Industry mourns loss of corporate travel personality

Digby Johnson, founder of TravelWorks, died on September 19. He was well known in the industry, having worked at Seekers Travel and Budget Rent a Car. In 2001, he founded TravelWorks, consulting with corporate and public sector clients to cut travel expenditure. The model was based on negotiating contracts with suppliers that would deliver savings to the corporate in the place of paying overrides or commissions to agents.

Remembering Johnson, Jenny Poate of MMI Holdings, said: “Digby was not just a consultant, he was a friend with an amazing personality and incredible send of humour to many people. I was privileged to have worked with Digby for many years, he taught me everything I know today about travel and for that I will be eternally grateful. I was blessed to have Digby as a very special friend for 15 years, but it felt like we were friend forever. He will be sorely missed,”

“Digby challenged processes and systems with enough vigour to have suppliers turn on their heels and run out of his training sessions,” said Sharon Richards-Lund, sponsorship and marketing lead for GBTA Southern Africa. “However, if you stood your ground, like cats and enjoyed a single malt, it proved a most rewarding friendship. Digby was indeed the captain of his soul,” she added.

“Digby was a charismatic pioneer in the early days of corporate travel management ins South African,” said former Travel Buyer editor, Kim Cochrane. “At a time when the industry was reinventing itself and emotions were electric, he instilled confidence in our first generation of corporate travel buyers , motivating and empowering them to forge a successful, strategised path ahead in their newly emerging roles.”

source: T&M