A DAY WITH... HAYS TRAVEL, CASTLEFORD
Natasha Salmon meets the team at Hays Travel in Castleford, West Yorkshire, which opened last December
From booking bizarre stag do requests in the Ukraine to return trips to Benidorm, Hays Travel in Castleford is a firm favourite among the West Yorkshire town’s residents. The store, situated in the Carlton Lane
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
JANE SPENCE I have been in travel for... 28 years. I’ve been with Hays Travel since April and before that worked for Thomas Cook and other
independent agencies. My favourite
destination is... Cyprus, closely followed by Italy where I have just come back from. I go there often and have loved every single visit, the food is just incredible. If I hadn’t become a travel agent... I would have been a vet or worked with animals. My weirdest request... was when a man came in trying to arrange his friend’s stag do to Chernobyl. He was the best man and came in twice, adamant he wanted to see the reaction from the groom and his friends.
JAMES RIX I’ve been in travel for... longer than I’d like to say! I’ve been here since February and used to be a holiday rep. My favourite holiday destination is...
Benidorm, I absolutely love it: it’s like Blackpool with sun. What more could you want from a holiday? If I hadn’t become a travel agent... I’d have been a soap star. Coronation Street would be my choice; I’d love to get behind the bar in the Rovers Return and reckon I could do a better job than Steve McDonald! My weirdest request... is people asking to go to the Isle of Fernando (a fictional island from dating show T
ake Me Out).
shopping centre, is yet to reach its first birthday but is already noticeably popular, with customers walking in and asking for agents by name. The friendly team, led by store manager
Laura Garner, have built a ‘travel hub’ for returning customers and are regularly recommended by friends and family. The store’s growth in the last nine months is
“amazing” according to Laura, and something she believes is part of a wider trend. “I really do think people are coming back to the high street,” she says. “We have seen people of all ages coming in
after bad experiences with online booking, or just looking for that expert advice you can’t get anywhere else. “The difference from when I first started is amazing – we are now constantly busy. “Our top destination is Spain, especially Benidorm. People from Castleford love the home-from-home feel of Benidorm and go back regularly.”
CHANGING DEMAND Laura says there has been a noticeable change in holiday enquiries since incidents in Tunisia and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt last year and uncertainty surrounding Turkey. “There has been a massive shift in people
40
travelweekly.co.uk 24 November 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76