A GOLDEN JUBILEE OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO AFRICA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY
(Posted 19th January 2015)
Reaching the half century milestone in any career in this day and age is no mean achievement and staying in the same industry for a full 50 years is almost unheard of. Yet, Derek Houston of Houston Marketing accomplished this almost with ease, cruising through the years and like vintage wine getting better with age.
Derek is no stranger to East Africa where he is well known across the entire East African Community as a stalwart promoter and marketer of our tourism services. His ‘Spotlight on Africa’ workshops before or after major trade fairs have helped to open up the Eastern European markets as well as Scandinavia for companies able to use his platforms to promote their services. Workshops across the key African markets, from the big cities in South Africa over Lusaka, Harare, Gabarone, Windhoek, Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Nairobi to Kampala have equally allowed the local entrepreneurs to ‘get on board’ and learn how best to showcase their companies to new and emerging markets in a professional manner.
Wrote Derek when asked to say a few words about this golden jubilee anniversary:
‘On January 15th 2015 I will have been involved in the travel industry for 50 year. I started my career on January 15th 1964 in Pretoria with S.A.TOURISM and also worked in the Harare Zimbabwe Satour office.
In 1969 I joined Trafalgar Tours in Johannesburg as Sales Manager and in 1972 I travelled overseas to London to broaden my travel experience.
I spent three interesting years in London working for a number of travel agencies and tour operators.
I returned to South Africa in 1975 where I worked for Thomas Cook Travel as Assistant Branch Manager and as Branch Manager of Jet International Travel in Johannesburg.
In 1979 I transferred to Sunshine Tours as Marketing Director where I spent 4 years helping to build up the company into a major outbound wholesaler and in expanding its product range significantly.
But in 1984, I felt it was time to do my own thing and that is when I started Houston Travel Marketing Services and we are still here 31 years later!!
Derek clearly has no plans to take it easy yet and after opening the mandatory bottle of champagne for a celebratory toast returned straight to his desk. Next month he has two workshops in Gaborone and Lusaka before setting off to attend his umpteenth ITB in Belin. In June he is organizing yet another Spotlight on Africa workshop in Kampala and plans are already being set in motion for his Spotlight Nordics Roadshow in late November, allowing WTM participants to use their presence in Europe to get some added marketing mileage out of that trip.
From this correspondent go the best wishes to Derek, who has become a close friend over the years, for many more years of dedicated service to marketing Africa as tourism’s last frontier to the world.
Added information about Houston Marketing can be found by clicking on www.houstonmarketing.co.
