XL makes an exit
Well, it turns out the only black hole to be found last week was not at the end of the Hadron Collider but in the XL Leisure Group offices.
Having flown with XL myself only last month, it is a shock to think how quickly a company can disappear. I laughed when, boarding our flight to Greece, my son said: “Times must be hard if the airlines can’t supply an in-flight meal.” I’m not laughing now.
It’s always bad news when an operator goes under. Not only do we travel agents now face weeks of calls from distressed XL clients, but confidence in a market already subdued, is further undermined.
The result: lower footfall, fewer transactions, diminishing profit. The credit crunch is biting hard.
Edwina’s mix-up
While I was in Greece, I missed the visit of Holiday Options agency sales manager Edwina Coppock. Mind you, had I not been in Greece, I would have still missed her visit as she went to the wrong office.
Yes, finding herself in Exeter one day, she thought she’d visit Travel Angels’ Frome office just before closing. She set off at 4.30pm, diverting along flooded roads and finally arrived in the Travel Angels office looking like one of those Jane Austen characters that visits a well-to-do bachelor in the rain and turns up soaked to the bone and close to death. And those girls don’t have to do battle with the pay and display machine in the car park.
“Hello,” she said, “I’m Edwina from Holiday Options. Is Maureen in? It’s a bit of a surprise – she doesn’t know I’m coming.”
The girls looked bemused and explained I was on holiday in Greece, but also that I work 20 miles away anyway.
I felt awful for Edwina when she told me of her mistake. I was basted in factor 30 on a beach while she was wading through the British summer to extol the virtues of Holiday Options’ late deals.
Edwina likes to bring an imaginative approach to the destinations she sells. So, in honour of the recent World Cup qualifier against Croatia, she and her colleagues dressed up and staged their own game of football, though I understand it wasn’t oranges that they used as half-time refreshment.
I think Edwina is going to have to behave herself in future, however, as she tells me her daughter Scarlett has joined the company in reservations. Still, it’s never too late to be a ‘soccer mom’.
A closeted concern
My bid to lose the weight I put on during my big, fat Greek holiday received a setback this week when I was invited to a lunch on board Regent’s Seven Seas Voyager. I met up with Julie, manager of Travel Angels’ Frome office and other agents for training and a tour of the ship.
We were split into groups and served coffee and Danish pastries before the training began, hosted by Regent UK sales manager Anthony Daniels and sales development executive Paul Bampton.
The hour’s training was fun and well delivered, with Anthony emphasising that, although the ship can carry 2,000 passengers, part of its appeal is that it cruises with only 700 so that everyone has more space and the staff:passenger ratio of 1:1 can be maintained.
It’s great as an agent to be able to talk about these sorts of details, which can make a deal much easier to strike.
About 160 agents toured the ship, inspecting the all-suite, all-balcony accommodation. I was impressed, but, as I poked my nose into the cabins, I couldn’t help but suggest to Anthony that the wardrobe must have been designed by a man.
Although it was spacious, I felt female passengers would want more shoe racks and hanging space than their men. After all, when a girl goes cruising, she’s out to impress. If the porter doesn’t roll his eyes when he spots her luggage, she has gone wrong somewhere.
After the tour, we had our photo taken with captain Dag and Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie, and then, weak at the knees, I managed some lunch, accompanied by Nigel, Roger and Suzanne of Bath Travel.
All too soon, it was time to disembark and swap the sea view for one of the rain-sodden pavements outside our office. Water, water everywhere!
Maureen Hill works at Travel Angels, Gillingham, Dorset