people profile

people profile

open to question: Lloyd Boutcher, Sunvil UK

profile

Job title: director.

Age: 31.

Born: Barnet, Hertfordshire.

Lives: Hampton, Middlesex.

Status: single (but not for much longer).

Education: Orleans School, Twickenham andUniversity of Brighton.

Path to career: joined Cascais Tourism Enterprises in Portugal in January 1989 as rep for incoming tour operators, hotels and restaurants. Joined Sunvil during university sandwich year in 1994. Returned in July 1996 to establish Sunvil UK.

industry talk

&#42 What was your first job in travel and how much did you get paid?

Working for Cascais Tourism Enterprises in Portugal as a rep. I earned just enough to keep me in sardines and scooter petrol.

&#42 What, apart from your current position, would be your ideal job in travel?

Working as a coach at a tennis holiday centre somewhere in the Caribbean.

&#42 What has been your biggest challenge in the travel industry?

Establishing Sunvil UK.

&#42 What has been your most embarrassing moment in the travel industry?

I was once physically threatened by a hotelier in the Lake District when raising the subject of commission.

&#42 Who has been the biggest influence on your career and why?

My brother for persuading me to go to college.

&#42 What’s the best job you’ve had, apart from your current one?

Woking as a DJin Cascais, Portugal.

&#42 Which company, apart from your own, do you most admire and why?

Kirker Holidays, their product quality and service is second to none (except

Sunvil UK of course).

&#42 If you weren’t in travel, what would you be doing?

Working as a radio DJ somewhere like the Galapagos Islands.

&#42 What single thing have you achieved at work which has given you the most satisfaction?

Generating business for UK hoteliers who doubted our programme.

&#42 What advice would you give to someone starting out in the travel industry?

Be keen, learn from your mistakes and above all, have fun and enjoy it.

&#42 Do you have a Web site and if so how many bookings do you receive on it?

Yes we do. It takes around five bookings per week. The address is www.sunvil.co.uk/uk.

&#42 Make one prediction about travel in the 21st century:

Product creativity and personal service will become increasingly important to stand out from the crowd and succeed.

personal talk

&#42 What is your star sign?

Virgo.

&#42 What would you change about yourself?

Not to worry so much about work.

&#42 If you could be anyone for the day, who would you be and why?

Anyone famous, just to get a taste.

&#42 Who, apart from your partner, would be your ideal holiday companion and where would you go?

Clint Eastwood. We’d go to the Wild West.

&#42 What are your hobbies?

Tennis, snooker and Jenga.

&#42 What’s the corniest chat-up line you’ve ever used?

I once chased away a couple of old drunks in Lisbon who were annoying a Scandinavian girl. She thanked me for saving her life and Isaid “well mine has just started”.

&#42 What type of holiday would you avoid at all costs?

Any all-inclusives. They prevent you from experiencing the local culture and way of life.

&#42 What is your favourite TV programme/film/book?

My favourite programme is NYPDBlue, the film is Magnificent Seven and the book is My First Break by Rupert Steiner.

&#42 How do you relax?

Listening to music, while drinking a Vodka Martini and smoking a Havana cigar.

&#42 What would you have put on your gravestone?

Here rests a man of few words.