PICTURES: Alex Maguire; Shutterstock/Tonktiti
JACQUI BOWRING
The owner of Buckley Travel tells Andrew McQuarrie about her VIP treatment in Paphos – and her shredded nerves before the photoshoot
Q. Why did you enter the Cover Stars competition? A. I think it was about 5pm on the last day that I saw the invitation to apply. I was at my mum’s and had no make-up on, but I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to do this’. I put a filter on and had big fake lips and did a funny video. I thought, ‘Well, if it does nothing but gives everyone a laugh, I’m alright with that’. And then I was gobsmacked when I was selected. We never enter anything with Buckley Travel and we’ve been going for 18 years. We don’t put ourselves forward for anything, and if we win something it’s because of a booking with Jet2holidays.
Q. How was the
Jet2.com flight from Manchester? A. Absolutely amazing from start to finish. Sometimes you go to the airport for fam trips and you think, ‘Oh, God, what’s it going to be like?’ But this was comfortable from the get-go. It was just lovely. When I got off the flight, I had a friend for life in Ryan Lambton [from Hays Travel Personal Travel Consultants]. He’s been to stay at mine, we’ve been to Egypt together this year and we’re about to go to Crete. Even when I met him at the airport, I thought, ‘You’re my kind of person – we’re going to get on’. But really I got on with everybody on the trip.
Q. What was Constantinou Bros Asimina Suites Hotel like? A. It was absolutely beautiful. Aristos [Diomedous, Constantinou Bros general manager] and his team couldn’t do enough for us. We had VIP check-in on arrival. I’ve sold it a few times since I came back. Every time I book it, I get in touch with Aristos and he meets the customers and has a meal with them and gets them upgrades. He’s absolutely amazing.
Q. What were your favourite aspects of the hotel? A. Rebecca Potter from Barton-Knott Travel had a swim-up room, so the highlight for me was having a dip in that!
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Q. How were the activities and excursions? A. Aristos told us he was taking us on his personal yacht for a sunset cruise, and I believed him. Later on in the evening, as we got off the boat, I asked, ‘Oh, my God, how much did that cost you?’ He said it wasn’t really his. The experience was amazing and considering the time of year, the weather was lovely.
Q. What did you think of Paphos? A. I’d been before, but it was about 30 years ago, so I was really impressed with it. We walked down to the harbour and had an amazing meal with a lovely view. The restaurants and bars were great.
Q. Which clients have you sold Jet2holidays’ Paphos trips to? A. I sell them across the board. Asimina Suites Hotel is lovely for people who want to stay somewhere that’s a little bit more chilled, but Paphos itself is for anyone and everyone. I have a 78-year-old solo traveller who goes everywhere. Cruises are her big thing, but I sold Asimina Suites to her and then her friend added on another room. They went in February and Aristos met her. They absolutely loved it.
Q. How was your photoshoot? A. I was hungover and overslept, so I was putting on my make-up on the bus. I had pure anxiety. I had to get myself together and go to the vineyard for the photoshoot. I was saying to myself, ‘Why did I enter this? I hate photos’. But Flora [Ioannou, Travel Weekly art director] and Kerry [Burnham, Jet2holidays] are absolute legends. They said it was fine and put me at ease straight away.
Q. How was the reunion with your fellow Cover Stars at the Globe Travel Awards? A. I’d never been to the Globes before, and the atmosphere was incredible. Everyone was loving life.
5 JUNE 2025 JACQUI’s career
When I left school, I joined Barratts shoe shop through the Youth Training Scheme and worked my way up to become manager. I had my little girl when I was 21 and decided to get myself a part-time job. I couldn’t go back to work full-time with a baby. So I worked at the Odeon cinema in Chester, which definitely wasn’t going to be for me. And then I got a job at Thomas Cook. I was working two days a week in Buckley but didn’t get on very well with my manager. So I opened Buckley Travel 18 years ago and ran it for two businesswomen who had an optician’s and a builder’s. I then went round all my friends and family and raised £5,000 to buy it from them in 2014.
Two years ago I gave Michelle Shone, who works with me, a 10% share of the business. And then I phoned her up and asked if she fancied opening another shop and we would go 50/50 on it. So two years ago we opened in Hawarden.
Jacqui, Ryan and Maxine Bracewell
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