Brief: A couple wants to spend 10 days or so in Sri Lanka in February or March, doing a short tour to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage at Kandy followed by a visit to the tea plantations and some relaxation time at a hotel on the beach.
Budget: £4,000.
Verdict: The winning agent was friendly and authoritative, recommending a great option and trying to close the sale.
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Thomson
17 King Edward Street
Score: 40%
This was a neat, clean and well-presented agency, and the staff were all smartly dressed. I was greeted immediately, but from then my visit went downhill. I was not offered a seat, but left standing while I explained to I wanted a holiday in Sri Lanka. No other questions were asked to establish my needs, and it felt as though the advisor wanted me to do all the work myself and make her job easier.
I was given the Thomson Tailormade Worldwide brochure and a business card and told to have a look through it for hotels and tours, and then return once I’d done this. I wanted their help; I could do my own research on the internet without using an agency.
Andrew Earle’s World of Travel
81 Ferensway
Score: 65%
I don’t think the agent here was hugely knowledgeable about holidays to Sri Lanka, but she was extremely friendly and showed a high level of enthusiasm and patience, doing her best to research as much as she could. She recommended tours of Sri Lanka, going through Kuoni’s Taste of Sri Lanka tour, Titan Travel’s the Best of Sri Lanka and Thomas Cook
Signature’s Sri Lanka – the Exotic Isle in detail with me. However, she didn’t check my budget or give me any quotes for the tours. I was given the brochures to take away with a business card and asked to go back into the agency to discuss the trip further once I’d found something I liked.
Marion Owen Travel
23 Portland Street
Score: 76%
The friendly agent at this shop asked me lots of questions including what I wanted to see and do, hotel star ratings, budget and who I would travel with. She then gave me brochures from Premier Holidays and Travel 2 and her contact details to take away, and told me she would contact me in a couple of days having done some research.
I got a call offering me a very suitable trip for £2,650, including a three-day tour of Kandy, the elephant orphanage and the tea plantations followed by seven nights at the Mermaid Hotel in Kalutara. However, the downside of this was I didn’t have the chance to talk through any holiday options with her.
Dawson and Sanderson
20 Paragon Street
Score: 93%
The knowledgeable agent asked plenty of questions and was able to offer lots of information regarding the area and what was on offer, even down to suggesting I should fly from Heathrow rather than Manchester to get a direct flight, and to fly mid-week rather than at the weekend.
We looked at the Premier Holidays and Kuoni brochures and he said I shouldn’t consider anything lower than a three-star hotel. He went the extra mile by ringing his recommended operator – Premier Holidays – to get me a more accurate price for the trip.
He offered me the four-day Hill Country Journey itinerary and seven nights at the Mermaid Hotel in Kalutara for £2,800 including flights, and said it was a limited time offer to encourage me to book. He was friendly and easy to talk to and I left the agency feeling I wanted to book the holiday.
Winning agent: Graham Willingham, manager
“I started working in travel in 1986 on a Youth Training Scheme, but this is the first time I’ve been mystery shopped. I love the variety of being an agent, you don’t know what you’re going to come in to every day.”
Tips: Top 5 tips for selling Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka was named best-value destination in the Post Office Long-Haul Barometer for the second year running this year.
Sri Lankan Airlines flies direct from Heathrow in 10 hours, and indirect flights are available via Dubai with Emirates, via Abu Dhabi with Etihad and via Delhi and Mumbai with Jet Airways.
Many of Sri Lanka’s most popular beach resorts can be found on the south and west coasts of the island. A new highway between Colombo and Galle means the journey to the airport is much quicker.
Other highlights include the temples at Kandy and Dambulla, the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, game viewing in Yala and Wilpattu National Parks and the ancient cities of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura.
For more on Sri Lanka, see page 41 of Destinations and gazetteers.com.