RANE REGUSON

Owner/manager of Jetsetter Travel

AT THE ripe old age of 19, on 7 January, 2013, Rane Reguson opened his own travel agency.

“Most people thought it was a crazy idea but now they see what a successful business I have created,” Rane says. But his passion for travel started much earlier than that.

“Still to this day, my parents remind me I was organising our travel arrangements at the young age of 12 years old.”

However travel wasn’t Rane’s first pick. “My dream was to become a news reporter. When I finished school I was accepted into university to study Journalism & Communication. That didn’t work out so I returned home, spent a few months working in my parents’ business, saved some money and gained my travel agency licence. Before I knew it the doors of Jetsetter Travel were open to the public.”

He launched into the industry head on, and it seems he’s showing no signs of slowing down, telling travelbulletin he’s the first in the office and works most weekends catching up on emails, doing website design, planning marketing campaigns, tidying up from the past week and planning for the week ahead. “I like to spend time with my family and friends and chat about our week over a nice dinner and a glass or two of wine. If we aren’t discussing business, we are talking travel – we live and breathe it,” he says.

Rane speaks highly of his preferred partners’ BDMS and highly recommends building strong relations with reps. “You never

I have been my own teacher from day one and I learn something new day’ every

know when you might need them. It helps in a crisis but it also helps grow business.”

He also recommends up-and-comers “stay focused, positive and most importantly organised” and embrace social media.

“Most of us are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin etc and it is one of the greatest selling tools. Get yourself and your business a hashtag and leverage from this on all posts. It will help grow your business. It’s a good tip for being one step ahead!”

Rane is confident that dedicated, honest and genuine travel specialists will keep retail travel strong – pointing to the internet as the biggest challenge for the industry as a whole.

“It’s all about personalised service – all clients need to be treated like VIPS – from the moment of first contact, throughout the booking process right through to the documentation delivery and bon voyage message,” Rane says.

Most memorable moment: Winning the inaugural Emirates Travel Consultant Scholarship at the 2014 NTIAS.

Favourite part of the job: Creating people’s dreams and learning new things every day.

First thing you do when you get to work: I check my emails, clear up the to-do-list for the day ahead and check on sales reports.