FRONTLINE
KIM KENT branch manager, Spear Travels, Wolverhampton
I am pleased to say I have been really
busy recently with many new bookings, new clients and requests for destinations I haven’t been asked for in a long time. I’ve taken on a new employee, which is a relief after searching for so long. Life has been tough over the past few years, so hopefully now, with an extra pair of hands, the workload will return to a more reasonable level. However, clients’ expectations are still unrealistic with many shocked at the current costs. There is still some confusion over passports, visas, Covid testing and the like, but thankfully people seem to have stopped talking about disruption at airports, which fortunately seems to have eased. We have many clients asking for last-minute holidays but they are not prepared to sit with us and book as we search for something suitable. We explain that we work from live systems and availability is moving fast, but they still expect us to do all the work and then email all the information to them so they can think about it. I have made the decision to stop doing this. We made a really sad booking for a family recently which will stay with me for some time. The mother, 49, paid in full for a seven-night trip to Disneyland Paris for her family in March 2023, but she is currently in our local hospice dying of pancreatic cancer. It was her wish to be included on the booking
26 8 SEPTEMBER 2022 After landing, we picked up our AGENT
We’ve enjoyed a wide variety of bookings and I’ve soaked up the sights on Danube and Canada fam trips
even though she is not expected to be alive when the family travel. It’s essentially a £20,000 gift of fun that her family can use to remember her by. She said to me she will be there in spirit with them.
FIRST CLASS What else have I been up to? Well, I travelled to Canada on a fam trip with First Class Holidays. This was a different experience, with no hotel visits, just a real insight into Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. We flew direct to Halifax in Premium Economy with Air Canada, which was a superb service.
cars and drove all over the region, staying overnight in each hotel and experiencing the individual areas with walking tours, hosted meals and an abundance of activities and museums. It was such an adventure with only four other agents on the trip. The nine days were very well
organised and our hosts were informative and friendly. While I appreciate that operators want to showcase their represented hotels on these trips, I feel the importance of learning about the destinations themselves is paramount when it comes to creating and closing a sale.
ACT OF GOD After a 10-day turnaround, I was off again on a Scenic river cruise with my partner. We flew to Munich and transferred to Scenic Amber, but due to the Danube’s low water levels our boat was moored close to Passau and not Nuremberg as planned. Scenic did all they could to make life as pleasurable as possible but we didn’t get the wonderful Danube cruise we’d signed up for, and many fellow sailors were talking about compensation. I feel that sometimes people need to realise things don’t always go to plan and it’s nobody’s fault, just an act of God.
FIRM HELPED MY PYRAMID SELLING
Recently, a lovely family came to see me about a holiday to Egypt, with a budget of £10,000 for four adults and a child. They asked for flights to Cairo, three nights’ B&B in a five-star hotel, a private tour of the Pyramids and Sphinx and another of the Cairo Museum, a flight to Hurghada for a seven-night all-inclusive stay in a five-star hotel, plus all transfers and flights. My first thought was that this was a very unrealistic budget, but I was pleased to be proved wrong by Discover Egypt, which quoted a total cost of £10,500 for everything requested. The client was thrilled and booked right away. They sure have a great holiday lined up.
The Sphinx, Cairo
travelweekly.co.uk
David ClareHelen Sharon Colin David ClareHelen Sharon Colin diary diary
Kim
Kim
PICTURE: Shutterstock/Daily Travel Photos
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