Visitors get the personal touch from Magnetic South

By ELLEN READ

After nearly 20 years experience in the travel industry, Anne Wilks has found her niche.

She has worked for companies large and small but she believes her current company is the perfect blend.

Wilks is founder and managing director of Magnetic South, a joint venture with House of Travel which is one of New Zealand's largest travel retailers.

House of Travel has 88 retail travel shops, two wholesale companies and 800 staff. With just eight staff - and a Kiwi/Aussie couple in Burgundy who act as reps - Magnetic South operates independently but co-operatively within the larger business.

"Because House of Travel has the knowledge of tourism, it's like keeping it in the family. And it's great because they handle all the back-office stuff," Wilks said.

This means she no longer has to tackle things like accounts and IT problems - or outsourcing them.

The travel industry has always had a touch of glamour but Magnetic South ups the ante, offering specialised The Lord of the Rings tours and trips to visit the Whale Rider locations.

"The Lord of the Rings has been huge for New Zealand," Wilks said. "We still get lots of requests from people wanting to see where it was filmed. "In some ways it seems more important for Europeans than for New Zealanders. Perhaps we're just more used to it," she said of the challenge of trying to get locals to appreciate their own backyard.

"I'm a really passionate New Zealander. It's a really easy country to sell," Wilks says of the career she has built helping New Zealanders and visitors from overseas discover the country she loves.

Her parents were keen travellers and that rubbed off. She spent her 7th-form year on an exchange programme in Germany and also worked in Belgium.

"When I came home after a short time I started looking at my options. I looked at getting out of the industry but it was in my blood," Wilks said.

That was in 1999 and her solution was to start her own, home-based travel company.

Two years later, House of Travel managing director Chris Paulsen contacted her with an offer.

His company was focused on outbound travel - arranging overseas trips for New Zealanders - and he wanted to expand into the inbound market - organising travel and trips within New Zealand.

"He didn't want to get involved with an existing big company and I enjoy a challenge, so it was a good fit," Wilks said of the arrangement.

"I saw it as a fantastic opportunity because I was still working away in a bedroom in my house. I was enjoying what I was doing but if I wanted to make a big go of it, I had to change," Wilks said.

And the result suits her.

Being a small business means Magnetic South can give personal, customised service. And being in partnership with the House of Travel means Wilks can also take advantage of its buying power to get good deals and prices.

Her vision is to make the company the best around at what it does: "It's a matter of growing it and perfecting what we are already doing."

www.magneticsouth.co.nz