talking shop WISE COUNSEL
Not lost for words When I am out and about and meeting other industry folk I invariably get asked how I find enough things to write about each month as well as running my own travel agency franchise, being a wife and mother. Sometimes I ask myself the same questions! But the truth is, once my fingers
start tapping away I don’t seem to know when to stop! That’s where Steve Hartridge, Selling Long Haul’s editor comes in! For example, last month he had to whittle down the 3000 words I sent him to just 800!
Glad rags and Brucie
Last month I was privileged to receive an invitation to the glamorous Caribtours Awards and brochure launch at Claridge’s in London. My full-length Jasper Conran came out of the wardrobe, along with my diamanté Faith killer satin heels, for an evening that got off to a flying start when Sir and Lady Forsyth popped in to represent Puerto Rico. I didn’t get in the frame with them, but two other Travel Counsellors were quicker off the mark than me (see photo showing Tanuja Sudra and Heidi Kemsley). I was delighted that Travel
Counsellors were awarded the Agent of the Year award for the fifth year running. I was also proud that the small independent agency in Oxted that I worked for 14 years ago also won an award, so well done to all at Ashdown Travel!
Another night out in London saw me join some fellow TCs at Vinopolis for an Australia Tourism event. The night was a reward for completing The Aussie Specialist course and provided us all with excellent cuisine, and, as pre dinner ‘entertainment’, a wine-tasting lesson. It just shows the value of training! I
have always loved Aussie and South Africa wines, and now having done the course, so to speak, am even more delighted with the taste, sights and smells of them!
60 October 2012 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com
Great service For this month’s Most Helpful Tour Operator Jan Ledger sent me the following tale about great service she received from Journey Latin America’s Caroline Maber and Hannah Waterhouse. “Caroline worked hard to put three cruises together back to back, to enable clients to see absolutely everything they possibly could on a journey of a lifetime to the Galapagos to celebrate a special birthday. "All clients are given a souvenir
DVD of the things they see. On leaving The Galapagos, my clients were assured that all three of their cruises were on the one DVD, however on returning home found that only a third of the DVD was of their group, the major two-thirds was missing. The fear was that the photos would be destroyed after the group left. I contacted Caroline and she immediately arranged to obtain the missing photos and organized for them to be sent direct to my clients. Helene Kirkham nominated Amy
Wheeler at Africa Collection. She wrote: “Clients booked a safari and beach combination to South Africa and Mauritius but during the enquiry process we ran into a potential problem in that my clients wanted a guarantee that their game drive vehicles would seat no more than six
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” — EINSTEIN
people. I had several conversations with Amy about this as we just could not guarantee that this would be possible at ANY of the lodges, but it was shaping up to be a deal breaker. "Amy, who has personal experience
of many of the Kruger lodges/game drives, spoke to my clients and suggested an alternative safari lodge, and the booking was confirmed. "A few days later, Amy rang me to
say that there had been a schedule change on the flight from LHR/JNB which would affect their onward connection to Kruger, meaning they would need to take a later flight into a different airport, which would jeopardise the game drive planned for shortly after their arrival. “It got to the point that my clients
were talking about cancelling the whole £8k booking!! "Amy pulled it out of the bag by speaking directly to the hotels in South Africa and Mauritius and by changing the client’s departure date by just one day – at no extra cost to my very happy clients!"
Happy Selling!
BARBARA CHARLTON
Regular columnist Barbara was voted Most Helpful Travel Counsellor of the Year for two consecutive years.
E:
Barbara.Charlton@
travelcounsellors.com T: 0845 0587 290
‘Didn’t they all do well?’
CONGRATS! As always, picking a winner this month was a tough one, but I have plumped for Caroline Maber of Journey Latin America. Without Caroline’s intervention (see main story) Jan’s clients would not have received that much-treasured complete DVD of that true ‘once in a lifetime’ experience in the Galapagos! Well done Caroline!
THANKS FOR YOUR VOTE! I would like to thank everyone that voted for me to be the Best Retail Agent at the recent inaugural SATOA annual awards. I didn’t win, but to make the top-five shortlist was fantastic. I could not attend, because I was in Italy, but I’ll definitely try to make it next year.
WELL DONE MAMTA! Mamta Sachem at Travelpack looks proud as punch with her Operator of the Month award for September. Mamta won the award for her help and diligence when booking a holiday to Burma with agent Stuart Woodford.
Pictured: Barbara was behind the lens at the Caribtours Awards and brochure launch at Coleridge’s in London. Pictured are TC Paul Cleary, Caribtours; Tania Sutra, Sir and Lady Forsyth and Heidi Kemsley, TC
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