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Natalie George, Product Owner
 


Khululeka Travel

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IN 2010 the South African Open celebrates its centenary, the second oldest golf open championship in the world.

Every year golfers such as Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark and Trevor Immelman keep the country’s flag flying high. South Africa has 136,000 regular golfers, more than 450 registered golf courses and no other country has the combination of top-class courses, scenic splendour and exceptional weather to tempt golfing tourists.

In South Africa it’s possible to combine, in one day, the sights of the Garden Route, the Bushveld, Sun City, Durban and even the Wild Coast with a round of golf. Transport between resort or hotel and club is easy and affordable and the non-golfing spouse is spoilt for choice of activities while the partner plays.

Overseas golfers are often as amazed by the low green fees as they are dazzled by the beauty and condition of South African courses. In this country it is possible to play championship courses that have hosted the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington, stately old gems like the Durban Country Club and newer courses in spectacular locations such as Leopard Creek in Mpumalanga, Phezula on the Garden Route and Pearl Valley in the Western Cape. At several courses, famously Hans Merensky and Zebula, the golfer often shares the course with wild animals.

When Natalie George isn’t running her business, Khululeka Travels, or is with her family, the 34-year-old Capetonian likes nothing more than playing golf, an addiction she shares with her husband and now even her five-year-old son.

Today based in Johannesburg, Natalie has been running Khululeka from the garage of her Northcliff home for the last five years. The business’s name is Zulu for “being free” and that, says Natalie, is exactly how Khululeka makes her feel. “I was stagnating in my job. I was temping and going nowhere. I’ve always had a passion for people and I really wanted to start my own business. I believed that I had it within me to offer a really exceptional level of service.”

But before she got the chance to show how good her service levels could be, Natalie recalls, there were an initial, nervous couple of months when she had no clients and sat at home “hoping and praying that the phone would ring”. Then she decided to take on the corporate market and suddenly Khululeka’s fortunes changed.

The business today offers a full booking service, including accommodation and flights and transfers, as well as conferences and event management. About 40% of turnover is outbound overseas travel. Corporates and government clients appreciate the boss’s commitment to personal service. “I have three ladies working for me out of the double garage we converted into offices,” says Natalie, “but clients often tell me when I contact that them that this is the first time they’ve spoken to the owner of an agency. They also appreciate that, when things go wrong, as they sometimes do in travel, that we will move heaven and earth to sort them out right away. It doesn’t matter whether it was our fault or theirs or somebody else’s; we make a plan.”

It was her love of golf and the exposure she has had to facilities throughout South Africa that convinced Natalie and husband Dennis (who is a regular business traveller) to offer golfing tour packages. “In the old days golf wasn’t something that was played by black and coloured people. Now everyone is playing it and South Africans and overseas people are discovering how fantastic our courses are,” says Natalie.

On his overseas travels, she adds, Dennis has experienced for himself how expensive golf can be, relative to South Africa. “For foreign visitors, playing golf here is extremely reasonable. They also get good, friendly service.”

Natalie adds that she was still playing golf when she was four months pregnant and, now that her son is growing up, she is about to venture back onto the golf course herself.

With a solid track record and a raft of loyal clients, two years ago Natalie approached TEP for help in branching out into golf travel. “We mapped out the business plan together but I still needed to keep my eye on my existing business,” she explains. “Now, through TEP’s Management Development Programme, they’re helping me move from planning to implementation; they’re putting me in touch with consultants who will turn this dream into reality. It’s a very exciting phase and I’m extremely happy to have such support from TEP.”
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