Mystery Shopper: Winchester travel agents sell a cycling break in France

Mystery Shopper and her family wanted to escape to France during the Easter holidays and indulge their passion for cycling for a week. They were flexible on location, wanted to drive and take their own bikes and had a budget of up to £2,000.

There are plenty of agent-friendly operators who could have accommodated this request, so why the lack of knowledge about one of UK consumers’ most popular holiday destinations?

• The target: Winchester, Hampshire
• Wanted: A cycling holiday to northern France

Thomas Cook

30 High Street
Score: 29%

The shop was in a very old building, so it was a little dark, but it was clean and attractive. A consultant said hello and asked how she could help. When I explained my request, the consultant went to the brochures.

When she came back she said they were limited on what they could offer as they did not specialise in cycling holidays. I said it did not have to be a specialist holiday, just a nice place to stay in France that had good places to cycle and perhaps near some routes.

She asked her colleague next to her, who said she couldn’t ride a bike. The customers the other consultant was dealing with did offer some advice, saying they had been to St Malo and thought that might be suitable, and appeared to be a little embarrassed at the lack of help I was getting.

I again tried to prompt the consultant to offer me something by asking about ferries, but nothing was forthcoming, so I left very disappointed.

Bath Travel

26 The Square
Score: 29%

This shop was old and tired-looking. Paint was peeling off the door and the carpet needed a vacuum. During the consultation my request wasn’t covered in much detail, the consultant didn’t ask about budget or dates for travel and I had to volunteer all information.

The consultant mentioned ‘French Life’, but she couldn’t find the brochure. She said she thought they ‘weren’t still around’ and made no attempt to find out whether they were. She did, however, produce the Cresta’s France and Inghams’ Just France brochures. 

After some prompting, she did Google ‘cycling in France’ and printed off the results for me. I asked for ferry prices, but she said it was difficult to give a price as they change constantly.

She did not seem that interested in finding what I wanted and kept saying “I wish I could help you but we don’t have that information.”

Winchester Travel Service (Part of Toucan Travel)

79 Parchment Street
Score: 37%

The agency was well presented and I was immediately greeted. I gave information on the destination and type of holiday I required, but the consultant didn’t ask any other questions such as budget, ages of children or preferred type of accommodation.

She didn’t have enough information on what I wanted and seemed reluctant to find any out, suggesting I buy a cycling magazine from a newsagents for advice on good places to cycle in France. I was given two brochures for Keycamp and Brittany Ferries’ Cottages and Villas.

With prompting, she did phone Keycamp, who gave her lists of sites they thought would be good for my needs. She marked these in the brochure. I would have liked more help and suggestions and felt I had to keep pushing her to come up with anything.

My visit felt like hard work, although the consultant was friendly.

The Independent Holiday Shop Ltd

35 The Brooks
Score: 59%

This was a bright and welcoming shop, but a large, green refuse bin in front of the window was a bit of an eyesore.

The consultant was friendly and eager to help. She asked about where in France I wanted to go, preferred accommodation and budget. She then asked whether or not I wanted an organised cycling tour.

Although she didn’t have knowledge to hand about the best places for family cycling in France, she said she would contact the French tourist board to find out and would email me with the information in the next day or so.

I was given four brochures: French Travel Service, Inghams’ Just France, Brittany Ferries Hotel Breaks and Lagrange Holidays – France 2010.

I was pleased when the consultant did actually come back to me with an email containing information on cycle routes and suggestions on where to say. This agency was the best of the four visited.

Tips

1. Not all cycling holidays need to be with specialist operators. Some families are happy to pack their bikes on the back of their car and travel by ferry to the destination, choosing their own cycling routes there there. 
2. Specialist operators such as Headwater or Inntravel will often provide bikes and move luggage between hotels along the clients’ route. They will also provide maps and notes on the destination for customers.
3. When booking a cycling holiday, suggest dates when the weather isn’t too hot. Likewise, if clients are going on a pre-booked itineray which moves between different hotels, make sure you build in enough rest days so the holiday isn’t too strenous.
4. Burgundy is an excellent region for cycling in France. It has a network of routes that make up a continuous loop of over 500 miles. The routes are part made up of ‘voies vertes’ where no cars are allowed. Most routes follow canal towpaths, disused railways and paths through vinyards.
5. For more inforamtion on specialist operators to France, visit Gazetteers.com