I don’t remember ever deciding to make a career in the travel industry, before joining Cosmos. I had spent six months in the UK looking for a proper job, but had found nothing that appealed to me.
I then decided to have one last summer overseas – I wonder how many of my colleagues in the industry recognise that phrase.
I have to admit that repping came naturally to me. I am not shy or lacking in confidence, and loved helping people get the most from their hard-earned holidays.
I enjoyed the lifestyle and the excitement of living overseas, but I quickly learned that itwasn’t all fun.
I will never forget collecting 90 passports from my guests, putting them on a boat from Tangiers to Gibraltar, telling them to collect the passports from me later in the restaurant, then discovering my own passport was safely locked in my hotel safe deposit box!
Luckily in Morocco there is always a solution. I just didn’t know how to code it on my expense form!
After four years of changing country every six months (or less) I was ready to settle somewhere, and was once more looking at leaving the travel industry when fate played a hand and I was offered the chance to run Cosmos’ new operation in Florida.
As long haul grew in the early 1990s and new destinations opened up to the charter market, the role became more important each year. By the mid-1990s my responsibilities stretched from Hawaii to Venezuela, and the role was widely thought of as the best in the company.
However the attraction of the constant travelling the job entailed soon paled, especially when my responsibilities grew to include fatherhood.
There is nothing sadder or lonelier than sitting alone in a lovely restaurant in an idyllic location, surrounded by loving couples holding hands and gazing into each others eyes, with your own family thousands of miles away.
It was a tough decision to leave Florida and move back to the UK – you try explaining to a three-year old that Bromley is better than Walt Disney World – but I certainly have never regretted it.
The challenge of making Distant Dreams a success is very motivating and has taken up the last two years of my life.
Coming from an overseas and operational background, I have experienced an enormous learning curve on how the UK travel industry works.
The mechanics involved in ensuring a product is brought successfully to the market has been an eye-opener for me, and I realise that for years overseas I underestimated the sales and marketing functions.
I certainly have a greater appreciation now of the role played by a travel agent in that process.
I still have a lot of work to do at Distant Dreams. But I have a definite vision of the type of tour operator I want it to be, and I will not be deflected from the long-term strategy. However, I am not closed to taking advantage of tactical opportunities.
I have quite a strong work ethic and am impatient with people who don’t share that characteristic.
I have never been afraid to encourage people who work for me to increase their roles and have always been happy to share my experience and knowledge.
I believe that a sign of good management is the ability to bring the best out of people.
You should strive to have someone ready to take over your role when you move on. Just think about it, if you are indispensable, you won’t get promoted!
Reflecting on my career to date while writing this piece it has made me realise what an exciting industry I was lucky enough to join, and what an enjoyable time I’ve had over the last 15 years.
I’m looking forward to what the next 15 years will throw at me!
1984: joined Cosmos as an overseas representative in Tangiers. Spent four years as a resort manager in 10 different Mediterranean resorts.
1988: moved to Orlando as Florida area manager for Cosmos.
1990: promoted to regional manager Americas and Caribbean.
1996: returned to UK as purchasing manager for Cosmosair.
1997: promoted to long-haul director, with a brief to look at long-term strategy in that market.
1998: appointed managing director of Distant Dreams, a new company created to target the independent scheduled service long-haul market.
Treat everybody you come across with courtesy, whether they are a hotel bellboy or a chief executive of a blue chip company. Today’s campsite courier could be tomorrow’s managing director.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but ensure you learn from them, and don’t repeat them.
Don’t wait to be given responsibility, search for it and take it.
Be decisive in whatever you do – the only thing worse than making the wrong decision is not making any decision at all.
Do more than is expected from you, and eventually your efforts will be recognised – don’t be a clock-watcher.
Find a role/job/industry that you enjoy and stick with it. Work takes up too much time to spend it doing something you hate.