Alternative view of the world
If you’re an agent who knows your arnica from your elbow and who wouldn’t mind being doused in ylang-ylang, you may already be aware of the upsurge in demand for trips to Hong Kong amongst those in the know about alternative medicine.
If, like me, you have grown wary of taking cocktails of orthodox Western drugs with unknown side-effects, you too might be toying with the idea of making a visit yourself!
The Chinese holistic approach to medicine deals with the well-being of the whole person where Western practice focuses only on the bit that’s causing the problem.
More than 7,000 Chinese doctors in Hong Kong currently practise the ancient art of Chinese medicine which includes bone-setting and acupuncture and, as acceptance of it grows, huge new markets areopening up.
To this end, the first ever degree course is being offered at the Baptist University in Hong Kong under the leadership of Dr Leung Wing Nang, who expects a high demand for the five-year course.
Just as trips to Russia for the sorts of eye operations not deemed urgent by the NHS prompted patients to make it to Moscow and the promise of cosmetic surgery on the cheap sent scores of hopefuls to Eastern Europe, I wonder if we agents will be asked for acupuncture away-days to Hong Kong?
At least we will be able to book with confidence that was somewhat lacking when dealing with the aforementioned countries!
Perhaps our own health secretary Frank Dobson could start a dialogue with the Hong Kong government in a bid to cut waiting lists in this country?
Apocalypse now…
Jenny’s immediate reaction when asked for an ‘Orseman’s brochure’ was to look to the activity holiday brochures which included horse riding, but Nicky was more canny. She reached for a Hoseason’s brochure which the client took with gratitude.
“When you’ve worked here long enough you get to know the mispronunciations as well as the clients,” she explained.
Exhibiting ignorance
Julian Finegold, sales and marketing executive with Austrian Holidays, popped in to update us on the company’s latest brochure and to thank us for our support
He was in the area because, like many other operators, Austrian Holidays had exhibited at the Bournemouth International Centre. Personalities from cable TV’s Travel channel including Gareth Davies, Cheryl Baker and Frank Bough and been on hand to lend a little excitement.
Julian had shared a stand with Taber Holidays sales and marketing manager Terry Shaw, and the two of them were able to share a laugh when visitors to the exhibition asked the same fool questions they ask year in, year out. One such visitor, who never misses a year appeared and, spotting a poster of snow-covered mountains, asked Julian what the snow was like. Beyond ‘cold and white,” he felt there was little he could say without sounding facetious, but the client had another question. “Why is there none in your brochure?” Smiling, Julian explained that it was a summer brochure and resisted the temptation to ask whether the questionner had seen Heidi; if he had, he just might know that when the sun shines, the snow doth melt…
Terry on the other hand was reunited with a regular who clearly likes to test him; out he came with a question about an obscure town in Germany, but Terry recalled the conversation they had shared last year and exclaimed, “You asked me that last year!”
It’s so refreshing to hear that operators suffer in a similar way to agents from time to time.
The eyes have it
We all have different ways of selling a product, whether it’s a holiday, insurance or other travel-related goods.
When I first started to write this column I mentioned that I smiled sweetly at a client and fluttered my eyelashes as I relieved him of the credit card with which he was paying for a more expensive holiday than the one he’d intended to buy. A postbag full of protest followed accusing me of letting down the women’s cause, sexism and flirting.
Call me cynical, but I maintain that although it is not mentioned in any of the training programmes in sales techniques, a smile and lowered lids will often seal a deal. I was therefore intrigued to hear of a course entitled The Art of Flirting which is currently being run to help those who feel they have lost the art of communication and of reading body language. I have no doubt that such a course could be adapted to suit travel agents.
A client once told me that he felt his holiday began the moment he called into the agency. He explained that as a shy person, he was intimidated to find himself the only client in the shop and the way he was greeted and treated by the staff could well determine if he booked at all. So, brush up those smiles, boys and girls, they go further than you think!
Some daughters do ‘ave ’em
Just as actors live by the rule of never working with children or animals, so agents must resolve never to book holidays for relatives or friends. Lord knows I’ve spent many an hour worrying over the smallest element of a booking when I’ve sent my children away, so I know exactly how Jane at Carlson Worldchoice in Billericay has been feeling.
Having booked her family a holiday and received the confirmation, Jane’s mother decided she’d booked the wrong date. Pleading phone calls to the operator from an apologetic Jane happily resulted in a change with minimal charges.
The new confirmation arrived only for Jane’s mother to convince herself that she’d prefer one week on half-board and the other on B&B. Poor Jane tried to explain it was not possible, but to no avail. Her mother simply would not accept that rules apply even to those clients whose daughters work in the industry.
I understand that when her mum phones the office these days Jane is always with a client or out to lunch!
n Maureen Hill is temporarily at John Perry Travel, Blandford Forum