Julia Slater, UK sales manager,
French Life Holidays
Education: gained six O’levels at secondary school and went on to complete a Higher National Diploma in Law and Office Practice at Huddersfield Technical College.
First travel job: spent several years as a travel consultant with British and Commonwealth Agencies based in Huddersfield.
Career path:at the age of 28 Slater joined Airtours as sales representative for Yorkshire and Humberside. She describes the position as ‘a challenge’ as it was in 1982 that the company was just launching its debut long-haul programme. After four years she joined Hoverspeed as northern sales manager and was later promoted to UK sales development manager with overall responsibility for all 12 of the sales representatives. She then joined Condor Ferries as UK sales manager with responsibility for reservations, accounts and yield control. After four years with Condor, she joined French Life as UK sales manager.
Training: mostly on the job, but Slater also completed formal courses in presentation and negotiation. Slater says she got most of her training from people she has worked with.
Advice to people looking for success in sales:”Listen to what people are saying and if you are a sales rep, listen to what agents tell you. In addition, read as much information as you possibly can and be prepared to know where to find information if you don’t have it in your head because that will make your job a lot easier.”
Jane Carty, group marketing manager, Co-op Travelcare Group
Education: gained seven O’ levels.
First job in travel: joined a small, independent travel agency in her home town of Leigh, Lancashire where she spent two years as a sales consultant.
Career path: Carty joined Co-op Travelcare as a sales consultant in Manchester. After three years she became assistant manager, then manager of Travelcare’s new telephone-booking centre. She spent the next two years building up Co-op Travelcare Direct, which led to a four-month secondment in marketing. In 1994 she became sales promotions manager
for Travelcare, with a promotion two years later to marketing services manager. In 1997 she became marketing manager, and in September 1998 became group marketing manager, with additional responsibility for customer services.
Training: Carty has completed many ABTA courses, and been on residential courses to improve marketing and customer service skills.
Advice to people looking to follow in her footsteps: “Never miss an opportunity to listen to other people and to learn from them, because within any big company there is a wealth of experience. Also, always be ready to accept achallenge and take change in your stride.”
Steve Kimber, managing director, Cresta Holidays
Education: completed an Honours degree in Development Studies at East Anglia University, followed by a post-graduate course in Tourism at Surrey University.
First job in travel: joined Stardust Mini Holidays as a graduate in its reservations department. Over the next five to six years Kimber worked his way up through the company, taking managerial roles in various departments including agency sales, promotions and marketing.
Career path: left Stardust to join Grand Metropolitan Hotels’ international sales department where he worked for 18 months as international marketing manager. In 1982 he joined Cresta World Travel/ Cresta Holidays as sales and marketing manager for retail and business travel as well as for the tour operation. He was later promoted to sales and marketing director and in January 1994 became managing director of Cresta Holidays.
Training: Kimber has taken various courses, mostly in management and negotiation, some of which were arranged in-house and others which were external.
Advice to people looking for success in tour operating: “You must be keen and willing to do a variety of jobs to gain experience. Always have a goal in mind and gather experience that would be relevant to it. Also, do not focus on salary initially, but instead concentrate on getting experience because, at the end of the day, this, plus the contacts you gather, count for an awful lot.”