Interview with Michael Holthuysen, Cruisebrokers founder
30. Nov, 2009
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Tell us about yourself, when were you born and where are you based?
Cruisebrokers was born in 2009 after careful planning of over two years. The company is based in Durban.
What is your business all about and what inspired it?
Cruisebrokers South Africa is a new and exciting development that ensures service in the cruise industry that has never been found in Southern Africa before.
Based on 9 years experience as head of department onboard some of the most luxury ships the world has ever seen, travelling all 6 continents and every corner of the world – this first hand experience is now available for Southern African cruise guests and travel companies. And Cruisebrokers allows agents and individuals to book 28 cruise companies with one company.
Added to this are two travel professionals who together have more then 60 years experience of aviation, travel, hotel, cruise-ships and tour companies.
The inspiration of the company came from the fact that cruise travel is relatively untapped in South Africa and that most cruise agents only specialize in a few cruise companies and not a variety of them.
What were you doing before launching your business and when was it launched?
One of the members of the company was head of department on a number of world leading cruise-lines . With this experience we established a business possibility and after meticulous planning the company was launched in July 2009.
How much was invested in launching your business and how was that capital financed?
All capital invested into the company has come from savings – hence we did not need to look for finance to start the business. Our next strategy was to keep the overheads down to the minimum and ensure that every available cent is being used to market.
What planning did you engage before launching?
The main planning was to establish the market potential and to view what other companies were offering, ensure that our web presentation was up the moment the company was open, and to ensure that alliances and partnerships were formed with companies representing cruise-lines in South Africa and beyond.
How many people do you employ?
Currently we employ only four people, however with the expansion in 2010 and the start of a vigorous marketing campaign we are planning to grow the staff compliment in the new year.
Are there any major challenges that you had to overcome in launching your business?
There are a few challenges – the biggest we would say that the majority of South Africans do not really understand the concept of cruising yet, but this is a challenge where we would like to make more people understand that it is a convenient and inexpensive method to explore the world.
What is your cheapest cruise trip?
Our least expensive cruise trip is on offer for less then R 2000 on a true world class international vessel. Our least expensive fly/cruise voyage at present is a 8 day cruise in the Middle East that is on offer for R 9990 including flights.
Do you have offices outside South Africa?
We are planning to open two offices outside of South Africa next year, one situated in Houston / USA and the other in London / United Kingdom.
What are your short and long-term business plans?
Our short term business plan is to become an established name in the cruise and travel industry here in Southern Africa and to ensure that all those who work with us will see the difference in service and knowledge. The long term plans would be to find strong affiliations and even branches in other parts of Southern Africa and beyond – and to become the largest cruise broker in this region.
Is your business affected by the current economic climate?
To an extend the cruise market has also been affected by the current climate, but from booking levels for 2010 one can see that the trend has been reversed and we are certain that from next year the industry will be upbeat again.
What have been your business highlight(s) since launching?
Undoubtedly the first booking we made!
What three industry blogs do you read daily, to stay abreast of tourism trends?
The three industry blogs that we read daily are Travelnews, Cruise Community and Travelwires.
What gets you motivated each day?
Our biggest motivation we get from agents and clients who are happy and complimentary about our knowledge and the way we operate our business. And of course when cruise guests give us feedback about how much they liked their cruise experience.
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My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
Interesting interview,they seem to be planning a lot next year,would wait and see how things they planned go