The general manager of ArrangeMY Escape, Jennifer Lynch, is celebrating the Worcester agency’s recent Atas Sustainability Champion award. She talks to Samantha Mayling.
Q. How did your career in travel develop?
A. I’ve been in travel about 20 years. I did work experience at Going Places then became an agent there. I also worked for Tailormade Travel and then Regal Travel in South Wales. I was headhunted by ArrangeMY, a business travel specialist, to set up a leisure agency called ArrangeMY Escape in April 2017. It was a no-brainer – the best thing I have ever done. I found the premises, recruited the team and set up the website. We are part of the Advantage Travel Partnership – I went to its conference in Madeira earlier this year.
I was headhunted by ArrangeMY, a business travel specialist, to set up a leisure agency called ArrangeMY Escape in April 2017
Q. What is the agency like?
A. We are in a 16th-century building on Mealcheapen Street, a really beautiful old street, just off the high street in Worcester. We have a lot of footfall because we are near an Asda supermarket with a car park. Working with me is Ryan Sowney, a Disney expert; Bethany Brandwood, who specialises in cruise, and Cyprus, as she grew up there; and Judith Clarke, who has developed her concierge role, looking after special requests. Rosie Richardson started in July as an apprentice with Train2Travel and she has taken to it like a duck to water. Judith has been in travel for about 30 years and has travelled extensively – and I have travelled the world.
We went to the Atas Conference in 2019 just before the pandemic and started to do more touring and adventure, and it’s rebuilding now
Q. What are your clients like?
A. We have a wide range, but they tend to be in the 50‑plus age group so they have more time and money. Packages are about a third of our business, but we do the luxury end. The cruise and Florida markets have gone through the roof, and we do lots of honeymoons. We went to the Atas Conference in 2019 just before the pandemic and started to do more touring and adventure, and it’s rebuilding now, including river cruise-and-tour holidays.
We are seeing a lot of interest in Europe, the US, Asia, Africa and India. Ryan and Rosie came back from this month’s Atas Conference with lots of ideas. And we’re over the moon to have won the Sustainability Champion award – we did not expect that.
Ryan and Rosie came back from this month’s Atas Conference with lots of ideas. And we’re over the moon to have won the Sustainability Champion award
Q. How do you market the agency?
A. With the shop window, website and social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube – and we try to highlight how we’re sustainable. Our window displays are changed once a week instead of twice and we feature QR codes so clients can scan to get details. We have introduced a sustainable promise, telling clients about our goals.
We support the Sea Change marine conservation charity because our cruise business has grown so much – I tell clients about that in our emails and social channels. Also, we support a mental health charity in Worcester because a couple of us have suffered with that – we’re sponsoring a Greek night for them. We have been to 12 wedding fairs in the past 14 weeks – and January and February will be busy with wedding events too.
I do networking events with local firms such as solicitors, as well as supplier events. We sponsored Worcester Pride and had a stall there because we sell LGBTQ holidays – Ryan appeared in a Chillimix TV advert.
We support the Sea Change marine conservation charity because our cruise business has grown so much – I tell clients about that in our emails and social channels
Q. What about expansion plans?
A. Worcester has pockets of people with money so we have not seen an impact yet from cost-of-living concerns – we’re selling more than we did before Covid. We are planning to open a second shop in Malvern, about 10 miles from here. I am recruiting for that and we can hopefully open by early spring. I will incorporate sustainability into that new shop, using local businesses for the furniture and signage. And I will launch a ‘gift a tree’ initiative for local businesses and talk to people about carbon footprints.
We have sold a wide range of holidays this year: South Korea, Lapland, Italy, lots of Canada and the Rocky Mountaineer, walking holidays, Japan, the Indian Ocean – and lots more rail holidays, as many clients do not want to fly. This year has been a good one, and now we’re preparing for the peaks.
Worcester has pockets of people with money so we have not seen an impact yet from cost-of-living concerns – we’re selling more than we did before Covid
Tell us about your sustainability initiatives
I was at a Jet2 conference in Leeds in November 2021 and people talked about sustainability. I started making small changes and getting staff involved – we must play our part in the travel industry if we want to preserve destinations. When we create quotes, we highlight hotels with sustainable policies. When suppliers come to us, we ask about what they’re doing that is sustainable, as we need to tell clients. With honeymooners, for example, we recommend Elephant Hills in Thailand, and in South Africa we highlight places that look after people and animals.
I started making small changes and getting staff involved – we must play our part in the travel industry if we want to preserve destinations
We also recommend Iberostar for its environmental record. In the shop, we print 70% less now, send most documents digitally and try to use digital brochures. We use less plastic and have refillable water bottles. Next month, we’re going on a fam trip to Portugal with Classic Collection. We’ll have a conference to talk about 2023 and meet hotel managers and Visit Portugal to talk about sustainability. We’ll be brainstorming and bonding as a team, and will offset our carbon.