Illana Clayton

CEO at Travel Smart Crew

The holiday/leisure business is all I have ever known and it has been a part of my life from an early age when our family moved from Zimbabwe to a resort on the Vaal River. After studying, travelling and working in the hotel industry, I had my heart set on working for Thompsons and so I very humbly appealed to them to employ me. They took me on as a temp and it was the start of 15 incredible years working through many departments and divisions of the business with some amazing people.

At the beginning of 2015, I joined Travel Smart Crew, lured by the opportunity to work with so many of the owner-managed, self-started businesses and business owners I admired from the side lines for years. It is a privilege and an honour to work with the most diverse businesses and extraordinary people who make up Travel Smart Crew. There is never a day that is boring and those who know our Shareholders will understand, it’s at full speed … always.