Mark Bennetts, tailor-made executive, Bales Worldwide
Education: seven O’ levels and an HND in travel and tourism.
First travel job: with Bales aged 21 years, working in the operations department.
Career path: after leaving college Bennetts went travelling around Europe for eight months before joining Bales in the operations department where he stayed for two years. He went travelling again, this time throughout Far East Asia, China and the sub-continent for one year. On his return he joined Cox and Kings as a specialist in bespoke holidays to the sub-continent. In 1995, he headed off once more, this time for 10 months, following the classic overland route from Europe to India via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. When he came back he joined Abercrombie and Kent as a tailor-made specialist for Asia and the sub-continent but he left after about nine months to rejoin Bales and help develop the newly launched tailor-made department in October 1996.
Advice for people wishing to develop a career in travel: “Travel whenever the opportunity arises, don’t worry too much if you feel like taking a big trip. Make sure you develop a good telephone manner and expect to work hard and play hard!”
n Fancy featuring in the Job Focus column? Contact Lisa James on 020-8652 8239 with your details.