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Melany Pugin, Product Owner
 


Haniel Travel

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DURBAN born and bred, as a girl, Melany Pugin always dreamt of travelling.

After graduating from college, she joined South African Airways, working for six years as a customer-service agent, in ticketing, public relations and various other roles. Then the wanderlust took over and Melany set out to see the world. For seven years she travelled relentlessly, visiting some 35 countries and working in Spain, Britain and the United States, always in the travel industry.

Finally, in 2006, it was time to come home and Melany joined a large hospitality group, putting the time she had worked for a cruiseship company in Florida to good effect as a cruise consultant.

By this time there was very little Melany didn’t know about the travel industry; she had experienced just about every facet of it, both in South Africa and overseas, and, she says, she “had an absolute passion for business”.

The logical next step was to use all of her experience to start her own business, which is what she did, in August 2007.

The name, Haniel, means “a favour from God” in Hebrew. Nowadays Haniel Travel Solutions is based on the Palm Boulevard next to Durban’s famous Gateway Mall. It has four full-time staff including Melany, all of them women. (The fact that they’re all women appeals to many customers who appreciate the “softer” touch and the one-on-one support they receive.)

Haniel Travel does airline fares and ticketing, car rental and accommodation bookings, transfers, cruises, tour packages, conferences and incentive tours, golf packages, leisure, business and pilgrimage travel and foreign exchange. If it involves travel, Haniel Travel does it. But, says Melany, “the one thing that sets us apart is our slogan: uncompromising personalised service. We go over and above what clients expect from us. We’re there for our clients 24 hours a day. We go out to the clients and will consult to them, make arrangements, in the comfort of their homes. We don’t just sit here in the store waiting for people to come past.”

When she’s not in the office Melany is either, as she says, going to see clients personally or travelling to visit partners in the travel industry, particularly in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Maputo. Haniel Travel works with a number of tour operators overseas, notably in the United States and Japan who, she says, are extremely keen to promote South Africa as a destination. Domestic tourism, she believes, has been an indirect beneficiary of the global economic slowdown. “South Africans are now very keen to explore their own country. They know that foreign visitors are coming in their thousands to South Africa and they’re beginning to realise that there is so much for them to see and do in their country.”

Walk-in customers planning family holidays are an important and valued part of Haniel Travel’s client base but the business also caters for large companies who appreciate that a skilled team of travel professionals can add value to their staff’s travel experience while significantly saving costs.

It is largely because of demand from the corporate sector, says Melany, that she is planning to expand Haniel’s footprint beyond KwaZulu-Natal, to Johannesburg and possibly to Cape Town. Apart from setting up dedicated offices in these cities, the business is seriously investigating opening travel desks at several hotels.

While the Internet has revolutionised travel, there are still many travellers who are reluctant to share their credit card details online and there is an abiding, even growing, awareness of the importance of value-added travel service, especially when things go wrong. “That’s what sets us apart,” says Melany. “Our clients feel that they know us, and that they can pick up the phone and ask us for help wherever they are or whatever time it may be.”

Joining TEP’s Management Development Programme, Melany believes, will be a great help in realising her plans to take Haniel to the next level. Already, she says, TEP has helped expose her business to key tourism role players, creating new partnerships and helping to bring Haniel to the attention of a broader audience than they could have achieved on their own.

As much as she still loves travelling herself, Melany says she derives the greatest satisfaction from knowing that her company has helped others to have a similarly good experience. “Once my parents asked why I was in a business that really didn’t pay that well. Now I think they understand that my passion in life is travel, travel and more travel.”
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