FRONTLINE
out of Doncaster Airport with the same agent. This agent took me through the booking as a training opportunity when I was an apprentice and we sat down to do it together. It was really lovely and took away that daunting feeling. The moment you have the first booking under your belt, it all becomes a bit easier.
Q. What was your first cruise experience like? I went on a fam trip with Tui on Independence of the Seas when it first launched. I’d never been on a cruise ship before and I would say I probably had preconceptions about what cruising was like, but I went on board and completely fell in love with it. When I was changing roles, there was no doubt for me I wanted to specialise in cruise. It became a no-brainer.
Q. What about one of your biggest bookings? I’m not so involved in selling any more, but I do remember a year or so after I started at Iglu a company wanted to book a big trip with Royal Caribbean for their top sellers. It ended up being 50 cabins on board Liberty of the Seas. It took more organising as the names could not be finalised until the end of their financial year and I had to deal with the cruise line directly to figure out last-minute name changes and agree prices, then get it signed off by senior leadership. It took me a few weeks to get everything over the line, alongside working on other bookings too. I hit my monthly target with that booking so it was worth it.
Sarah jones
Iglu’s head of operational excellence tells Ella Sagar about her journey from apprentice to winning an Agent Achievement Award
Q. How did you get into travel? I’ve been in travel for about 20 years and I fell into it. Travel absolutely gets in your blood. Once you’re in it, I feel there’s no getting away from it. What was probably going to be a bit of a stopgap turned into something where I couldn’t ever imagine doing anything else. I left school at 16 and started as an apprentice at Tui. I got taken on permanently and worked my way up the ladder to manager. When I came back from maternity after adopting our little girl, I wanted to be more home-based, so I joined Iglu as an agent. I again moved up to assistant manager, then manager, then I worked in the international department. After that I took over head of sales and now I’m head of operational excellence.
Q. Tell me about your first booking. It was a lovely couple who had booked in the branch for about 20 years. Always the same holiday to Benidorm
28 3 SEPTEMBER 2026
Q. What are your favourite destinations? One of my favourite holidays was our honeymoon where we went to New York and then Mexico. New York is my favourite city by far. It is so vibrant and has so much to do there. We stayed at one of the Karisma Hotels – El Dorado Casitas Royale – in Mexico, which was a stunning five-star luxury property with butler service. I would go back in a heartbeat. We also love going on Virgin Voyages cruises for a little adult-only break.
Q. What about your favourite fam trips? I’ve been very lucky to do one about every year. I would say one of the best I ever did was to Fort Lauderdale, which was run by the tourist board. We got business-class flights, stayed in the Hard Rock Hotel and went to the Everglades and did Segways down the Miami strip. It was fantastic and the knowledge I could bring back to the business to recommend extended trips was invaluable.
Q. What would you say to anyone considering a career in travel? Travel will exceed any of your expectations by far. You will have so many opportunities and see so much of the world you would never have thought you could. It is such a resilient industry and if people want a friendly and supportive workplace that will champion you, it is the place to be.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO WIN LEISURE MANAGER OF THE YEAR AT THE AGENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS?
It was incredible to even be shortlisted, let alone win. I genuinely had no expectations for the night. There’s a video of my face when my name is read out and you can see I was so shocked. I was genuinely emotional and grateful to have everything recognised on such a grand stage. The awards night itself was brilliant. Having everyone in the same room and having conversations you don’t normally have on a day-to-day basis was great. Anyone thinking of applying should do if they are proud of an achievement – they should shout about it and it’s a great forum to do it in. I’m
particularly proud of two things I’ve been working on that I put in my application: creating a management development programme to upskill 80 managers and launching a new speech analytics software that has helped
reduce the length of our calls. I remember the shift from agent to manager – it’s such a big change and can be isolating. Giving people more tools to help them communicate, coach and listen will help them become great managers.
Sarah with her Agent Achievement Award
travelweekly.co.uk
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