Five years ago Kelly Snape would have been more at home running around her local gym than sitting behind an agency desk.
But the former fitness instructor and member of Great Britain’s sports aerobics team at two World Championships, decided on a career change to pursue her love of travel and tourism.
This month’s Travel Weekly Cover Star has worked as a travel consultant for Somewhere2travel2 in Ilfracombe in north Devon since 2007.
She says: “I studied leisure and tourism and thought it was time to try travel as it really interested me.”
The job has more than lived up to expectations, says Kelly, who started gymnastics at the age of two and remains a sports enthusiast in her spare time. “You are never bored and I love working for an independent agency because there are so many options to offer customers.”
The best part of the job is matching the right holiday to the customer’s needs, she says. “I love the feeling you get when clients get the perfect holiday. I enjoy going the extra mile to give that personal touch.”
The Worldchoice agency specialises in tailor-made long-haul holidays and it won a Travel Weekly Agent Excellence Award in 2008 for most innovative agency. It runs destination-themed evenings for customers and offers a Gift of Dreams service so wedding guests can pay towards a couple’s honeymoon. It includes a memory album with messages from guests put together by the agency as a present for the couple on their wedding day.
Kelly, 30, says she is on a constant learning curve. “My aim is to carry on and just expand my knowledge.”
Being a Cover Star for Travel Weekly hadn’t been part of her career plan, she admits. “My boss encouraged me to go for it. I am usually quite shy but thought it looked like fun. We had a brilliant day – it was VIP treatment from start to finish.”
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