Travel Counsellors is to run its first TV advertising campaign with counsellor Judi Carr the star and a voice-over by actor Sean Bean.
Carr beat five other Travel Counsellors to appear in the 40-second advertisement, which cost £140,000 to produce. It has the strapline ‘That’s why I’m a Travel Counsellor’.
It will run on Sky digital channels in January.
Group managing director Steve Byrne revealed the news at Travel Counsellors’ annual conference, which ended on Monday.
“The heart of the advert has to get across what Travel Counsellors stand for and why we’re different so we wanted a real travel counsellor, rather than an actor,” he said.
The advert includes Carr narrating her travel experiences and switches to photos of customers, with her stating she “loves to help people find their perfect holiday”.
Meanwhile, group chairman David Speakman admitted none of the big four tour operators were invited to the conference as they collectively account for only 10% of sales.
He added: “There may come a time when they decide not to work with us or we decide not to work with them. Only Thomas Cook hasn’t reduced our commissions. In general we do not make any money from the big four.”