Seaside Travel owner Nicola Park joined Virgin Voyages’ Shane Lewis-Riley and Leger’s Leah Towlson on national television on Thursday to promote the value of the travel trade and holidays available for this summer.
Park told Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch programme that customers were increasingly looking for a “wrap-around” service with every element provided for them, with many looking to book bucket list trips for 2024 and 2025 which gave them time to pay off the cost monthly over a longer time scale.
“We are trying to give them the whole package of being looked after from the start so you don’t have to park your car at the airport, you can have a ‘meet and greet’ service, and go to an airport lounge,” she said, adding clients were dropping their weekly takeaways to put money aside for a big holiday.
She also hailed record takings for Seaside’s Easington branch, telling presenter Steph McGovern the shop had taken £1 million turnover in January.
“Most shops don’t do that in a year and we did it in one month. I am really proud of my girls for doing that,” she added.
Park was also asked about comments made by Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel to German newspaper Bild, which included a suggestion that last-minute bargains would be in short supply for the German market this summer.
In relation to the UK market, Park insisted: “There are good deals all over the place, in Turkey, Croatia, take your pick.”
Virgin Voyages’ vice president of sales Lewis-Riley – who spoke to the programme from his holiday in Bodrum, Turkey – used his appearance to dispel misperceptions of cruising and urged viewers to ask their travel agent for the “perfect cruise” for them.
“Cruising has come a long way. My best advice is to speak to your favourite travel agent,” he said. “A cruise is much more like having several holidays in one, for me it’s the perfect holiday.”
Leger coach representative Towlson, who was taking a coach tour in Croatia, promoted the fact the operator offered 700 pick-up points in the UK and “everything is taken care of” so that holidaymakers do not have to “plan anything”.
