Agency partners with eco-friendly skincare firm to sell travel kits

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A travel agent has teamed up with an eco-friendly skincare company to market a sustainable ‘Travel Right Kit’ to clients.

Newbury-based homeworking agency Nickson Travel is working with local online company Posy to create the “flight-friendly” kit containing natural products and sustainable materials, promoted as a festive gift for travellers.

Owner and travel consultant Annika Nickson said her goal was to encourage clients to travel more responsibly rather than make a profit.

The £35 kit comes in a pouch and includes natural deodorant, shampoo and conditioner bars, hand and body lotion, lip balm, a reusable washcloth and a bamboo straw with a coconut brush, and is promoted with the tagline ‘All of the pampering, none of the guilt’.

Clients who buy the kit and show proof of purchase can get the full cost of the kit refunded against a future Nickson Travel booking and receive 20% of future Posy orders.

Nickson, who tested the kit while on trips to Tahiti and Svalbard, said: “I’m always looking for ways in which to promote travelling more responsibly.

"When I met [Posy founder] Dale Campbell and heard about her sustainable, plastic-free products, it made sense to collaborate with another local business with shared values.

“We thought we could do something mutually beneficial; We’ve both got a similar ethos – to reduce the amount of plastic people use at home or take on holiday.”

She added: “I hate the thought of introducing plastics and unnecessary chemicals into the places I visit, and by creating this kit we’ve allowed people to ‘travel light, travel right’.”

The two companies met at a meeting organised by Pageant Party Newbury where small businesses discuss ways to support each other under a ‘Made in Newbury’ name before collaborating to champion responsible travel.

Already the product has proved popular on social media. “The feedback has been really good so far with people saying it will be great for trips,” said Nickson, who plans to see if local shops in Newbury will stock the kit.

Nickson, who was shortlisted in Travel Weekly’s Agent Achievement Awards for the Sustainability Champion of the Year – Small Agency in 2024, added: “For me, this is a marketing exercise and genuinely to get people to travel responsibly. I just want to cover my costs.”

She added: “We’re open to developing the kit a bit further; we’ll see how things go. We might approach other brands; we could put other items in the kit.”

It is the second collaboration of its kind by the agency, which aims to help clients cut down on single-use plastics. The first was with Water-to-Go, which sells refillable water filter bottles using Nasa technology.