Bank holiday passes ‘smoothly’ Samantha Mayling


Holidaymakers heading overseas managed a largely trouble-free getaway over the bank holiday weekend despite fears about strike action at Heathrow and a repeat of long queues at Dover. Heathrow released a statement


saying: “Our strong contingency plans have kept the airport running smoothly throughout the strike period.” However, the Foreign Office


warned that there may be delays this weekend as demonstrations and strikes threaten to disrupt travellers returning to the UK through France at the end of the Easter school holidays. The Port of Dover implemented


an emergency plan to “smooth” coach travel during the bank holiday period,


following a “horrible” situation with lengthy queues that occurred the previous weekend. The Confederation of Passenger


Transport (CPT) said that only one coach operator had reported heavy traffic at the port. Phil Smith, the CPT’s UK coach


manager, said: “We are pleased the Port of Dover is listening to our calls to bring in more staff, but we still need ferry operators to improve their passenger advance information and for the port to introduce more coach priority measures.” Commenting on the prospects


for this weekend, he said: “We have contacted the government to help ensure the UK has adequate border staff in place in these locations, so passport checks for all road users, including coaches, can


Designer Travel targets tours and adv enture sector


Juliet Dennis


Designer Travel is embarking on an in-house education programme to drive up sales of touring, adventure and group holidays by 50% in 12 months. The new Designer Travel


Explorers programme, themed Beyond The Beach, has gone live this month and will run until the end of March 2024. Currently, sales of touring,


adventure and groups make up less than 10% of the homeworking


6 13 APRIL 2023


group’s sales. A target of at least 15% has been set for a year’s time. Managing director Amanda


Matthews said: “The target is a sizeable amount, but I am confident we will reach it. We now have such good technology to drive this on social media platforms.” All the group’s 110 homeworkers


have signed up to take part in the education programme, which involves more than 20 suppliers. The move follows the travel


agency’s successful Cruise Designers project, which saw


the group almost double cruise sales to £5 million in less than a year. The new programme includes


webinars, training, special offers and social media activity with a range of supplier sponsors, including headline sponsors Riviera Travel, Travelsphere and Just You. Every month the group will work


on training with two suppliers in the sector. Suppliers will offer product


webinars and bespoke deals to increase homeworkers’ knowledge and confidence to sell more tours, adventure holidays and group bookings. Each month the top seller will be named Explorer of the Month. Matthews said: “We were already


investing in training and promotions and will be doing lots of this with the suppliers. We will also do a lot of social media and learning.”


travelweekly.co.uk Travellers reported


an atmosphere at airports that was reminiscent of Easter holidays years ago


be processed quickly and efficiently.” A spokesperson for Hays Travel


said: “Feedback from our customers is that they enjoyed smooth travel this Easter weekend. “Most travellers reported airports


being busy but well controlled with an atmosphere reminiscent of Easter holidays years ago. Like them, we are excited to welcome spring and a return to what we hope will be sustained hassle-free holidays.” Abta estimated that about


two million British holidaymakers headed overseas during the long weekend, with the association’s members reporting “very strong sales”. An Abta spokesperson added:


“The delays and cancellations seen at many airports when travel reopened last year were largely caused by staffing levels. “However, as always at busy


times of year, there may well be longer passenger queues or particular operational issues affecting individual airports or carriers.” Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive


of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said the largely smooth experience of most travellers “shows that the contingency measures that have been put in place are proving effective and will provide a boost to consumer confidence in the travel industry”.


Amanda Matthews


PICTURE: Sarah Lucy Brown

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