Johanna Mukoki chats to BBQ about establishing a global travel agency rooted in South Africa

Speaking to Johanna Mukoki, one immediately recognises her humility and leadership presence; there is a firmness, authority and passion in the way she speaks. She tells of her upbringing and the values her late father instilled in his children (she and sister and business partner, Basetsana Kumalo) and how, in turn, their upbringing has influenced their establishment of Africa’s leading and globally recognised travel agency – Travel with Flair.

Travel with Flair is a top-notch corporate and government travel agency, established in 1997 through a team venture by Mukoki, Tibor Zsadanyi and Robert Wilke.

In 2001, Mukoki’s sister joined the business, buying into some of her shares.

She explains: “When we started this business, tourism was seen as a growth sector; and looking back, analysts were correct, especially when you look at how far the industry has come and how much it has grown.

“However, financing was difficult to attain, and women – especially black women – were not seen as bankable back then, and so banks were just not interested.

In order to get finance, they had to use all their known contacts to get the business off the ground; and because they could not get funding from the banks, the father of one of their business partners put up security for financing the business. With that surety, they were then able to get finance from the banks.

It was not merely financing that was a challenge, but the competition as well, as there were already well-established, white-owned travel agencies at the time. To break into that mould was a big hurdle, admits Mukoki, and they made the decision to focus on their operations: running the business to the best of their abilities, and not to worry about the competition from the outside.

“We worked very hard to make ourselves better at what we did, and eventually surpassed the competitors,” she says. “This approach has been one of the key contributors to our growth. In the last 14 years, we have focused on growing ourselves, staying ahead in innovation, growing the team internally and doing the best we can do – and we’ve been able to make some great strides.“

Mukoki recalls that there were nights they spent working, with only three of them as resources for the business; they had to work very hard.

“Our late father taught us a key principle: ‘Hard work never killed anybody’, and he encouraged us to be the best we could be, and to work hard to get what we wanted.

“He inculcated in us a spirit of excellence, and we’ve thrived on the values he instilled in us,” she says. “He taught us to respect people: it doesn’t matter who they were and what they did. Humility remains important; even as you grow up, you’ll need to keep your contacts and never lose touch of people, and in return they will remain in contact with you.

“We have applied what my sister and I were taught growing up, both in our business and at home. I’ve learnt to give 120% in everything we do at work and at home. It is not easy, but it is the best that I can do, and I know it is my best.

“I know what my children are thinking, I know what they did yesterday, I know everything happening in my home, as much as I know everything happening in my work space, and in business. A lot of the time, women tend to neglect one part and give the other more attention. It is about creating a balance and giving it your best,” advises Mukoki.

The same spirit of excellence has been applied in the business and embraced by the Travel with Flair team.

“In the service industry, clients like to feel that you care and to be the best you have, to deliver quality and personalised services; know what the client wants to know when they travel, to provide them with information that adds value to their itinerary,” says Mukoki.

To this day, they still conduct all interviews together with the managers, to ensure the people who are employed fit into the culture of the company and its values, so that there is continuity in achieving growth throughout the various branches.

“We are never too busy to conduct interviews, or have meetings with our staff – we always make time. Meetings pile up and overlap, but we still make ourselves available to meet whomever we commit to because in business, it is important to always stay in touch and to know what is happening on the ground,” says Mukoki.

“I think because we have invested so much in our team, in building the relationships, showing we care and in providing the necessary training to grow our employees, they in turn go out of their way to ensure that the company delivers even beyond what we promise.

Of the people with whom she works, she thinks of more as partners than employees: they give their best and go the extra mile to add more value to the services the company provides. There are employees who started off at reception, who have become some of the best agents because the company has invested in them and provided excellent training.

“We know the interests of some of our clients; and because we service business clients, we try and make sure that on their business trips, they have all the information they need,” says Mukoki.

On their travels: from the weather patterns of the region they are visiting, activities of interest to unwind after doing their business, destinations of interest, ensuring connecting flights are spaced appropriately to give them enough time to travel from one point at the airport to the next – this is all organised by Travel with Flair.

“We don’t just book the cheapest flight on that basis, without taking into account that a client will walk for 45 minutes at an airport like Heathrow, for example, to connect to their next flight, and only give that client an hour between flights,” Mukoki explains.

“We consider a lot of elements when we make bookings, and ensure that their trip is comfortable and meticulously planned.

The company recommends destinations ideal for client lifestyle needs: Dubai for shopping, wonderful places of interest to visit in Paris, while South Africa offers wildlife safari destinations and relaxed family beach holidays.

South Africa has much to offer visitors, Mukoki believes. It has ideal weather, quality living, excellent infrastructure, not to mention affordable and great food.

“In our line of work, we ensure that we know all these things beforehand, in order to advise our clients accordingly, and provide relevant information for their travels,” she says.

Training has played a big part in growing the business. The government requires companies to spend at least 2% of turnover on training, and Travel with Flair invests more than double this – 5%.

Mukoki explains: “We conduct training at all levels of the organisation, from the cleaning lady to the managing director. Some of our best agents started off at reception. We run Seta [sector education and training] accredited courses; and whatever training needs our employees have, we provide.

The aim of Travel with Flair is to grow its people at all levels of the organisation and use the talent within the company to develop more people.

“We have inculcated the spirit of excellence throughout the organisation, as we believe in the capabilities of our staff. Employees show their appreciation by giving back their best to the company,” says Mukoki.

“Because most of our employees are younger, we have introduced different technologies and they have embraced IT [information technology] in their work.

“We don’t shy away from technology, and have always been the launch agency for market innovations for the travel industry. We were the first to launch eTickets, we were the first agency to introduce and run a paperless back office – if there’s any technology that will make a traveller’s life easier, we spend money on it, and this has assisted in giving us the competitive edge in growing our business,” she adds.

Mukoki reiterates that Travel with Flair has an in-house IT division, and therefore does not outsource this function.

The company’s placement of value in training led to the establishment of the Gauteng Travel Academy (GTA), which provides training not only for its employees, but those from competitor agencies, too, to ensure the industry delivers high-quality services for the good of the country.

Since its establishment, GTA has become one of the country’s most powerful training institutions for the travel industry. It provides qualifications (accredited by the Culture, Art, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Seta) for learners who complete the course, and has played a key role in uplifting standards of service for the industry.

In addition to having won a number of business achievement awards, Mukoki is the first black person to sit on the Global Tourism Board of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, which includes some of the heads of Fortune 500 companies.

To date, Travel with Flair has 17 branches across South Africa and a team of more than 400 skilled professionals.

It won the 2009 and the 2010 World Travel Awards, and has been recognised as a market leader in the tourism/travel industry in Africa.

Travel with Flair has also won awards for being: South Africa’s Leading Travel Management Company 2010, Africa’s Leading Business Travel Agency 2010, as well as Africa’s Leading Travel Management Company 2010.

This travel management company has represented South Africa globally, and played a key role in positioning the country to businesses across the globe. Travel with Flair is now part of Travel Solutions International (TSI), with representation throughout Australia, Europe and the United States of America. Through TSI, Travel with Flair is able to bid for international work, and were recently awarded a tender to provide travel management services to the House of Channel.

Travel with Flair is currently driving its expansion across Africa.

Mukoki reveals: “We’ve just tied up partnership agreements with travelling agencies in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya, to set up offices in those countries in partnership with owners of travel agencies there.

“Angola, Ghana and Ethiopia are our next destinations.”

Armed with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from Rhodes University, and 14 years in the travel industry, Mukoki says: “With my outgoing personality, I was really not suited to a career in accountancy, and I love what I do and never regret the choice I made. There are very few people, especially black professionals, who pursue one career path for as long as 14 years.

“Perseverance, passion and love for what I do have enabled me not to look back, as I have enjoyed every step I have taken in building this company and look forward to the trip ahead.”

Ntokozo Ndlovu