Newcastle-based Danielle Falcus tells Andrew McQuarrie how she has developed her agency by specialising in trips for people with additional needs
Q. How much of your business comes from accessible travel bookings?
Around 50% is accessible travel. I don’t advertise like that but with my knowledge from my day job in the voluntary sector – helping people with learning difficulties and disabilities – it became a specialism.
Sometimes I book trips for families where one of the members has additional needs and other times it’s for people and their carers. I’ve also escorted a couple of groups and their carers on trips.
Q. What trips do you sell?
I sell quite a lot of cruises and I think that fits in with accessibility, because cruising is a good way for people with disabilities to see different parts of the world. Other than that, I sell a lot of escorted tours and do a lot of Christmas markets in the UK, along with theatre breaks. I also do wish-list itineraries – for example, I have someone going on an Alaska cruise and then doing the Rocky Mountaineer on a three-week trip for their 60th birthday.
Q. How much time do you spend on your travel job?
Being a home-based agent has given me the flexibility to build up my agency while still having a guaranteed income from work. I’ve managed to drop down to four days for my day job, though most of my travel work happens in the evenings and at weekends.
Q. What’s the most memorable trip you’ve booked?
A family who went on a Royal Caribbean cruise in June had never been away on a family holiday because the 11-year-old daughter has complex physical disabilities, so I liaised with the cruise line’s special assistance team about storing her medication. The mum messaged me from the ship saying, ‘I cannot thank you enough’. That brought tears to my eyes, even though I felt like all I did was make it possible, and the mum’s the superhero. I also got the sense there were so many barriers that had stopped her family going on holiday before, and that having somebody on her side who was a direct link between the travel company and the family was a big help.
Q. How do you find your clients?
Most of my clients come via social media, but I sell most of the cruises and accessible holidays through word of mouth. I’ve been promoted in a group for parents with children who have additional needs. I also have a good following on the Nextdoor app – a lot of people contact me on that to say I’ve been recommended.
Q. How do you keep your knowledge up to date?
I’ve joined a lot of social media groups used by people with disabilities who travel. Last year I was arranging for a wheelchair user to go to Majorca and those Facebook pages had a wealth of knowledge on which resorts are recommended. I always complete training providers’ accessibility training and if suppliers host webinars I ask them about the accessibility features they’ve got and I pass that on to customers. So if Royal Caribbean has a new feature on its cruise ships or Celebrity Cruises has been accredited autism-friendly by somebody, I promote that so people following my page know there are companies investing in accessibility.
Q. What are your aims for the coming year?
I’m having a baby in January, so I’m trying to keep building up the business and then I’ll have time off from my day job. I want to be able to offer more escorted trips for people with disabilities so I can travel with them to provide help. It’s kind of a separate arm of the business
to selling the travel. I would be journeying with clients either on a one-to-one basis or with small groups.
Q. Would you ever want to open a shop?
For people with learning difficulties, that would be amazing. Having a person you can go to speak to is really powerful, so I would love to have a physical location, but I think most of my business will remain online as I tend to get clients from all over the country.
What advice would you give agents who haven’t had much experience booking trips for people with accessible travel requirements?
Most families who have children with disabilities don’t have many people they can turn to. If they’re coming to you for help they’ll be grateful for whatever you can find out, so don’t be nervous that you don’t know a lot. Find out information and communicate that with them, because they’ll be so grateful somebody isn’t just saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t do that’. It’s important to learn as much as you can about the family’s needs and what the barriers are to them going on holiday. A woman said to me, ‘If my daughter’s medication isn’t stored between these temperatures on the cruise, she will die.’ You then reiterate to the supplier that it’s the single most important thing they can cater for. Also, make sure you have the accessible travel requirements in writing from the client and then get the information back from the suppliers in writing. It’s about making sure you’ve got all the details right. And if you don’t know something, find out.
