.

 Next time! 

Safe travels… 

Konrad

If you’re planning on jetting off into the sunset over the coming school holidays, make sure your passport is in order. That’s the advice of Konrad Laker, CEO of Gold Travel, a Cape Town-based corporate travel service specialist. According to Konrad, many travellers are not aware of passport requirements that could turn a dream overseas holiday into a nightmare.  

In order to avoid complications at international destinations, refusal of entry into a country or, in some cases, deportation, it is essential that: 

• Passports must be valid for six months after your return date
• At least four blank pages must be available for passport control and customs
• Your passport name must correlate with your travel documents – in some cases a married woman’s name change from maiden to married surname can cause complications
• Passports of minors must be updated and recognizable with a recent photograph 

Konrad notes that certain countries such as The USA, United Kingdom and The Middle East are more stringent than others and travellers should make certain that all of their travel documents comply. “With many immigration offices on high alert following terror attacks across Europe, better to be safe than sorry,” advises Konrad.

Gold Travel, a Cape Town-based corporate travel service specialist, has recently achieved a Level Two B-BBEE rating after implementing 52.5% black ownership and 31.5% black woman ownership in partnership with NetValue™ Equity Partners, also based in Cape Town. The certification falls under the Qualifying Small Enterprise classification in the Tourism Sector Code, a category which has recently been under the spotlight for its slow pace of transformation. 

The travel and tourism industry has recently seen the back of two of its biggest South African trade shows - World Travel Market Africa and the stalwart travel exhibition, Tourism Indaba, held in Durban last week.

Seemingly, a common topic under the spotlight is the rate of transformation in the South African travel trade. Speaking at the annual Women in Tourism Event at the Indaba, newly elected Minister of Tourism Tokozile Xasa raised concerns about the slow pace of transformation in the sector.  

Commenting on their positive achievement, Konrad Laker, CEO of Gold Travel, said that as a South African business owner transformation is a priority policy.

“Tourism is an integral part of the South African economy and transformation should be at the forefront of the industry. This marks a significant milestone in our transformation drive; we will continue to find ways of enhancing our B-BBE efforts.”