From giving away fruit baskets to brand new cars... Willem witnessed the rise of FCTG South Africa from the ground up.
From giving away fruit baskets to brand new cars… Willem witnessed the rise of Flight Centre South Africa from the ground up - an experience he will cherish forever. Despite leaving 16 years ago, Willem can still fondly recall his time at FCTG and the many memories he’s kept close since.
Willem started his Flight Centre journey with South Africa in 2001 working in an IT role for three years before moving into a Team Leader role as part of the Technology Operational team.
Willem now works as General Manager and Systems Development Manager for the largest Digital Signage Company in South Africa.
While reflecting on his time at FCTG, Willem calls attention to the amazing people he has met including Karen Janssen; who hired him, Shane Flynn; the country leader for South Africa at that time, as well as Ilse Rall who has since moved to Australia and has recently started back in the Australian recruitment team after being on stand down.
Willem also recalls being moved by Graham “Skroo” Turner, during one of Skroo’s routine visits to South Africa. Willem relives being shocked when the CEO and Founder of such a large global company remembered (in Willem’s own words) “the little IT guy from Johannesburg.”
“At the time I started working, Flight Centre had approximately 6000 staff members worldwide. Whenever he came to visit, [Skroo] always remembered my name. That in itself was mind-blowing and showed me that I was working at a truly amazing company,” Willem says.
What Willem loved most about working at Flight Centre was the value that was placed on its people and their ‘brightness of future’. Everyone belongs to a family, village and tribe and this supportive work community provides an exciting and challenging career path with personal and professional growth always a core focus.
Willem also considers himself extremely lucky to witness such passion and exponential growth in his home country of South Africa.
“[We] went from awarding the top consultant a fruit basket to giving away a car and a trip around the world!”
Even now, 16 years on from when Willem moved away from his Flight Centre family, he still stays in touch with old colleagues and always cherishes the moments they shared together.
“The biggest career mistake I ever made was leaving the Flight Centre. Hopefully, I will be able to be part of the FC team again in future,” Willem tells.
Related stories
With FCTG’s host of brands, Sarah was able to find her BOF while pursuing her passion
Healthwise
Sarah launched her Flight Centre Travel Group career in 2008 as a Travel Sales Consultant at Flight Centre West End in Brisbane. While she worked full time in her role,...
Calling all travel experts to join the industry's most exclusive club
Australia
Corporate
Leisure
Our corporate customers now have access to the latest industry deals on both their business and leisure travel, thanks to the recently revamped ‘Leisure Club’ and our global network of...
Flight Centre combats the complexities of modern-day travel with tailored service offerings for its customers
Australia
Leisure
The complexities of post-COVID travel have only reinforced the value of expert travel managers and advisors. To combat this, Flight Centre has strengthened its offerings to its customers with several...
It’s in our DNA. We like to keep it in the family. Whether you are a former Flightie or travel industry professional, register your details to get prioritised access in the job queue and be the first to receive job alerts from FCTG.
For seventy years, Liberty Travel has been a pillar of the travel community. Since opening its first store in Times Square in 1951, Liberty’s mission has been making leisure travel accessible for families, couples, groups, and solo travelers from ...
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is one of the world’s largest travel retailers and corporate travel managers. The company, which is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia has company-owned leisure and corporate travel business in 23 countries, spa...
Australia's leading boutique luxury travel agency is in search of our next Experienced Travel Consultant to work in our business located in Newcastle, NSW.
At Flight Centre, we are well known for our vibrant culture, fun people, global footprint and exciting career opportunities – plus we get to sell the most exciting and best product on the planet – TRAVEL!
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is one of the world’s largest travel retailers and corporate travel managers. The company, which is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia has company-owned leisure and corporate travel business in 23 countries, spa...
Join our Alumni network! We'll keep you up to date with roles and news that could be of interest.
This website uses cookies which personalise content such as job recommendations and analyse our traffic. You consent to our cookies if you click "I Accept". If you click on "I Do Not Accept", then we will not use cookies but you may have a deteriorated user experience. You can change your settings by clicking on the Settings link on the top right of the device. You can view our Privacy Policy here
Manage Consent Preferences
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.