Independent Travel Lounge, an independent travel agency is ditching brochures and window cards in favour of continental-style cappuccinos and nibbles.
Set to open in Blackheath, south London at the end of this month, Independent Travel Lounge is targeting upmarket clients and will even offer tables and chairs for clients to mull over holiday details while supping a glass of wine.
The move follows news window cards are losing favour in agencies because they risk the wrath of Trading Standards officers (Travel Weekly, July 7).
Assistant manager Jeff Newsway said the store would be “fun, relaxing, but knowledgeable”.
There will be plasma screens behind each desk, showing destinations and virtual tours. The agency will focus on worldwide tailor-made holidays and niche product like the gay market.
Although the shop will stock brochures, they will not be on display, and the shop window will be decorated with a different theme each month, starting with Morocco.
He said: “We’re not planning to focus on lates, which window cards generally feature.
“When we have an overflow of clients they can sit outside at tables and chairs and we’ll bring brochures to them. We’ll also give out wine, beers and cappuccinos and nibbles.”
The shop will have four staff, including Newsway and manager Sarah Walsh, who both used to work for First Choice in Blackheath. Each has an annual target of £1 million in sales.
