I had done a bit of sailing before but I had never been on this kind of holiday and I had never been to the Caribbean. We occasionally had clients who requested the Sunsail brochure but they never seemed to book with us. I got the impression that clients preferred to book direct so they could speak to a watersports expert and get a detailed rundown on what Sunsail offered. There seemed to be a lot of technical queries about the courses and facilities that come with this kind of holiday. If you don’t sell the product regularly it’s hard to be familiar with the details.
Antigua is a very relaxed place and it is very easy to slip into the laid-back lifestyle. The Sunsail product is fantastic. For anyone who is vaguely interested in watersports, or who wants to learn to sail, this is an ideal way to do it. The facilities are excellent, everything is laid on, the waters are warm and there are lots of people looking out for you if you do go wrong. Although not everything is included in the price, it is good value for anyone who wants an active holiday. I would certainly pay to go back. This was a very practical educational and probably the best I have ever been on. I do now feel a lot more confident about explaining the product.
sally bishop
manager
spreadbury travel
christchurch
dorset
age: 42
paul corrall
manager
bath travel
newport
isle of wight
age: 29
lucy evans
travel consultant
dovetail foks
london
age:48
I had never sold a Sunsail holiday during my 13 years in travel. I liked the look of the brochure and gave it out, but clients never came back to book. Many people considering this kind of holiday were already knowledgeable about watersports and probably knew more about it than I did. This made it hard to sell. I think others often had the idea that club holidays were much more expensive and that put them off. I had never been to the Caribbean or done any watersports. I imagined the island would be beautiful and that the accommodation would be luxurious. I was nervous about the watersports but wanted to give them a try.
I did an induction course for all the watersports and a three-day dinghy sailing course. The staff were superb, incredibly patient, very safety conscious and really good at putting you at your ease. By the end of my tuition I was negotiating a course and really enjoying the sailing. I really liked the island too – it is quite diverse – with lovely beaches and some nice excursions. The accommodation was adequate but not quite as luxurious as I had imagined. I have already made my first Sunsail booking – a client who wanted a resort in Turkey with watersports has now booked Sunsail Turkey. The prices worked out very favourably and the included childcare was a great bonus. I hope to sell lots more.
The water-skiing is brilliant and the sailing great fun. I couldn’t manage the windsurfing but I would really recommend this type of holiday to anyone who loves the water. My boyfriend would have hated it – he’s terrified of the water. There isn’t much else to do if you are not into watersports – very few excursions or shops – but perhaps in other destinations activities are more varied. The tuition is fantastic – staff are really knowledgeable and enthusiastic – and the childcare clubs are very well run. The focus is very much on the watersports and if this is what you are into then I would recommend Sunsail over Mark Warner or Club Med. Learning to water-ski gave me a real sense of achievement.
I love watersports and I had learned to surf on a previous holiday but I had never been sailing, water-skiing or windsurfing and was really keen to learn. Unfortunately I developed a back problem just before we left for the trip and I discovered that getting insurance cover for active holidays can be really difficult if you have an injury but I was determined to go and do as much as I safely could. We didn’t get many enquiries for this kind of holiday but I was interested to find out exactly how they were organised, what was included and how they compared to the Mark Warner and Club Med packages.