Making a virtue of necessity, not being afraid to be a little cheeky and all of that with a good dose of optimism. In short, these are the ingredients of the successful start of Pelikaan Hillegom ten years ago. The strong bond between Wanda van den Berg (who has been part of the team for 18 years) and Renate Hoogervorst and Sandra Vermolen (who have been colleagues for 37 years) plays an important role in the success story. The travel agency in Hillegom, which was still in danger of going under in 2013, recently celebrated its tenth anniversary under the flag of Pelikaan Reizen, owned by the well-known Brabant entrepreneur John Goverde. An appointment to catch up on ten years of Pelikaan Hillegom is quickly made. At the suggestion of Renate and Sandra, it will be Friday afternoon, because it is easier to talk at ‘the Friday afternoon drinks’ than with a cup of coffee on Monday morning, or so the reasoning goes. John Goverde has moved his bi-weekly visit to his office in Hillegom to Friday afternoons for the occasion. Let’s go back to the beginning. With the bankruptcy of Oad in 2013, the curtain also falls for the Globe Travel Agencies, a chain that also includes the thriving travel agency in Hillegom. Shortly after the bankruptcy, there was initially good news, because the former Globe office was taken over by D-reizen. However, all employees must reapply. The good news: all six team members from that time are hired. The bad news: the team is broken up and the colleagues are placed in different offices. ‘As a team, we were not happy with this’, say Renate and Sandra. Being able to work together as colleagues was and is an important source of job satisfaction for the team members of Pelikaan Hillegom. Renate and Sandra have been working together as colleagues for 37 years. “In my opinion, they would be jealous of this,” Sandra says with a broad smile. 
Photo: Team Pelikaan (from left to right): Sandra Vermolen, Wanda van den Berg, Renate Hoogervorst and Denise Ruigrok. The former team, with Renate, Wanda and Sandra, decided to take matters into their own hands in 2013. In order to be able to stay together as a team, they want to continue independently, but in collaboration with an existing party. The choice fell on John Goverde, who has a number of successful travel agencies in Brabant with his Pelikaan Reizen. Renate and Sandra know Goverde from a winner’s trip of the Travel Agency of the Year election of TravMagazine in Andalusia, Spain. During this trip, they share a convertible with him for a few days. There is an immediate click. When asked if he had to think long and hard about the proposal of the ladies from Hillegom, Goverde says: ‘I had to think about it for a while, because this travel agency in Hillegom would be the only one in my chain that is not located in Brabant. But Renate and Sandra had a good business plan, with the most important point being that the office would hold up its own pants. Moreover, I had always kept in touch with both of them after the winner’s trip. I had confidence in our collaboration.’ A revenue model is agreed with the four former team members, whereby they are employed, but also share in the profits. Ten years later, Renate, Sandra, Wanda and John look back on a successful collaboration, which is also going well in the business field. “Fiscal year 2023 is the best we’ve ever had,” says Sandra. “The large number of loyal customers is our strength. Many a café would be jealous of what our regular customers spend with us.’ When asked if she regrets the bold step of ten years ago, Renate replies resolutely: ‘Not for a moment. It’s remarkable how it turned out. First you are in sackcloth and ashes because you are suddenly without a job through no fault of your own, and then it turns out so well in the end. Sandra: ‘John is very positive and open to ideas. If you have a well-founded plan, you can go ahead.’ Didn’t you consider starting as a ZRA ten years ago? Renate: ‘We thought about it, but we quickly let go of that idea. We are travel agency people. Moreover, we wanted to continue working together as colleagues.’ Sandra: ‘As a ZRA, you are completely busy with your work 24 hours a day. We are already struggling to keep the work within limits. A while ago we were forced to decide to keep the store closed until 13:00 on weekdays due to the large crowds, because we have to sort out and get rid of a lot of bookings. That would be temporary, but that situation is still there. We now have a team of four people, divided into 3.3 FTEs, but that is not enough. We are urgently looking for colleagues. The fact that we had the best year ever here in 2023 with the smallest line-up ever indicates that we have not been idle.’ Pelican Hillegom, or rather the people who work there, has a high goodwill factor in the region. This is due in no small part to the enthusiasm of the team members. “At every travel agency, it’s all about the people behind the counter,” says Sandra. “Over the years, we have built up a close relationship with our regular customers. Many people from Hillegom know us. We are even approached at the supermarket and the bakery about a holiday that people want to book with us. There’s a lot of word-of-mouth advertising.’ Read the full interview in this week’s TravMagazine #17. ́At every travel agency, it’s all about the people behind the counter ́ Photo: The team of Pelikaan Hillegom (from left to right): Renate Hoogervorst, Denise Ruigrok (who has been employed for a few months), Sandra Vermolen and John Goverde. Not pictured: Wanda van den Berg.
