| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 17/04/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 16 |
| Copyright: Other |
open to question: Christopher Kirker, Kirker Holidays
people profile
open to question: Christopher Kirker, Kirker Holidays
n What was your first job in travel and how much did you get paid?Working as an overseas rep for Mediterranean Villas in Spain. I was paid £12 a week.
n What has been your biggest challenge in the travel industry?
Becoming chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operatorsand trying to unite the independent sector.
n What has been your most embarrassing moment in the travel industry?
Introducing my sales manager when at Travelscene to an important travel agent and forgetting her name.
n Who has been the biggest influence on your career and why?
Roland Castro, for showing me that you can make money in the short-breakmarket.
n What’s the best job you’ve had, apart from your current one?
Sales andmarketing director at Global, which in the late 1970s/early 1980s offered the best mass-market family holiday product on the market.
n Which company, apart from your own, do you most admire and why?
RF Hotels. In barely three years, Sir Rocco Forte has built up a universally-respected top quality hotel group, rivalling Starwood and especially Forte Hotels.
n If you weren’t in travel, what would you be doing?
Ambassador to Spain.
n What single thing have you achieved at work which has given you the most satisfaction?
Establishing and building up Kirker Holidays as the UK’s leading premium quality short-breaks tour operator.
n What advice would you give to someone starting out in the travel industry?
Aim high, be honest and enjoy yourself.
n Do you have a Web site and if so how many bookings do you receive on it?
We are featured on three travel sites. We plan to have a dedicated Kirker Web site but don’t intend selling over the Internet.
n Make one prediction about travel in the 21st century:
Our affluent society will be taking many more high-quality short breaks.
n What is your star sign?
Taurus.
n What would you change about yourself?
I’d shed a few pounds.
n Which living person do you most respect and why?
My wife. How could she bear to live with me for over 25 years?
n What is your greatest regret?
I can think of none of importance.
n Who, apart from your partner, would be your ideal holiday companion and where would you go?
Luciano Pavarotti. We would go to New York. I would stay at the Four Seasons Hotel and listen to Pavarotti at the Met every evening.
n What is the most memorable destination you’ve visited and why?
Venice. Everytime I visit that magical city I discover something new and it never fails to leave a lasting impression.
n What type of holiday would you avoid at all costs?
Any all-inclusive holiday.
n What is your favourite TV programme/film/book?
The programme is Frasier, the film is The Blues Brothers and the book is Simon Raven’s Alms for Oblivion series.
n What’s your idea of a great night out?
A box at the opera with friends, followed by dinner at the Ivy restaurant in London.
n What would you have put on your gravestone?
He lived long and loved his life.
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Job title: chairman and managing director of Kirker Holidays.
Path to career: worked for Mediterranean Villas as an overseas rep from 1969-72. Joined Clarksons as assistant product manager in 1972. Became sales manager for Inghams in 1974. Joined Global in 1978 as sales and marketing director. Left to becomecommercial director for Travelscene in 1982. Became MDand chairman of Kirker Holidays in 1986.