Phil Hoffmann Travel has its sights set on growing turnover to $210 million
PHIL Hoffmann travel intends cruising to a $210 million turnover in the next five years.
AFTER posting a $130 million turnover in the past financial year, Adelaide company Phil Hoffmann Travel is now setting its sights on the $210 million mark within the next five years.
Chief executive officer Peter Williams said the outbound travel company had managed eight per cent growth meaning it had managed to see year-on-year growth for all but one year of its 25 year history.
The exception, he said, was 2003 at the height of the SARS virus outbreak that triggered a global fall in travel.
Mr Williams attributed the family-owned agency’s strong growth partly to its strong cruise branch, it was the first in the country to establish a dedicated cruise section in 1996.
The move paid off, with Mr Williams saying cruising was the company’s fastest growing travel segment with typical travellers moving on from the older category to now including families and young singles depending on the offerings aboard different ships.
“Nationally, more than one million Australians went on a cruise last year, up 20 per cent on the previous year,” Mr Williams said.
Other areas of growth included the agency’s business travel section started in 1991 that was experiencing growth with Thomas Foods International one of the more recent clients to join Phil Hoffmann Travel.
Its key client pillars were businesses in the manufacturing industry, liquor industry, particularly around wine, and education.
The agency now employed 170 staff and also bought two regional travel agencies last year, boosting its sites to 10 with the regional offerings based in Victor Harbor and Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley.
“Over the next five years we’ll look to take on an extra 50 to 60 staff in South Australia as we continue to grow our market share,” Mr Williams said.
But there were no plans to move interstate with Mr Williams saying there was more room for growth in South Australia.
“We’ve worked very hard on our brand for the past 25 years and it’s very strong in South Australia”.
GOING FOR GROWTH IS AN ADVERTISER SERIES, PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NAB, CHAMPIONING AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS SUCCESS STORIES.