Agency manager mobilises to support UK team after being stranded in Qatar

Forsdike said her “first instinct” was to help Travel Village deal with the crisis and insisted “anyone in travel would have done exactly the same”.

 

“When you have been in travel for more than 30 years it’s automatic; you want to look after your customers and it’s nice to be able to help the business owners at such a stressful time,” said Forsdike, whose grandad set up the original family business.

 

Forsdike, 53, started at Travel Village at the age of 17 and her cousin Phil Nuttall is the chief executive.

 

“I was on the ground and didn’t want to leave everyone else to deal with it. I could give them a lot more information than they were getting from the news,” said Forsdike, who also inducted four new starters to the business remotely while stuck in Qatar.

 

‘Alerts went off constantly’

 

The couple had been by the pool at the Hilton Doha The Pearl with their four-year-old granddaughter on the last day of their holiday when the national emergency alert first sounded on their mobile phones telling them to seek shelter indoors and stay away from windows.

 

Forsdike said: “That scared the living daylights out of me. The frightening thing was you could hear the [Iranian] missiles being intercepted and see them. It was quite scary; they looked and sounded a lot closer than they were.

 

“From that point on we got used to the alert, it went off constantly, even in the middle of the night. The alert was telling us how many missiles had been intercepted and how many drones.”

 

The couple’s return flight the following day (Sunday, February 29) with Qatar Airways was cancelled, with rebooked flights each day that week also cancelled.

 

During the eight extra days, Qatar Tourism covered the couple’s accommodation and all meals. The tourist board also set up an emergency phone line and provided medical treatment and medicines for those in need.

 

She recalled: “It was quite eerie because it was so quiet everywhere; people were not going out and the beaches and pools were shut. The shopping malls were deserted. Everyone was being extra cautious. We got messages when threats had been ‘neutralised’ and you could go out so we went out for a walk each day.

 

“We were so well looked after, with full board accommodation paid for Qatar Tourism and the hotel staff were incredible and could not have been more helpful. It was one less thing to worry about as I was already panicking about the cost of my car parked at Manchester Airport.”

 

‘Everyone was shattered’

 

Forsdike, whose husband used to work in travel at tour operators including SunMed Holidays and Go Greek, continued to contact the British Consulate daily and eventually got on to a priority list for a repatriation flight to Heathrow on Qatar Airways.

 

“We only got on the list because my husband is 60; they were only letting the elderly or those with medical conditions get a seat,” she added.

 

The couple found out at 11.45pm on Sunday, March 1 that they had secured seats on the 8am flight on March 2.

 

“The siren went off again on our phones at 3.30am so at one point we thought we might not get on the plane. It was a full flight but very quiet – no-one talked about it. I think everyone was shattered. We all just wanted to get home,” said Forsdike.

 

The couple arrived home later that day after a long car journey back from Heathrow to Blackpool and Forsdike was back her desk the next day.

 

Despite the ordeal, she has not been put her off returning to Qatar after the conflict is over.

 

“It was my first time in Doha and I will definitely go back; it was beautiful and the people were amazing,” said Forsdike, who is in daily contact with her family in Doha.

 

“It’s frightening for the people that are still there, but the family are okay. We message them every day on a group chat group. They all love it out there and our granddaughter is thriving out there; they don’t want to come home.”