ArrangeMY Escape’s Jennifer Lynch commend those suppliers who have remained ‘tirelessly active’ with their promotions
I’m pleased to report 2025 has been a far better start for us than 2024, but I have to begin the year with a slight moan: the peaks campaigns have been relatively disappointing, in my opinion.
My main gripe is that lots of suppliers were really late releasing information. Agents like to be hot and ready for the January rush – I prepare my team before Christmas and like to get promoting the January sale straight after the festive shop closure.
We returned on December 27 and were busy with bookings, but it was lacklustre in terms of campaigns, offers and social media assets. I have yet to encounter a revelation that truly astonishes.
Peaks vision
Black Friday seems to have been more of a spectacle. Maybe that will develop into the new era of peaks. I propose a vision: a peaks pack dispatched in December from our suppliers, encompassing everything from a refresher on agent logins and passwords to details of the January campaigns, special offers, discount codes, contact information for your area business development manager and assets for all publishing platforms.
In a vast ocean of suppliers, it can be quite a challenge to unearth precisely what you need, leading to a frantic scramble in the first week of January to promote. Yet, I commend those suppliers who have remained tirelessly active with their promotions.
On a more positive note, a last-minute thank you has helped to deliver results. On the final working day of 2024, we sent a ‘£100 off’ booking voucher to all clients that had booked with us in 2024. And boom! What a response it created. We’ve been inundated with bookings from regular customers using their vouchers.
No doubt many of our 2024 clients would have rebooked for this year and beyond regardless, but it was a way to thank them for their support and show gratitude at the right time. It is certainly something I will try at different times of the year to generate more income and sales throughout 2025-26.
Planning ahead
I must be crazy, but with customers booking further and further ahead, planning has already started for 2026. I have decided to arrange our first-ever dedicated tour, taking 24 passengers and a team from our store. I selected a Magari Italy tour to the Lombardy region, something I believe will suit our clients perfectly. I have never been, so I’m quite nervous. I know many agents have successfully guided their own tours and I really hope I can do the same. Any hints and tips you can share would be much appreciated!
The scenes and pictures being reported from Los Angeles are unbelievable; it looks apocalyptic and it’s so sad to see those beautiful communities destroyed. I am sure this will have a knock-on effect for the travel industry, with the city being such a popular destination. But as we know, it is another reason for customers to put their faith in travel experts.
I hope 2025 will be a year of positivity and lots of travel. As an industry we are robust and ready for any situation at any time, but we could do with a break from disasters for a full trading year.
Christmas crackers
I’m still on a high from my two Christmas market city breaks. I decided to go off the beaten track and slightly different from the norm. My first trip was to Bydgoszcz, Poland, for two nights, and the next to Riga, Latvia, for three nights. I had never even heard of Bydgoszcz.
This tiny little town was host to a fabulous Christmas market and was very reasonably priced. They really had gone all out with the celebrations. Riga was as I expected: full of history and charm, with a cute Christmas market in the centre of town. All in all, I highly recommend both destinations for customers who enjoy visiting festive markets.