| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 07/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 49 |
| Copyright: Other |
This week: Brian Kelly, Mann Link Travel Ltd
meetthe
MD
Age: 40
At 18 years, I had never been outside the UK. I had spent some time in northern England but became homesick and quickly hurried back to the safety and seclusion of the Isle of Man which was my home. I went into travel thinking the island was a great place to live but it was a big world out there and I wanted to see it.My first taste of international travel came very quickly, having joined Douglas-based travel agents Palace Travel and Reservations in September 1978. I was asked to travel to San Francisco in the December of the same year to take a Pan Am International training course. My first ever trip outside the UK – first-class flights out and back and a week at the airport Hilton. I was sold on travel for life.
At the age of just 21, I had travelled to many worldwide destinations and was now manager of the head office. I was confident I could set up on my own and in, March 1982, I did.
Working from an attic room in the business district of Douglas, I embarked on what has been an 18-year business adventure with many lows and a few highs.
At 21 years, I thought all companies made profits and cash only flowed in. The first few years were hard but the company survived and the many facets of business life slowly sank in with the help of some pretty painful experiences.
With no ready capital to inject into Mann Link Travel apart from the initial £25 to open the bank account, the company could only expand through its profits. Over 11 years, we were quietly expanding within a one-office structure. Growth was possible and helped by the island’s ever increasing corporate sector.
The Isle of Man today has 30 travel agents servicing a population of 75,000 people.
Competition has always been stiff and it was no different 20 years ago. To survive, we had to offer alternatives and develop niche markets to differentiate us from the multiples.
Mann Link Travel has covered many aspects of the travel industry during its 18 years in business. It started out life as a ticketing agent providing ferry and flight tickets to the clients of the many hotel and guest house owners in Douglas but has also been a tour operator.
But as traditional markets died away, we became a provider of travel to the new and developing offshore business sector and we remain the island’s largest corporate travel agency.
During the late 1980s we were fortunate to develop several contacts within the travel insurance industry and became a supplier of travel to medical repatriation companies. Today we are one of the UK’s leading travel agencies in this very specialised field.
Now we are about to launch our own entry into the world of e-commerce. Vacationlet.com is an on-line business-to-business Web site offering both the industry and the public the opportunity to book breaks at holiday resorts around the world. Vacationlet.com is a very travel agent friendly site offering appointed agents a basic commission of 12%.
Vacationlet.com takes Mann Link Travel into another niche and a very important market place. Travel agents must develop their use of the Internet and seek out and use those suppliers that provide a service and a product that an agent can profit from. We hope Vacationlet.com will provide such a service for not just the UK travel industry but the industry globally.
Since the birth of my first child Hollie in 1994 – we now have two further additions, three-year-old Jordan and Anna, aged one – I have worked from home. Mann Link Travel has continued to experience excellent levels of growth and expansion, helped by giving clear boundaries of responsibilities to a strong and experienced management team.
Much of this expansion has been possible from having the time away from office pressures and enabling me to seek out new business opportunities. I felt it was not only right for the businessand myself but more importantly I wanted to see my children grow up.
CURRICULUM VITAE
1978: Left school and joined Palace Travel. I started as a travel clerk in the retail section.
MY TOP TIPS
l If you are good enough, you are old enough. We currently employ people covering every age spectrum from 15 to late fifties.
* Live your dream. It is only you that stops you from fulfilling your dreams and ambitions.
* Keep an open mind and be willing to change direction at any time.
* Never under estimate your value to your client, your employer and, most importantly, to yourself.
* Embrace and invest in new technology. It is the only future you have.