Meet 5 amazing women leading Rennies’ travel management

The travel industry has long been recognised as a female empowered realm where most of the workforce consists of women. More significantly most leadership roles are dominated by charismatic, inspiring women who are spearheading successful travel businesses.

To mark Women’s month in South Africa, we’re celebrating the trailblazing women that keep the wheels turning at Rennies BCD travel.

Meet them here.

Lidia de Olim Folli – CEO, BidTravel

Rennies BCD Travel falls under the Bidvest Travel Holdings cluster, led by trailblazer Lidia de Olim Folli, who exemplifies the strength and resilience of women in this sector. Lidia has successfully guided Bidvest Travel Holdings (Africa’s largest travel management group), since 2017. Her leadership and innovation have shaped the future of the travel industry and has poised the brand to lead the way in innovative travel solutions and delivering exceptional service to its clients across Africa. As a champion for gender diversity and empowerment, Lidia is a member of Women in Business Forum. She also contributed to the Group’s social responsibility projects, which include a focus on skills development and empowerment initiatives. Her leadership style exemplifies BidTravel’s core values of honesty, integrity and professionalism.

Gillian Ismail – HR Director, BidTravel

Gillian is an expert in driving transformation initiatives that focus on progressive HR practices and strategies aimed at building organisational capability. Her positive approach to people, as well as her strategic and collaborative nature, ensures that HR practices and strategies are simultaneously responsive to the business drivers and focused on the development of the individual employee, making her a leading player in the African business landscape.

Desiree Reveley – General Manager, Rennies BCD Travel

Desiree is a versatile and highly motivated leader whose in-depth industry expertise, knowledge of trends, technologies and best practices enables her to drive continuous innovation within Rennies BCD Travel. Throughout her career she has excelled in various leadership roles, nurturing team growth and driving the development and execution of organisational strategies. This expertise translates into efficient operations and exceptional service delivery for our clients.

Lynn Howarth

Lynn has spent decades in strategic management of Operations and her experience was instrumental in helping the business to seamlessly transition to a hybrid workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic. She has been instrumental in spearheaded the introduction of a 24-hour travel call centre in South Africa, implementing the first Online Booking Tools in the market and cross border service teams in Africa during her tenure and now successful runs the Meetings & Events portfolio.

Michelle Flint – Head of Customer Solutions, Rennies BCD Travel

As the Head of Customer Solutions, Michelle has successfully managed both regional and global travel accounts, as well as individual travel business units, driving revenue growth and ensuring overall client satisfaction. Additionally, Michelle has a track record of successful implementation of various leading travel technologies into client business spaces, bringing benefits to all stakeholders. Michelle’s expertise lies in her process and solution-focused approach to management, along with her highly technical and agile execution style. The result is a solution-focused approach to travel management that meets client’s expectation.

These amazing women are a force to be reckoned with who are shaping the industry day-by-day and inspiring future generations of women to follow their dreams and pursue leadership roles in their careers.