Amanda Whale, 24hr service manager, The Travel Company
Age: 32.
Education: six ‘O’ levels at Brigidine Convent in Windsor, Berkshire. City and Guilds in Travel and Tourism at East Berkshire College, Maidenhead.
First Travel Job: having worked at Thomas Cook in Slough as part of her college course, Amanda was taken on full time afterwards and trained as a business travel consultant.
Career path: in 1985, Amanda moved to Thomas Cook’s Valley Travel Management Centre as a senior consultant, where she worked for two years. She was then recruited by IEL Travel to work as an implant with the Mars Group. After the first year she was recruited to implant manager, responsible for all travel arrangements for the sales and marketing division Effemex. In 1989 Amanda moved to the ISI division of Mars to set up the first UK implant office for US-based Gant Travel Management. She left a year, returning to Thomas Cook’s Thames Valley Travel Management Centre as customer service manager. Four years later, in 1994, she joined Talking Point. In 1995 she started working for The Travel Company’s 24hr service as a senior consultant. Promotion followed to supervisor before Amanda became the 24hr manager.
Advice for people wishing to develop a career in travel: “Get as much hands-on experience as possible and be open and flexible in your outlook.”