Managing director:         Frikkie Reynders

Born in Vanderbijlpark; South Africa, Frikkie was always a keen sportsman and received National Colours for Canoeing 1990 while studying for his B.Com (Law) degree. He competed in various international countries representing South Africa.

As part of the national canoeing team in 1992, Frikkie befriended Pierre Strydom, the team manager.  They discussed South Africa’s future at length, and agreed that, if things came right, the tourism industry will boom.

Pierre was one of the owners of Hire A Bus (Pty) Ltd.  Frikkie convinced him to buy a few luxury buses, and promised to start a tour operating company to utilize the buses.  Pierre agreed, and two new companies were born in September 1993: Luxliner (the luxury bus company owned by the Strydom family), and Highline (the tour operating company owned by Frikkie).

From there the company expanded rapidly, with Frikkie’s further vision of establishing a chain of guest houses and hotels. One of which is Shalati Adventure Lodge that was built together with Limdev and the Mnisi Territorial Council.  This 50 bed bush camp in the Manyelethi Nature Reserve has been hailed as one of the models for transformation in the Limpopo Province in bringing the benefits of tourism right down to community level. The Cape Diamond Hotel, situated in the heart of Cape Town, as well as a property in Plettenberg Bay (Forest Lake Inn) form part of the hotel portfolio that is under management of the Comfort Stay group which was formed as the hotel arm of Highline Tours & Travel.

Frikkie, now with 15 years experience in the tourism industry, owns and operate companies in the following tourism and hospitality fields:
 Inbound and Outbound Tour Operation
 Coach and Bus Charter
 Hotels and Guest Houses
 Restaurants
 And other projects.

Frikkie is a versatile manager of change in a global environment with strong bottom-line drive and leadership qualities. He has specific expertise in:
a) Leading and motivating people to perform in a climate of constant change.
b) Negotiating and building lasting relationships globally with clients and other parties.

Financial Director/General Manager: Valerie Verwey                     

Born in Leuven, Belgium, Valerie immigrated to South Africa in January 1997, after falling for the country’s beautiful scenery and her future husband during a one year article at Meintjies Vermoten & partners.
After 8 years experience in the financial and auditing sector, she was persuaded to tackle the more interesting tourism industry as general manager for Highline Tours and Travel. Her excellent analytical skills and resulting high problem solving ability, helped Highline grow from strength to strength during the past 4 years.

Valerie likes to work with people and to get different personalities to work towards a common goal by building consensus, recognising and accelerating individual strengths, delegating the right task to the right person and building teams that can conquer any obstacle.

Her field of expertise lies in the Operational and Financial Management of the Company which includes:
a) Extensive negotiating and contracting skills
b) Strong customer orientation
c) Identification and pursuit of potential business opportunities
d) Financial and strategic analysis leading to organisational and business model recommendations.