A travel agency says a standout window display created by a tour operator partner has not only attracted new clients but also become a talking point among locals.
Thames Travel in Twickenham is working on two new enquiries within two weeks of the vibrant vinyl window display showing animals in Costa Rica being installed.
The colourful display, which takes over an entire window of the shop, was designed and installed by operator Distinctive Americas.
The agency and operator split the £1,500 bill to design, print and install the display, which includes the operator’s brand in one of the windows and is due to be in place for four months.
Thames Travel managing director Christian Green said the move was already paying dividends, with one of the enquiries resulting in a £14,000 booking. It is the first time the agency has had such a large display and Green is hopeful it will lead to more sales.
He said: “We have a school next to us and this is creating fun. Families are stopping to look. We’ve had people walking past, smiling, and coming in to say they love what we’ve done.
“It’s attracted attention and we’ve had enquiries from people we’ve never seen before. The best thing is the booking we’re doing has come from a young family with a bucket list of places they want to go to. They just walked past and saw the window. Hopefully we’ll get more bookings from them.”
He added: “It’s a win-win for the agent and operator. It’s getting harder to do fly-and-flop holidays and make a margin so as agents we need to show our worth with something like this.”
Distinctive Americas managing director Daniel Benians came up with the idea after producing posters and video content for agents this year. Around 90% of the operator’s sales are from agents.
He said: “I contacted some of our key agent partners to see if they’d be interested in a bespoke window.
“Thames Travel is one of our biggest and most important agent partners; very proactive and open to new ideas. They were happy to give us free rein with the design – the window was literally a blank canvas that we could do with what we wanted.”
Benians commissioned graphic design agency Art Works to help with the design, made with school children in mind. Sign specialists Archers installed it over three days.
He added: “We all thought the impact of the design on a full window would be too good an opportunity to miss.
“When I visited the shop I saw two schoolchildren cooing over the image of the sloth as it’s perfectly at their eye level as they walk past. We wanted a design that attracted the children’s attention, which would be a good way to encourage their parents to come in and book a trip.
“We also made sure the design had plenty of clear areas to enable the staff to look out of the window as usual and wave at all their regulars.”
Benians is already planning to canvas agents at the Aito Kickstart conference in January to see if others are interested in bespoke window displays.
“Everything we do is aimed at making agents lives easier and making it easy for them to promote and book our destinations,” he said, adding: “We are always looking for new agent partners to start building relationships with.”
The operator is planning three agent fam trips in 2025. Benians added that a family holiday by the Thames Travel owner and his wife, director Claire Green, in 2023, had already led to a 20% rise in bookings with the operator, which also sells destinations such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia. Mexico and Peru.
“It is a brilliant way to gain product knowledge and strengthen a working relationship, plus they’re good fun too so it’s a win-win all round,” said Benians.
Meanwhile, the agency is already considering further similar window displays in future.
“I’ve been approached by one operator who thought this was amazing and wanted to do one for New Zealand and Australia, which I think would be great,” said Green.