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Atas agents reap bumper bookings


Myriad Travel’s


Jess Matthews will be on Channel 4


Jess showcases agent value on TV


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


A travel agent will extol the virtues of booking on the high street on national TV when she stars in a new Channel 4 show.


Jess Matthews, assistant manager of Myriad Travel in Liverpool, was


filmed for new series How To Get Rich Quick, fronted by self-made millionaire Dave Fishwick, who


previously featured in Channel 4’s Bank of Dave series. Matthews, whose mum Tiffany


owns the Liverpool-based agency, was asked by TV production company Little Gem Media to come up with a deal for a grandmother who had, with Fishwick’s help, made a couple of thousand pounds and wanted to spend it on a trip to New York. After sourcing the most competitive deal for the bucket-list trip – £1,695 for two for five nights next March, including flights, accommodation and theatre tickets, through Jetset – Matthews was filmed going through the options with the client. She said: “It was nerve-wracking. A TV crew of 10 people came


“I showed that agents can offer extras that you would not get offered on the internet”


up, and my mum was on tea and coffee duty while I went through all the options on camera with the lady and Dave. At one point


the customer started singing New York, New York, so I joined in! “We came out cheaper than online agencies and other operators, and I showed that agents can offer other extras, like fast-track through the airport and lounge access, that you would not get offered on the internet. “I also gave the customer a


restaurant card giving her 25% off meals and told her about places I had been in New York. “I went through the Atol


protection and gave her a list of recommended places to go.” The episode featuring Myriad


Travel, a Global Travel Group member, will be the last of the six-part series, which is due to start early next year. Each 30-minute episode features Fishwick teaching people money-making skills.


16 November 2017 travelweekly.co.uk 5


Ben Ireland ben.ireland@travelweekly.co.uk


Agents have made a series of bumper bookings since attending the inaugural Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers (Atas) Conference last month.


The event was designed to help


agents build relationships with suppliers in the growing sector, worth an estimated £425 million. Within two weeks of the Birmingham event on October 18, Karen Allen, retail manager at Aspen Travel in Manchester, had sold more than £40,000 in new escorted touring bookings. They included two £10,000 trips


to the Rocky Mountains in Canada, through Riviera and Titan; an APT trip for £9,000; an Exodus walking tour in Greece for £2,500; and a Leger Holidays American Civil War tour for £4,000. Allen said: “Atas has given us an


unexpected boost in a big market for us.” David Gambier, managing


director of Great Experience Travel


Karen Allen, meets ‘David Attenborough’ at the Atas Conference


in Witney, said his agency had sold a £2,000 Intrepid Travel trip to India and Nepal, a £700 Thailand tour with G Adventures and a £7,000 tour of Asia with another operator since the conference. He’s also putting together a £20,000 South America itinerary with a range of Atas suppliers. The growth of the tours and


adventures sector has prompted Gambier to launch Experience Adventure Travel, an online arm of the agency. It will go live at the end of the month. He said: “Even after 35 years in the industry, I learnt so much from the Atas Conference and gained so much confidence about the sector that I am able to improve what we offer our clients.” GoCruise agent Ian Warren


booked a Wendy Wu Tours land tour of China with a Dubai stopover as part of a £9,000 package. He said: “I wanted to grow


my business by offering my clients different holidays for them to take in between their cruises. I made some good


contacts for the future.” › Readers’ Lives, page 32

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