LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY
Travel with Flair, a leading South African personalized travel management service
Johanna Makgalemele is an accountant and B Comm graduate from Rhodes University. She is the co-founder of Travel with Flair, a company she started in 1996 with her two partners. TWF employs over 780 people (before Covid) with offices throughout South Africa and won Most Empowered Business of the Year. She is the first person from the African continent to sit on the Global Tourism Board (ACTE) – Association of Corporate Travel Executives where she represented the Middle East and Africa. Johanna has been blessed with many business accolades from “Most Influential Woman in Business and Government in Tourism” to EY Emerging World Entrepreneur of the Year. BWA recently awarded her “Business Woman of the Year” award, and she was also awarded by SA Style awards “Most Stylish Business Personality” of the year. She has been elected to sit on the ASATA Board as Vice-President for 3 years consecutively. Philanthropy is very important to Johanna and she chairs the board of the Salvation Army and assist with fundraising for their abundant children’s homes.
Lioness Weekender spoke to Johanna to find out more about her inspirational entrepreneur journey to building her successful business.
What does your company do?
Travel with Flair (TWF) is an experienced personalized travel service through innovative technology and expertise. TWF’s Corporate Travel management service is comprehensively integrated with your enterprise’s unique processes, policies, regulations and compliances.
What inspired you to start your company?
I loved to travel and learnt that I can have a business in the travel industry and still enjoy traveling around the world.
What makes your business, service or product special?
Ensuring your travelers receive personalized service through easy-to-use, real-time, access to all their travel arrangements and 24/7 support from our highly skilled travel team. Additionally, our expertise and innovation allow us to provide your enterprise with exceptional value through significant cost savings while maintaining the high standard of traveler satisfaction our esteemed clients expect. With our trusted global network, we can deliver safe and reliable world-class travel sophistication.
Tell us a little about your team
Our team understands that your workforce is your most valuable asset, the powerhouse that drives your enterprise. Their success is yours and we commit to helping you get the absolute best from your team by proving local/international destinations and experiences that will transcend expectations. With our experience, resources and technology, we add value to all of your enterprise’s needs and comprehensively coordinate your conference, travel or event from start to finish.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
It’s been a great and rewarding journey. I’m blessed to work with people that I like and that are team players. We’ve had the highest staff retention in the travel industry and most of our staff has worked double digit years with us. Yes, I come from an entrepreneurial background. My mother was a teacher by day and selling soft goods with us in the afternoons and weekends.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
We are currently rolling out our online booking tool to our clients and my aspirations for Travel with Flair is to market our booking tool to the rest of Africa as the future growth of travel will come from the rest of the continent. In this advent of the 4th industrial revolution, every business needs to reinvent itself and embrace technology in their space. Travelers continue to become tech savvy and we as TMCs need to meet their tech demands hence we continue to innovate in our business.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
It’s wonderful working for myself as I directly benefit from the effort I put in the business.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
I believe that it is possible to have a balanced life even as a successful business woman.
My motto is:
Hard Work never killed anyone.
If you can think it you can surely do it!
Make it happen…..
To find out more about Travel with Flair visit the company’s website and social media platforms:
