Moeketsi Mosola, CE of the tourism division of industrial giant Imperial, has big plans to grow the tourism portfolio, including launching a metered taxi business and expanding its touring and coach business, Springbok Atlas. The appointment of Mosola in July last year confirmed Imperial's intention to build its tourism division, despite selling its 61,8% stake in Tourvest - to a consortium including Guma Tourism and management - for R1,7bn last year. What remains in the car rental and tourism division is Europcar, Tempest Care Hire, Springbok Atlas, Imperial Chauffeur Drive and Grosvenor Tours. In the six months to end-December the division turned over R1,4bn, translating into an operating profit of R169m. "Imperial never intended to get out of tourism," says Mosola of the Tourvest sale. "What has changed is Imperial's strategy. We want businesses that are asset light and provide good margins. "While there were very good parts of Tourvest there were other businesses that did not fit Imperial's strategy. For example, restaurants are difficult to manage and provide small margins. We also did not want to be involved in forex as we are not a banking group. However, there are other exciting opportunities we are looking at." It was with this expansion in mind that Imperial recruited Mosola.

Mosola quit as CEO of SA Tourism 18 months before his contract with the marketing organisation was due to come to an end. "After eight years I was worn out," he says. "All the plans for the World Cup were in place and we had a great team in place to carry on from where I left off. "I did not have the energy to continue for another 18 months and I believed that the organisation needed fresh leadership," says Mosola. He decided he would take time off to travel the world with his three children. But it was not long before Imperial approached him to run their tourism division. "At first I was not keen to get back into the hectic corporate world, but in the end they wore down my resolve and I agreed to take the position," says Mosola. It appears the six-month break has done his energy a world of good. After six months in the job, Mosola is due to launch Imperial's metered taxi business as soon as the Department of Transport approves the plans. "We expect an answer any day now," says Mosola. Using the skills and infrastructure built up in the car rental division, Imperial hopes to bring a new scale and professionalism to the metered taxi industry, which has until now been dominated by smaller groups. "We see a huge, underserved market that lies somewhere between those who use minibus taxis at the lower end and Imperial Chauffeur Drive at the top end," says Mosola. "There is also huge demand from tourists who currently accounted for about 40% of metered taxi business."

The group will begin with a fleet of about 300 vehicles in SA's three main cities. The business will use the existing systems of Europcar and Imperial Chauffeur Drive, which will ease the process of booking and paying for a taxi. "What we will bring is safety, well-trained drivers and reliability," he says. Another focus for Mosola and his team is the expansion of Springbok Atlas. The group, through Imperial's association with Hyundai, one of the main sponsors of the World Cup, has secured the Fifa contract to transport all 32 teams taking part in the tournament. Springbok will also transport soccer fans who have booked through UK travel agent Thomas Cook. The group has 120 coaches in its fleet and will bring a further 52 Hyundai buses into SA in order to meet demand over the World Cup period. On the touring side of Springbok's business, the group is working hard to increase its footprint in key markets such as the UK, France and Italy. "We are also re-establishing ourselves in Germany." Mosola is keen to expand Imperial's hospitality presence, possibly through acquisition. "Through Springbok we do a lot of the marketing for our hotel partners and we believe that we should benefit more from that. We are talking to various groups," he says. Imperial, says Mosola, should also increase its presence in sports and conferencing, and is eyeing possible acquisitions in the conferencing sector. Mosola believes the tourism sector has begun to recover in the past few months, and next year will see the return of strong growth. He now hopes that the group's plans will place it in a position to benefit from that growth - Business Day