Barton-Knott Travel in Leicester manager Rebecca Potter tells Samantha Mayling why Cyprus is her ‘new love’ after her Cover Stars trip to Paphos
Q. Why did you enter Cover Stars?
A. I wanted to promote myself and the business. We won the National Travel Agent of the Year category for the third year running at Jet2holidays’ conference in November. Our store in Leicester’s Beaumont Shopping Centre opened in 2019, branded with Jet2holidays. We now have eight staff, including me.
Until this year, I’ve never been on a fam trip. I’ve always taken my own holidays, to explore countries I wanted to see. I thought: “It’s now or never.” I was 40 last year, so I’ll celebrate by being on the front of Travel Weekly. I visited Paphos twice within three months: with Cover Stars then for the Jet2holidays conference.
Q. How was the flight with Jet2.com?
A. The Jet2holidays team joined us at Manchester airport – I’d met them before at events. Being on an Indulgent Escapes luxury package, we got a £10 voucher, which I put towards a duty-free perfume on the flight that I had my eye on. Jet2’s airport reps were as excellent as always – I fly Jet2 for my own holidays. The flight was about four and-a-half hours and we all talked about our businesses the whole way.
Q. What was your hotel like?
A. We had a private transfer to Constantinou Bros’ Asimina Suites Hotel, which was 25 minutes away. I was upgraded to a swim-up suite because I won the quiz [on the transfer] about Jet2holidays’ products. We had cocktails on arrival then we were shown to our rooms. The room was huge and beautiful, with gorgeous views overlooking the pool and sea. We were spoiled at the hotel and didn’t have to lift a finger all week.
Q. What did you do while you were there?
A. We walked to beautiful Paphos harbour and visited a waterfall, winery, historic village and Aphrodite’s Rock. The sunset cruise was phenomenal. We had drinks and nibbles and just took it all in. We visited the rooftop terrace at Constantinou Bros’ Athena Royal Beach Hotel for cocktails and enjoyed an amazing sunset. I’m fussy with food but I did try lots – I’m now a massive halloumi fan. Before this trip, Mexico and Jamaica were my favourites. But I found a new love in Cyprus. It massively exceeded my expectations, the ambience was amazing and Cypriot people are lovely.
Q. What was your photoshoot like?
A. I loved it. The setting was beautiful: an old church and cobbled streets, with quaint shops, in the village of Omodos. Alex, the photographer, made me feel at ease. We also had a group photo near the castle in Paphos. I’d never been to Paphos before. I’d been to Cyprus but on the Larnaca-Protaras side. Paphos is absolutely beautiful.
Q. Are you looking forward to attending the upcoming Globe Travel Awards?
A. It’s exciting to have a reunion. I’ve been before, with Jet2holidays, so I know it’ll be a great evening. with celebrities and industry people. Jet2holidays will host our table and are putting us up in a hotel. A couple of Cover Stars were at the Jet2holidays conference too, so we caught up there. We keep in touch on WhatsApp too, they’re a really nice bunch.
Q. What was the Asimina Suites Hotel like?
A. It was adult-only, all-inclusive and pure luxury. The pool was quiet with comfortable sunbeds. On the last night, we were in a beachfront cabana, decorated as they do for couples getting married, which was amazing.
Q. How has the trip helped with sales?
A. On day one, back at work, a customer came in while I was telling everybody about [the trip]. She sat with me and we booked Paphos. I did three bookings in the first week. We plan to go to Athena Beach for my husband’s 40th birthday in 2026, along with my little boy. We’ll stick with Constantinou Bros because the food is delicious. Unless you’ve been to destinations, they’re harder to sell. People buy from people if you show a passion. It was amazing and an experience I’ll never forget.
Rebecca’s career
I started in hospitality at 15, working in bars. I also started my job in travel when I was a teenager. I joined Page & Moy, then went to Expedia.
I worked in customer services, sales and ticketing, but soon realised I wanted to talk to customers face to face. I’ve got a big personality that needed to get out.
I was with Tui from 2008 until 2015 and was in the top 50 for sales.
In 2015 I started at Barton-Knott Travel and also began working for a couple of years at the local theatre, where I met famous people, such as Jason Donovan and Peter Andre. Tim Barton-Knott [managing director] thought it was a good idea to open a second location after attending a Jet2holidays conference. I moved from the Anstey shop to run the Beaumont Shopping Centre store. The Anstey store closed during Covid, so the business could focus on just the one.
