Oasis Travel has opened its eighth store – in premises where it had a shop 15 years ago.
The new store in Royal Hillsborough, County Down in northern Ireland, originally closed because of plans for a redevelopment of the building into apartments.
The plans never went ahead and Oasis Travel held on to the property and rented it out until deciding to reopen it once again as a travel agency to capitalise on demand from new housing in the affluent area, around 15 minutes drive from the agency’s Lisburn head office.
Managing director Sandra Corkin said: “This has been about a year in the planning.
“We had to get heritage planning permission to do work on the building but we were not in a hurry because we knew it would take time to get the right staff. Getting good staff was the biggest challenge.”
Pictured: Office ambassador Jocelyn with clients
The agency now has four staff, some of whom have returned to travel post-Covid, and has focused on creating an inviting interior as it was restricted on changes to the exterior of the shop.
It has large lightboxes on the walls with destination imagery, and the shop has invested in a top of the range coffee maker to offer clients drinks.
Corkin added: “Even our signage has to be in heritage wood and so we thought if the interiors were lit up it would draw people in. We wanted to create a cosy and inviting environment that was also practical.
“The early signs are that the quality of bookings coming in is good and that people are wanting to spend time in the office. I think a good cup of coffee is the bare minimum we can offer them!
“We were last open 15 years ago and people have been coming in from local businesses and saying they used to book here with us. It’s a real community. People have been very supportive and come in gifts for the staff.”
Pictured: Consultants Nicole and Julie-Ann