The cost of success can be more than what meets the eye. It takes an entrepreneur hours of strategic decision-making, a relentless attitude to do better, figuring out the most impact for a target market, and most importantly, monumental patience. But they still pursue entrepreneurship. Not just for the thrill in an uncalculated adventure, but also to leave behind a legacy that could inspire generations to come.
The editorial of Business Outreach Magazine often chooses to pursue an unconventional path of putting up pieces from great minds in the business fraternity. Rather than just settling on a feature on profits and a scalable business model, we tend to go the extra mile in portraying what motivation the entrepreneur deciphered within themselves that made them ultimately successful. Today’s feature is rather intriguing when it comes to defining resilience. Albert Fernando created Travelwings in 2016 to make travel and tourism accessible for emerging markets. And so far for now, they are doing a pretty phenomenal job.
Albert Fernando was born and brought up in Dubai. His mindset regarding doing business is very transparent, as he believes in learning while moving forward. He says that an entrepreneur, while he should be optimistic in starting a business, should also accept failure and shut down the business on any unfortunate event. That is how the entrepreneurial community grows. After 29 years in the travel and tourism industry, Albert Fernando has learned one thing: opportunities are always there; you just have to have the passion towards looking for them.
As a technology enthusiast, Albert has always leaned on innovation and solving market gaps in the target industry. The high school-educated visionary did not get a window to go to university but dipped himself into the explorative world of career building at just 17 years old. He started managing tickets at the counter, taking calls, and growing companies through his far-sightedness and leadership potential. When he built Travelwings, he ensured that accessibility was untapped for the customers. So he strategized to launch in emerging markets in Africa.
The editorial was enlightened with on-the-ground facts about markets in these regions. Albert identified a major flaw that no other e-commerce companies were solving. And that was very low credit card penetration. So the major crux of business growth, which starts at the payment gateway system, was broken. Albert Fernando added that while scaling Travelwings in these African regions, there was about 2.5% credit card penetration. To tackle this major issue, Albert and Travelwings collaborated with mobile payment solutions and banks to make transactions more transparent and accessible to the mass market.
The empowering entrepreneur takes up his company’s growth in Morocco, where the credit card penetration is severely low. He says that users can swipe their cards at an e-commerce platform or store for a maximum amount of 1,000 USD annually. But Albert has always been more interested in finding solutions rather than dwelling on setbacks. He strategized for Travelwings to partner with three to four exchange houses, which were dealing with about 5,800 outlets across Morocco. Users got the choice of booking a ticket online and receiving a token number, which they showed at these physical outlets by providing cash and got their tickets on their phones. And this seamless process required no franchise or any cumbersome process. Rather, Albert created hundreds of jobs for local people who are cherishing their association with Travelwings. Albert Fernando highlights Travelwings as a scaling global and local, or “glocal,” company.
Mr. Fernando stressed looking at the West and India about a decade ago. Back then travelling was far less than present numbers. This is what is happening now in Africa, where the 1.4 billion people are comprised mostly of individuals below 22 years of age. There is ample room for growth and scalability. This editorial can decipher that Travelwings is starting the evolution for the travel and tourism industry in Africa, which will be a blueprint for entrepreneurial success for other companies in the future. With wide open arms, Albert Fernando is appreciating the UAE entrepreneurial ecosystem. The country boasts a significant expatriate community and has opened its door to innovation, business, and development. Travelwings is soaring high with Albert’s rationale, resilience, and reliability. To the upcoming entrepreneurs, Albert Fernando says, “Nothing is impossible if your intent is right. You just have to believe it and work towards it.”
