BARBARA CHARLTON Regular columnist Barbara was voted Most Helpful Travel Counsellor of the Year for two consecutive years.
talking shop WISE COUNSEL Going places is good for clients With the 'slower months' coming up
now is the perfect time to get booked onto as many training events as you can, as well as getting some Travel Uni modules under your belts. I got things underway last month with
a great evening on magical India hosted by Bales, Taj Hotels and Jet Airways. It was a unique event in that allowed me to take along up to six clients as guests. They really appreciated the evening,
which saw the wine and canapés flowing before a short screen presentation. It certainly opened their eyes up to the possibilities for travel to India. I hope to generate some Bales sales on the back of this evening, not just to India but worldwide. On another, windy, September evening,
myself and three other Travel Counsellors headed to Brighton to experience some Fijian-style training and entertainment. With a semi-hurricane tearing through the seaside resort outside, we took a visual trip over 10,000 miles away to the beautiful beaches of the 333 Fijian islands. Around 30 agents attended the event,
but only three of us were brave enough to sample Kava, a traditional Fijian drink, served to us by strapping young Fijian 'warriors'. The beverage didn't look very appealing, resembling watery mud, but if it would give me the wisdom of a Fijian Chief I was prepared to give it a go! The Chiefs drink it before making decisions, and my taste left my tongue numb for a while! But when in Rome... My luck has been in again recently as I
won myself a weekend break at a Warner Hotel for adults, which I shall be taking in mid-October. I also spent a day at one of Warner Leisure’s hotels, Holme Lacy in Hereford, after winning a competition by suggesting a new ‘experience’ it could offer its guests. I had a nice day with two other agents,
enjoying lunch on the terrace overlooking the lovely gardens and lake, followed by an afternoon of fun and laughter decorating cakes – and ourselves! Louise Tansey from Bourne Leisure made sure that we all enjoyed the day; and as we were allowed a guest, two of us took our mum and the other brought along her husband. Training evenings are always useful – provided you share the knowledge
“Training evenings are always useful – providing you share the knowledge gained with your clients”
gained with your clients. I posted a short note on my Facebook page to say what I had been up to and will write a short blog for the company website as well. September was a busy month with bookings as diverse as always. A regular client who would normally
only stay in the very best hotels contacted me to enquire about a Butlins WWE weekend (some sort of American wrestling organisation that her two young boys are fanatical about). Naturally she had to go for the top
deluxe accommodation available, which would also guarantee her the best seats at the event. I contacted agency sales at Bourne Leisure, who were as helpful as could be, and have put in a special request that may result in the boys getting a birthday mention from one of the wrestlers! I had a big issue this month with a
Barbara cooks up a storm on a Bourne Leisure break; A Fiji 'warrior' welcomes agents to a training event in Brighton
30th wedding anniversary trip to Venice, where the hotel rejected a tour operator booking with a late 'Stop Sale' notice. I only discovered this when I faxed the hotel to advise them of the special occasion. I then spent hours calling the tour operator to find a suitable alternative. With all of Venice on a stop sale it looked as if I was never going to find an
alternative hotel, but in the end we did source a suitable property, albeit without a bar. But compensation from the tour operator made up for that. So this month’s helpful award goes to Amy Briggs and Sandra Tidwell-Rawlins from Cresta Holidays for sticking with me. I don’t usually do many cruise bookings, but I've had a run of selling Cunard cruises. Perhaps people have become a lot more wary after the collapse of Gills Cruise Club and want a company that 100 per cent protects their money, or maybe there is just a slant towards ex-UK cruise holidays. I am again heading to Disneyland Paris
for a few days, with my big Disney Princess daughter, who is 19! I think that Disney is missing a trick by not having a few child-free weekends a year that are just for the big kids.
Happy selling! Contact Details
BARBARA CHARLTON Travel Counsellors UK 0845 0587 290
Barbara.charlton@
travelcounsellors.com www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/barbara. charlton
www.sellinglonghaul.com • October 2011 63
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