Staying in touch with travel industry colleagues and continuing to network can play a critical role to finding a new job in the sector, according to three former tour operator employees.
Joanna Guest, Darryl Gardner and Graham Bishop all faced an uncertain future after being made redundant from their sales positions at tour operators last year due to the pandemic.
But they said speaking to friends and colleagues in the trade – and using the networking skills they normally used in their jobs – has proved invaluable in helping them secure new jobs in the industry.
Joanna Guest started work part-time for Bordessa Holidays, where she had contacts, after being made part-time in her role as senior sales manager for the UK at AAT Kings. The role turned into a full-time position as an agent at the homeworking firm after she was made redundant in November.
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Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, she said: “Bordessa Holidays was an account of mine when I worked at Royal Caribbean and I kept friends and joined in August part-time [as head of cruise].
“My advice is to pull on relationships you have with people; they can listen out for opportunities for you. If they haven’t got a job to offer they might know of someone else with an opportunity.”
Similarly, Gardner’s role as a personal travel consultant at Cartwright Travel was the result of a strong relationship he had developed with owner Steve Cartwright while working on the road since 2011, most recently as key account manager for the southwest and Wales at G Touring.
He said: “Steve said to me one day, ‘do you fancy setting up with ourselves to try to transfer their cruise customers over to booking holidays?’. Fast forward to now and I’m a personal travel consultant booking their customers who are reluctant to book cruises and booking their holidays.”
For Bishop, who has achieved his long-term goal to set up his own Go Cruise & Travel With Graham franchise, building up strong supplier relationships has been key to establishing his new business.
“It was daunting,” he admitted, but added: “I built relationships with key suppliers, and actually friends in the industry, that I’ve been able to call on when I’ve needed a favour, or when I’ve needed some help and advice.”