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REGULAR

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Being involved in so many aspects of the travel industry, I find it quite refreshing to go out there and meet agents to remind them of our existence

Noel Josephides

I don’t get out and about too much. Or, rather, I am involved in so many diverse aspects of the industry that I do not meet the trade as much as I would want to.

Saturday, however, is my day on reservations and for me it’s a wonderful opportunity to speak to our faithful independent agent supporters.

It’s often very busy, so we do not always get the time to chat but for me it’s invaluable.

Selling our holidays helps me to determine whether we are on the right track, to find out how agents are selling, what they are selling and to judge the general state of the industry.

And there’s nothing to beat making a sale.

Saturday is not an easy day. We run on a skeleton staff and generally find it hard to cope. On a good Saturday the six of us that are working will take in the region of six hundred calls and will lose about 80 of these. It’s like sitting in front of a battering ram.

As the season progresses, Saturdays get harder and harder because we have less to sell and each call, therefore, takes longer and longer as we search for availability.

At times we are all on the telephone and we have 15 calls waiting while, at other times, we are becalmed.

As ever, it’s impossible to staff for the peaks because they are so short-lived.

However, I can understand why clients and agents sometimes get upset and I wish there was a solution.

However, I still think it’s faster than viewdata and certainly not so boring. I like to think that we all generally enjoy speaking to each other.

It’s so difficult, in this overcrowded market for agents to remember what each of us tour operators do. Nothing beats visiting agents to remind them of our existence.

So, every so often, I accompany our agency sales manager, John Grew, on his travels.

Last week we visited Guernsey and Jersey. I did a little low-key presentation to Uniglobe Island Travel in Guernsey and John Grew did the same at Island International Travel.

We all went to a Moroccan restaurant afterwards. I was with the younger ones and it was good to feel the keen spirit among them. Not a hint of apathy there.

In fact, the general consensus was that, of all their friends, they had the most interesting job.

By the end of the evening I felt that the future of the industry was in safe hands. There’s still plenty of excitement left in what we do to keep the young interested.

We went across to the other island on the following morning and paid quick visits to Bellingham Travel, Jules Boutin, Colbacks, Allens and Troys.

No despondency among any of them. Yes, they like everyone else, were apprehensive about having to charge service fees and about having to survive against the multiples.

But it was obvious they felt there was a future for the independent agent.

Jersey and Guernsey provide a wealthy clientele who like the service and individuality that an independent can offer.

They certainly agreed they would not be so optimistic if they were located in an average high street and were forced to compete, discount for discount, with the multiples. Time will tell for all of us.

“It was obvious they felt there was a future for the independent agent”