The owner of Idle Travel in Bradford has no plans to retire as his agency celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024 and reported another record year.
Tony Mann, who founded the independent agency in the village of Idle in 1984, told a Travel Weekly webcast: “2023 was a record year. 2024 bettered that by a bit.”
Noting he turned 61 in 2024 , he added: “I am absolutely not going to retire. There is not a chance. I still enjoy it.
“I look at everything early in the morning, thinking: ‘What can we do today?’
“I love the buzz in the shop. I love the buzz with the team. I love the buzz with the customers. I love meeting people.”
He also paid tribute to the support from his staff who “looked after” him and his daughter Jodie after his wife Andrea died.
“It is important that people look after themselves,” he said, urging people to talk about mental health.
“There is nothing wrong with talking to people and finding that help if you are feeling low.”
When he started the business, he had never been abroad and had to employ someone with two years of experience to obtain an Abta number.
He juggled his other roles as a DJ and escapologist but, after not managing to escape on stage a couple of times, he focused on being a travel agent.
Initially, the agency mostly sold beach holidays but started selling to groups after a Thomson educational to see the ‘Young at Heart’ programme in Benidorm.
His parents-in-law, who had helped set up the agency, also supported his move to Morrison’s store in Bradford, where the agency has now been for more than 30 years.
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The business coped with crises such as the collapse of International Leisure Group (ILG) in 1991 and widespread flight cancellations following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud in 2010.
“You get through it; you work really long hours,” he said.
The business also evolved to cope with the advent of the internet, with his daughter, who also worked at the agency, helping to develop a presence on Facebook.
Mann also turned other challenges to his advantage, such as being moved to a Portakabin in Morrison’s car park, and the departure of Thomson/Tui from Leeds Bradford airport, just 15-20 minutes away from the agency.
He wrapped the Portakabin in a beach scene and put deckchairs on decking outside, and the prominent car park location proved to be an eye-catching asset.
Fortunately, Jet2.com chose Leeds Bradford as its first base and selling Jet2holidays was “a godsend”.
Mann also believes luck was on his side when Covid struck, as the agency had no debt and managed not to make any redundancies.
He kept a high profile locally by maintaining his regular appearances on BBC Radio Leeds, then managed to “hit the ground running” as restrictions eased because he had kept most of his team.
The agency strikes a balance between traditional customer service, such as ticket wallets and luggage labels, and experimenting with new technology such as TikTok and Jet2holidays’ new AI-powered conversational search function for agents.
“Service is important to me,” he told the webcast. “If things go wrong…it upsets me. If I read a bad review, it gets me personally.”
The team also uses social media channels for marketing, with regular features such as fun activities and competitions during the “12 Days of Christmas” initiative each year.
He takes his staff and their families on trips as treats, such as Polar Express, llama trekking in the UK and Alton Towers.
Sometimes, colleagues’ kids come into the agency, if there’s nobody to look after them for a short period after school.
He has also taken on his grandson as an apprentice – even though the National Insurance changes announced in the Budget will cost his business £20,000.
“We can tweak things. Travel is brilliant at adapting,” he insisted.
“We adapt to whatever. We will have a good year.
“We’ve had a great couple of years, and if the growth is slower [in 2025], who cares?
“We are still going to be here.”