One of the toughest parts of my job is being involved in the shortlisting for the Agent Achievement Awards, the results of which will be unveiled next week.
Among the many hard-fought categories is the agency promotion award, with entrants outlining a host of campaigns to raise their profiles and boost their sales.
With this process fresh in my mind, it seemed particularly fitting that industry leaders arriving at Travel Weekly’s offices to take part in the judging for the awards had to walk past queues of people waiting outside STA Travel’s flagship London store in the hope of bagging a cut-price flight to Bangkok (page 10).
Of course, not every agency has the scale or the airline partnerships that STA can call on to create such memorable events. But I was struck by how successful a relatively straightforward piece of marketing – effectively a very attractive flash sale – can be.
There is a generation of consumers who don’t head straight for the high street when they are planning a holiday. For STA, the sale was a great way to showcase the face-to-face expertise and service available in person across the UK.
It also acted as a reminder of the emotional attachment that is made with virtually every leisure travel booking.
Talking of tough parts of the job, massive congratulations to the Travel Tough Mudder Team from across the industry, who braved mud, ice and electric shocks to raise money for Just a Drop. The bruises on show from team members in our offices this week are testament to the effort everyone put in for a fantastic cause.