of Europe, North America, and most of Africa. I
haven’t done South America. Considering the world
has 196 countries (well, 195 plus Taiwan, which isn’t
officially recognised)... so far I am doing OK’.
Travel Fact:
Uh... yes.
I asked him why he formed his own agency. What
makes someone strike out in such a tough industry?
‘This is going to be a bit controversial, but I admit
it - having worked for Flight Centre for eight years, I
grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of service
ethic there. I wanted to break the mould a bit; for
me, the customer always comes first (that’s my BA
training).
It’s a case of I will go into bat for my customer,
whatever it is. For example, a customer whose bag
went missing on a trip recently – the airline sent him
the wrong bag, and continued doing nothing about it
– so I am looking after it for him. The airline is legally
liable, so I won’t let it go.
CHINA has now eclipsed the total
outbound tourism spend of Europe
and similarly that of North America
(incorporating the US and Canada)
and these statistics are set to triple
WITHIN 10 YEARS. They currently
need 25,000 NEW AIRCRAFT to
service demand, and are building
2,000 NEW AIRPORTS.
*figures from the World Trade
Organisation