Flight Centre MD shares the travel company's Covid-19 survival plans

Pre-Covid, I travelled at least 12 to 18 times a year. My last bit of travel before lockdown included Sun City (for our annual staff conference) for four nights, followed by London for four nights, then Table Bay in Cape Town for another four nights — all over a 14-day period. It was a full dose of travel before the unimaginable happened.

What I remember most about my childhood holidays is waking up very early and being carried to the car with my sister and driving down to KwaZulu-Natal or the Eastern Cape with great excitement. The holiday always felt like an eternity!

Close to home, the most difficult place I've been is Grande Comore. Do you remember we used to have weekly flights from SA to the island? At the time, I worked for a company that did bookings for the two hotels there. The island has had so many difficulties throughout its history, from coups to plane crashes. Food and water supplies can be limited, yet they have one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Flights only flew in and out once a week. On one flight, we needed to make a choice between taking the guests' food for the week or their luggage. Needless to say, we flew in their food and no bags. What a disaster it was on the other side, upon arrival, informing all 200 passengers that they wouldn't have any luggage for a week. Still, they were well fed and handsomely compensated.

My first trip abroad was with my school. We travelled to New Zealand to play rugby against some of the local schools. We played three games on the North Island and three on the South Island. I'm proud to say we returned home with three wins and long-lasting memories.

The first place I'll go after lockdown is to my favourite place on Earth: the South African bush, ideally anywhere in the greater Kruger National Park area and surrounding reserves. We had two holidays planned during the pandemic, with two postponements. I think nature has had time to regenerate and we desperately miss those adventures. My second place would be Mauritius, a firm favourite with the kids and extended family.

My favourite international city is Rome. It's just a magnificent bucket of chaos, yet sophisticated, authentic and rich in ancient history. I love the fact that you could die at any traffic circle if you don't drive with conviction and purpose. Just moments before you would have passed a working archaeological site still discovering ancient artefacts. The food and drink are exceptionally authentic, and the culture is fascinatingly passionate.

My favourite city in SA has to be Cape Town for all that it offers. It caters so well for the local and international visitor and is a good example of how more of our cities could operate in a post-Covid world, as domestic travel is set to boom.

My worst travel experiences have entailed being stranded at airports due to delays and cancelled flights. On a few occasions, I've spent a day or two at London Heathrow.

My best piece of travel advice is to book through reputable companies. If it's too cheap, it's too good to be true. Also, try not to check in your luggage. Travel light for business with carry-on only in case you are delayed or stranded. That way, you'll have all your belongings with you and can quickly jump on other flights if need be.

I am absolutely an adventurous eater when I travel. You need to immerse yourself in the culture and try as many different foods as possible.

My go-to plane outfit is jeans, a T-shirt, a comfortable jersey and sneakers. I always make sure I have spare clothing (if I've checked in my bags), my laptop, phone, two chargers, international adaptors, earphones, chewing gum, a book, and copies of visas and hotel details for custom officials, just in case.

My ultimate bucket-list wish is to see the great Masai Mara migration.

When it comes to luxury vs roughing it, I prefer a little more comfort now compared to when I travelled around the US, living out of a car with two other mates for three months. I am extremely fortunate to have experienced the very best in hospitality from working in the industry. There have been so many, but some of the highlights include the Emirates first class cabin on the A380 (showering 38,000ft in the air), the Savoy in London, Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort in Mozambique, Tintswalo Atlantic in Cape Town, Tintswalo Safari Lodge in the Greater Kruger and Beachcomber Trou aux Biches in Mauritius.

And Covid-19?

Like any other business in the tourism industry, Flight Centre was dealt a heavy blow with the Covid-19 pandemic. In less than two weeks, the company went from a thriving and successful venture to a "business in hibernation".

As a global company, we realised quickly that the impact would be disastrous. We saw airlines starting to be grounded, borders being closed and presidential announcements that would affect our businesses from all corners of the globe.

The crisis gave us a moment to stop and take stock. Our mission now is to prepare for the future. Even though there has been a limited return to business travel since June/July, the aviation industry is still in hibernation and we have no idea how long this will continue. While we are preparing for the worst, we are working on innovative ways to remain relevant and stimulate the new world to travel.

We are preparing for a travel world over the next two years that will be mainly focused on local travel for all South Africans. SA may unfortunately take longer than other countries to recover due to disposable-income constraints, but we have a beautiful country to explore that we all can help re-ignite by spending our hard-earned rands locally. Travel can change for the better and help revive jobs and the economy.