‘We don’t have any big celebrations planned, it’s a busy year and with our diverse business we always have a lot to celebrate,’ says managing director Dave Williams.
Williams was speaking at the House of Travel Conference on Saturday when a large number of team members were recognised for high achieving sales levels (including gold and platinum status). The agency was named best performing store for HOT Product land and senior agent Belinda Fifield topped things off by taking the title of overall consultant of the year.
Willilams says the company started as ‘two boys from Flight Centre’, grew quickly into a large business and had about 30 staff heading into the Covid years. These days HOT Christchurch City has a solid team of about 20 full-time staff members.
Highlights have included being the OTA for 2011 Rugby World Cup, forming New Zealand Olympic Travel, plus a string of successes with HOT Events – which was born in 2000 with a 5000 participant IBM conference in Christchurch. The company has won numerous ‘top shop’ titles with HOT over the years as well as being a regular visitor to the podium during TAANZ National Travel Industry Awards.
The team also has some poignant and challenging times to reflect on.
‘After the Christchurch earthquake we had to put half of the office in Auckland and the other half in an old butcher shop in Hornby, but we survived and we were back a year later in our offices (in Victoria Street). Covid was no different, the company was handling the Tokyo Olympics.
‘We spent two tough years managing refunds and client expectations with no income. We got through to the other end – I credit this to our resilient team.
‘The exceptional customer service that the team provides is at the heart of everything we do. It’s always clients first. We understand that the small details matter – whether people are travelling for business, leisure, or a major event, we take pride in delivering a seamless, personalised experience every time,’ adds Wiiliams. ‘We are not your usual travel office – we are always thinking outside the box. Being the first choice for so many travellers is a privilege.’
Williams describes the last 30 years as an amazing and crazy journey. He also credits the vision of HOT’s founder Chris Paulsen and the team-first mentality. ‘We have had some wonderful characters pass through these doors over the years but it is the 20-years plus ‘veterans’such as Chris and Belinda Fifield, Sarah Henderson, Victoria Wales, Louise Stephens and business partner Megan McCall’s stewardship that is the corner stone.’
‘It is great to reflect on what we have achieved but we cannot wait to see what we can achieve in the next 10 years.’