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Our very own and talented Emilia who works with our design has decided to do a careershift.

We know from experience she´s one incredible chef and I always thought she should start her own restaurant.

So we offered her to start an inhouse restaurant at the Travelstart offices for our staff.

Luckily she accepted and from March 1st all Travelstart staff will be blessed by her incredible dishes.

Heres the first menu.

Can´t wait I´m hungry

Travelstart is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in business this year.  During the month of September Stephan Ekbergh, our CEO, was sharing one story every day from our history (go here to have a read). We are now looking into a new decennium with great excitement, and lots of new things are to come. Travelstart is stepping up in our aim to communicate the true Travelstart spirit. One of our major areas of focus is and will be to learn more about you, our customers, so that we can improve your experience with us.

During September, when our official celebration was going off, we ran a survey on our website and had 20 lucky winners for airfare tickets to 10 global destinations. The survey gave us tons of interesting insights, for example that over 50 % would rather get the swine flu than loosing their luggage.  This story generated a lot of media attention, you can have a look at a fraction of it here. We thought this was such an interesting result, as it again proves how much we as travelers value things to function properly. Reality is that traveling is often a hassle and time consuming. This is why we, as travel agents and providers in the first step of the travel process, want to do our best and improve where possible. That is why we love to get feedback and hear from you.

Anyone curious about some of the other results we got? Have a look below, click on the small images to enlarge :-)

Travelstart started trading on Sept 10 in 1999. Some months later I sold it to a German online discounter for close to 10 mio USD. That same company ran out of money a year and a half later and declared default.  Declaring default in some parts of the world might not be a big thing but for a German declaring default is like getting his testicles cut off.

So when I tried to rescue the same company that I had sold there were some jealous souls at the mother company who tried with everything in their power to prevent me. Jealousy is a strong force not only in Sweden. But I thought I had all the rights in the world, after all I sold a company and was never paid.

My drivers were simple; I wanted to save the company, I didn’t want to declare bankruptcy and I wanted revenge.  After 18 months with owners that basically only thought about money I wanted to do something different. That different could be anything but I thought building a great travel company could be worth the effort.

I tried to negotiate with the German estate lawyers to buy Travelstart back, but they would simply not listen. They wanted to take the little money that was in our bank account and screw all the customers. I could see the headlines in the press: well known travel entrepreneur Stephan Ekbergh leaves thousands of travellers stranded or something like that. Press loves stories like that.

The company had millions in debts and I knew that buying the company would jeopardize everything for me. But I was never one who cared about playing things safe. I had seen what gazillions in venture capital could do and I wasn’t impressed. I thought I could do much better trying my own luck. The lawyers fought hard trying with all kind of tricks to secure the cash flow in Travelstart. But they were not successful.

After a months dogfight about the money that we needed to keep things running I was almost ready to give in. They simply would not sell me the company and they tried several times to declare us bankrupt, but I refused.

I contacted Mannheimer Swartling a prestigious lawyer firm in Malmö, Sweden, and asked if they could help. They contacted their Frankfurt office that gave the assignment to one of their partners. To everyone’s surprise this partner was also tennis buddy with the lawyer who I was dog fighting with.

After a week of strategy talk we agreed on a price and my lawyer presented this fair price to the lawyer handling the bankruptcy estate. He refused but finally gave in during a tennis game. The final approval came in the sauna at the tennis club. My lawyer called me as I was out horseback riding. I still remember how happy I felt sitting there smelling horseshit.

Some days later we signed the papers and we were on to new ventures.

Come back tomorrow for more Travelstart stories

The Travelstart team played Survivor as our team building exercise at La Med, Camps Bay Cape Town.

We were put through our paces in a number of activities to prove our mental & physical prowess & we had great fun in the process.

And the day ended off with a Col'Cacchio high note!

Travelstart angels - Priya Raghavan, Charlene Pereira and Diana Coetzee

Four months ago, three Travelstarters sat down for lunch and struck up a conversation, which ended in tears of laughter. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that no doubt will last a lifetime.

From this friendship, began the glimmer of an idea - to give back to our community and to help those in need.  Circumstances and events enforced this idea and we made up our minds to start a charity drive to give back, expand consciousness, create awareness and essentially create a platform for other Travelstarters to get involved.

Months of hard work, laughter & planning culminated in today - 7th August 2009 - the day we presented our initiative to our management team who, as it turns out, are as excited about this as we are. Today marks the day that Travelstart angels - our charity initiative, finally gets its wings.

We will be putting this plan in motion and continuing our journey and we cannot wait to share our experiences and joys with all of you. Watch this space...

Much love,
Travelstart angels

Have you ever wondered how you can make a difference? Now you can!

Join up and be part of Earth Hour an initiative from
WWF (World Wildlife Fund), where you can help take
a stand against Climate Change. To take part in Earth
Hour you commit to switching off your lights for one
hour - simple huh? In South Africa Earth Hour will take
place this Saturday, 28 March at 20:30.

Earth Hour's ambition is to unite the world with a common goal; to save our
precious planet against climate change. By adding your name to the cause
you will help in pushing a Climate Control legislation passed at the Climate
Change Conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.

This year 37 national capitals will take part in this global drive against climate
change, including London, Sydney & Hong Kong with South Africa being
represented by Johannesburg, Cape Town & Durban.

Our local celebrities are also involved. Big names such as; March Lottering,
The Parlotones, Leon Schuster, Freshly Ground & Ryk Neetling, to name
but a few. Even our president, Kgalema Motlanthe along with Archbishop
Desmond Tutu have joined up in support. To check out other participants
please visit www.earthhour.org.za/participants.php

The world's most famous landmarks will be dropped into darkness as a
show of support for Earth Hour: Table Mountain, Christ the Redeemer (in
Rio de Janeiro), Sydney's Opera House, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
& even the world's current tallest building, the Taipei 101.

Travelstart feels very strongly with issues relating to our environment & has
signed up to support this important issue. It's easy & will only take a minute.
Go out and spread the word. Ensure your friends are aware of Earth Hour - 
it's all our responsibility to protect our precious Earth.

Take the Travelstart challenge & sign up today.
Together we can make a difference.

Sign-up HERE

109 kilometres, 30 000 cyclists, a
brutal 65 km/ph wind & pelting
sandstorms all assured the 32nd
Cape Argus Pick 'n' Pay Cycle Tour
would go down in the record as one of
the most challenging cycle races yet.
Despite cyclists having to hold onto their
handlebars for dear life while others were
swept completely off their bikes, the race
still attracted a great number of participates.
 
The race is hosted by the beautiful Cape & kicks off from the Foreshore &
runs to Simon's Town, 'round the picturesque Chapman's Peak Drive,
through Camps Bay where it finishes at Sea Point.

Travelstart's very own Nazmie Ismail and Frederic Bonfils (who didn't even
have a bike up until 2-days before the race) took part in this remarkable event,
both finishing within a 6-hour mark.


Even Tinsel town was to be seen between the excited participants as the
actor Matt Damon and his brother Kyle took part in their very first Cape
Argus. Damon was supporting former Springbok captain, François Pienaar's,
charity drive MAD [make a difference]. Pienaar was also taking part in the
race along side local celebrities supporting charitable causes.
www.themadbunch.org.za

Nazmie was fortunate enough to be able to ride next to Matt Damon & he
told Nazmie that he was enjoying the race & all was going good so far.
Nazmie even managed to get a quick snapshot of hunky Matt (otherwise
the girls in the office would never have forgiven him) before he got back to
the tiring mission of finishing the race.


From steep Wynberg Hill to the long stretches at Smithswinkel, our
Travelstart riders did us proud & can claim a successful Cape Argus
Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour under their belts. Congratulations boys, you can
truly call yourself the "riders of the tar"

With all this excitement I might start training for next year's race - never know
I might just rub shoulders with a celebrity. Mmmm...let's hope it's Brad Pitt.

At Travelstart the storks have blessed us with a new talented arrival to our
Travelstart family.Jodie Fredericks joined the team last Monday. Over a
steaming cuppa I got to find out a little more about her:

Jodie's first ambition was to be
journalist. When asked how she
decided to join the travel industry she
laughed & said that the trade chose her
 having been bitten by the travel bug. It's
a partnership she hasn't regretted as it's
a business where there's never a dull
moment & where hard-work offers
great rewards.

One of her highlights was a 3-night stay at the 5* Cape Grace Hotel. She
fondly remembers her stay in the lap of luxury.

Jodie is currently knee-deep with wedding plans with her big day scheduled
on 19th of December. Best of luck with all the grand preparations.Just a little
trivia about our Jodie; she hates oysters with a passion, we can assume they
will not be featured on the wedding menu, but she is totally addicted to Coke -
the stuff in the red can - & says she's can't go a day without her fix.

When asked what Jodie would like to say to all her adoring fans out there,she
said she would just like to inspire them with these words:
"Even when you stand alone, stand anyway" - Anonymous

So a BIG welcome from the Travelstart team & we all look forward to
working with you.

The man clung to the window ledge of
the 7th floor, helpless to stop the
flames that where engulfing the office
building. Smoke billowed around him
with fear etched on his face.  He took
a deep breath & prepared to jump to
safety of the fire fighter net below...Cut!

No need to be alarmed, as this was all
staged for a TV advert.

With its perfect weather, beautiful
locations, internationally acclaimed
crews & not to mention a favourable
exchange rate, Cape Town is alive
with film crews during the summer,
shooting international & local
commercials throughout the city & its
surrounds.

Travelstart was fortunate enough to be involved in the making of
one of these 30-second master pieces.

The Twin Film Group who are based in Cape Town,
with their special effects & stunt team, invaded our offices last Thursday
with smoke machines, fans, actors, stunt-doubles, crew & tons of filming
equipment. We supplied the longitude, latitude & fun attitude to make
it all possible.

The Travelstart 7th floor offices were the perfect height with the authentic
Manhattan look (think of the Will & Grace red brick building) for their
advert for New Yorker clothing company.It's amazing how much work goes
into these commercials & Travelstart was more than willing to lend a
helping hand or in this case, a window.

Long Street was cordoned off; there
were film crew & extras all along the
street below.You could hear the
director shouting over his loud speaker:
"LIGHTS, CAMERA... ACTION"
that provided a real Hollywood feel.

It was great to be part of all the glitz, glamour & excitement with the
opportunity to get up close & personal allowing a glimpse behind
the scenes on how commercials are actually made.

Ever want to sail off into the sunset and
live happily ever after? I know what your
thinking, what Disney movie did I walk
out of, right?

Ok I know fairy tales don't always come
true, however most of us can have a
taste of paradise, even if it is only for a
weekend.

My fellow Travelstarter Kathleen De Bruyn & her hubby were spoiled by
Starlight Cruises with a romantic Valentine's weekend cruise aboard the
impressive 541 foot, 17 095 ton floating hotel MSC Rhapsody. The cruise
was from 'Cape Town to Nowhere' for 2 blissful nights they were
whisked away from the realities of life. Having been wined, dined,
entertained by top international performers they were totally spoilt for choice.
 

Kathleen's most memorable moment was "Each evening my husband & I
would go to the upper-deck. Beneath the beautiful kaleidescope of stars
we would gaze over the dark waves. Those were such magical moments,
being surrounded by the beauty of the night literally in the middle of nowhere."

The MSC Rhapsody has now left the Cape's shores & will be visiting
Mozambique & her islands until 14th April when it will set sail to the Med.

Call Travelstart on 0861 878 278 (select option 3) for further information on
local & international cruises.