Your Stories: Coming back to travel after 20 years

Q. Where did your interest in travel come from?
As a child, I never got to experience holidays abroad, so going overseas was mysterious and intriguing. I remember going into the Lunn Poly shops, smelling the coconut air freshener, and thinking it was so exciting that it smelled of the Caribbean.

Q. How did you get started in the industry?
My first job was with Lunn Poly in Derbyshire after university. You weren’t allowed to answer the phone until you were fully trained – you had to do brochures and window cards. My first booking was a very cheap deal to Orlando with allocation on arrival. It’s funny looking back, as you would probably pay more in tax now!

Q. What were your next roles in the industry?
I worked as cabin crew with Air 2000 and Virgin Atlantic for a few years, before working for Thomas Cook. I helped to open one of their first superstores in Birmingham, which was very busy with 35 consultants and a ticketing system for customers waiting to be served.

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Q. What made you decide to leave travel?
I went back to being cabin crew for British Midland out of East Midlands Airport. Then 9/11 happened and I decided to stop. I went into the British Midland sales and reservation centre for a while before it closed. A colleague said they were getting a job as an estate agent, so I followed them and worked in new homes for 20 years. I went from selling show homes to being sales and marketing director for Peabody [housing association].

Q. What made you decide to come back to travel and set up your own business?
I took the option of redundancy and used the opportunity to step back into travel. I went back to flying for British Airways, but then got talking to a crew member who was doing InteleTravel. I spoke to a few homeworking operations and joined Hays PTC. I quickly realised I was happier selling travel and within a year had done £1 million in sales. I then went to Travel Counsellors so I could use DMCs and tailor-make everything, which was great, before setting up Auria Travel last May with Protected Trust Services. We have just swapped to Advantage Travel Partnership.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch is my hometown in Leicestershire and there is only one other agency there, so [opening a shop] felt like the right thing to do

Q. What sales trends are you seeing?
It’s a late market. We’re seeing a shift towards the Caribbean and destinations in the western hemisphere, which is unusual – until recently it was heading the opposite way due to what was going on in US politics.

Q. How do you engage with your customers?
We try to do as much social media video content as possible because that resonates with people more. I post pictures from my holidays too. I went to Turkey recently and put up some posts to reassure customers it was a safe destination. There are great deals to be had and prices have come down, so why would you not take advantage of that?

Q. What are your favourite destinations?
Two of my favourites are Hong Kong and Singapore. They are incredibly vibrant and diverse places with something for everyone. I also love cruises. I’ve been on 51 and it’s a big part of my business, but I remember not being completely sold when I tried my first one with Ocean Village from Barbados. I’ve tried lots of cruise lines since then and got hooked.

Q. What is your advice for anyone thinking of setting up a travel business?
The most important things are to have travel experience and to be enthusiastic about those destinations with your customers. We’ve taken on a few trainees who have never sold holidays, but they have done some great holidays and can tell stories that people buy into. The other thing is to set your stall out and be known for something, whether that is fly-and-flop, tailor-made or honeymoons. You have got to be specific about what you sell.