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Last
of the high flyers JARUNEE TAEMSAMRAN In her early thirties, Supaporn Kuptarak is at the top of her game and her travel industry competitors would be well advised to keep an eye on her. Just six years after founding the Fly High Travel Service, she quickly gained a reputation for reliability and efficiency. She was granted a license to check seat availability on airlines, make instant reservations online and print out air tickets for clients on the spot. Ms Supaporn's small staff are always busy on the phones receiving orders for hundreds of air tickets to destinations around the world. Last year, the company received a major boost in business and sales grew to 30 million baht a month. This year, Ms Supaporn hopes her ticketing business reaches 150 million baht a month in sales revenue. ``Does that sound too pretentious?'' the 32-year-old travel executive asked. In today's sad economic climate, her aims may seem a bit ambitious. But anybody who knows Ms Supaporn will tell you she has worked extremely hard to get where she is and can achieve anything she sets her mind to. Her previous job as general manager of a Korean tour operator gave her the knowledge and experience to set up her own company. Before that, she worked for 22 different companies and began her career at 19. She said she left each job for personal reasons. In a simple twist of fate, she was fired from the Korean job despite winning the company many big clients. That setback gave her the impetus set up her own company. Despite many initial setbacks and a staff of three, Ms Supaporn was determined to make the business work and let nothing hold her back. In the beginning, Fly High Travel Service operated outbound and domestic package tours. Business gradually got better but was badly hit by the economic crisis on 1997. With keen insight and probably a little luck, she found a way to sustain her tour business by becoming a middleman to help Thai exporters meet buyers in Dubai. When the project ended, she had plenty of funds and was able to focus on her tour business again. Ms Supaporn expanded from selling package tours to selling airline tickets. In the beginning, she sub-contracted from big players but later decided she wanted her agency to become a big player too. With determination and ambition, she worked hard and built her agency into one of the nation's best. She got closer to her goal in the last two years when the agency became a member of the International Air Transport Association, which helped boost the company's profile. Being an IATA member means Fly High Travel Service is authorised to check seat availability and print air tickets instantly. The agency currently has a licence from 52 major airlines which operate flights from Bangkok. |
