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20 I SOUTH AFRICA DELUXE I BUSINESS & FINANCE TRAVEL I 21 ONE TRAVEL The internet has given us the ability to book our own travel quickly, and for the most part, efficiently. The downside, however, is the loss of human interaction and the comfort that comes from working with an agent who knows and understands your specific travel habits and requirements. South Africa Deluxe spent time with Ute and Sasha Fullerton from ONE Travel to learn more about how their luxury travel company combines the traditional agency role with technology to provide a holistic and efficient travel experience. Three years ago, Ute Fullerton, owner of South African travel agency ONE Travel, saw the need for a travel company that would amplify the Photos: © One Travel Marrying traditional services with the benefits of technology personal, and customer-centric focus of traditional agencies, and at the same time embrace and incorporate the digital evolution trends in travel. Her vision was to create a company that was a hybrid of a big company and a small company, combining large corporation resources and reach; with small company simplicity, agility and service. “Today, we are able to offer our clients all of the amazing deals that a bigger company would offer because of our successful partnerships with bigger tour operators, such as Tourvest, and at the same time, offer our clients a very personalised service, whether it’s from a conventional or traditional services standpoint or a more modern technology based service,” says Ute. “It is important to keep in mind that the business arena changes constantly, and we need to be flexible and evolve in order to answer the customers’ demands,” she shares, “We need to understand where travel as an industry is taking us, where the needs are, and how to provide the best service offering. There are many opportunities in South Africa and we see things in a very positive and dynamic light. We have a formidable team who put their hearts and souls into this business, so failure is not an option and we approach everything we do with this positivity and enthusiasm.” Drawing inspiration from her creative and entrepreneurially driven father, Ute has over the years embarked on several successful ventures, ranging from property holding and development to hydronic solutions. Her latest venture has seen her successfully grow ONE Travel into a formidable player in the travel management arena in South Africa. The company is going through a strong growth phase as it diversifies to include events, leisure travel, and experiential travel, into its service offering. Incentivising travel Ute’s daughter Sasha works with her in the business, and tells us more about the various subsidiaries within the group, “Won Incentives & Events is a very fresh company, focused on creativity and aimed at brand activations, conferences, launches and events, anything that you need to promote your brand or your event, from A-Z. We 22 I SOUTH AFRICA DELUXE I BUSINESS & FINANCE The socially conscious traveller Travellers today have become a lot more socially aware, and there are many who are no longer satisfied with a traditional holiday, they’re looking for a more meaningful travel experience. Sasha explains how they’ve responded to this popular request by creating Wanderlust, the group’s leisure and experiential travel department, “We focus on the overall experience rather than just the destination. Your experiential adventure could include a walk to Everest base camp, the Inca Trails, white river rafting, or shark diving, as well as the much-loved leisure trips to Mauritius and the Maldives, except that they will likely include some kind of environmental or social aspect. So you might go on safari, but you’ll also go into the local areas and perhaps help to collect illegal snares from farms. Then you’ll pass those through to the local people, who then repurpose it into a sellable item for tourists. Alternatively, people can travel to India and assist with polio vaccinations as part of their trip. It’s no longer about just about going overseas on holiday, it is about having a meaningful experience and giving back.” An exclusive club ONE Travel’s dedicated business travel division is staffed by dedicated travel experts, available to communicate through multiple means, 24 hours a day. They are focused on time management, accuracy, expert advice and cost savings and work closely with their corporate clients to identify the best booking and payment solutions. Their online travel reporting means corporates are able to exercise full control over travel spend, allowing accurate cost saving depictions and tracking of their chosen payment solution. The Directors Club by ONE Travel is a new loyalty concept created for their high net worth clients. Sasha explains, “The Directors Club aims to provide high net worth individuals, and directors, with a VIP concierge style travel service which delivers a First Class travel experience. Our members enjoy exclusive benefits such as a dedicated VIP travel expert, negotiated rates with luxury hotels, discounted transfers, business class deals, leisure add on deals, luxury getaway specials, meet and greet airport services, hand delivered travel vouchers and documents, the ability to earn points which can be used at our exclusive online loyalty store, as well as access to exclusive events and more. Our sales team is able to assist them with signing-up and will take them through the initiation process. Thereafter they will have access to their own dedicated travel desk that will assist them with all their needs.” Adaptability Ute points out that travel habits have changed a lot from her early years in the industry, when she worked for Lufthansa, “We’ve recognised and adapted to the changing needs of our customers by improving on our turnaround times, creating efficiencies in our own office structures and in our processes to ensure that we adhere to very stringent turnaround times and requirements for our clients. At the same time we’ve invested sizeably in technology for example our ONE Travel app, which allows clients to be in touch with us at any given time, and which gives them all the information they will need for their trip, from their flight information, tickets, and maps, to suggestions on where to eat, etc. In doing so, we’ve managed to successfully combine the traditional human face of the agency with always available technology-based assistance.” Fulfilment of a vision Ute has successfully grown the small start-up into a thriving and sustainable business through some of the most challenging years that the South Africa travel industry has faced in the past two decades. By keeping her eye on her original vision for ONE Travel, and by ensuring the business remains agile, she has managed to keep the personal touch that’s so important for frequent travellers, while offering a traditional and technologically savvy service to their clients. Photos: © One Travel have an incredible team of passionate visionaries, strategist, planners and creators who we brought together to design, execute and manage exceptional events, travel incentive programs and premium conferencing within in Sub-Saharan Africa. We offer a full service package following the "cradle-to-grave" framework, which allows us to manage all aspects relating to the incentive or event; from consultation to the design, implementation, logistics, on-site management through to debriefing and database management. Additionally we work as an extension of your marketing and communications teams to develop event strategies and increase brand awareness.” TRAVEL I 23