Border Travel turns 60 amid strong peaks sales


Andrew McQuarrie


Scottish agency Border Travel began its 60th anniversary year with an “amazing” start to peaks. The Dumfries business, founded


by Hal McGhie in 1964, celebrated six decades of trading on January 1. Retail manager Gary Jardine said:


“It’s a fantastic achievement for any business to achieve that longevity, especially when you’re in an incredibly competitive industry.” Jardine joined the agency in 1999


as a business travel consultant, before becoming retail manager in 2003. He leads a team of 11 in the retail


division, while the business travel division and the accounts department have two employees each. Jardine credited the staff for the


agency’s continued success as an independent agency. “To remain independent


throughout all this time and continue to grow the business in a highly competitive market is testament to the staff we have,” he said. “We have a number of staff who


have been with the business for 20, 30 or 40 years.” The staff were particularly


important in helping the business emerge from the pandemic, he said, with newly recruited employees


Gary Jardine (left) with staff at the Dumfries store


performing “fantastically well”. In the face of the challenge from


online competitors, Border Travel has proven that high street shops can remain as busy as ever. “Last year was probably the most


successful year in our history,” said Jardine. “Our turnover probably increased by 40%, so our biggest issue this year is to try to replicate that.” He said the start of 2024 was


“amazing”, adding: “On Sunshine Saturday (January 6), we had people queueing to get into our premises.” In his time at Border Travel,


Loveholidays to offer packages


with Ryanair flights in new deal Online travel agent Loveholidays is to offer Ryanair flights as part of Atol-protected packages in a new distribution deal with the budget airline giant. Loveholidays has agreed to only display Ryanair’s real prices – without mark-ups – and will pass only accurate customer contact and payment details to the airline, avoiding the need to complete its customer verification process.


8 25 JANUARY 2024


Jardine has witnessed a steady drop in the number of travel agencies in Dumfries. “We’ve all seen the demise of high


streets over the years. In Dumfries, we’ve gone from having six travel agencies to two – ourselves and Hays Travel – and a high street that is not exactly thriving,” he said. But he is proud that Border Travel


is “bucking the trend”. “It’s good to be competing,” he


said. “We’re constantly having to evolve our services and make sure our pricing structures are spot on.”


Princess to invite agents to be first on new ship Sun Princess


Princess Cruises will select agents to be among the first people to step on board new ship Sun Princess as part of a new ambassador


programme. The 4,300-passenger vessel, which will be the first in the line’s fleet to be powered by liquefied natural gas, is scheduled to enter service on February 8.


Oasis Travel’s new shop


Oasis Travel opens eighth store in former premises


Oasis Travel has opened its eighth store – in its own former premises from 15 years ago. The store in Royal


Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland, originally closed due to plans to redevelop the building into apartments. These did not go ahead


and Oasis Travel retained the property, renting it out until deciding to reopen it as an agency to capitalise on demand from new housing in the area. Managing director Sandra


Corkin said: “We had to get heritage planning permission to work on the building, but we were not in a hurry because we knew it would take time to get the right staff, that was the biggest challenge.” The agency has four staff and


has focused on creating an “inviting interior” with large lightboxes featuring destination imagery. Corkin added: “Even our


signage has to be in heritage wood and so we thought if the interiors were lit up it would draw people in. The early signs are good.”


C&M boss tells trade to increase


wages to overcome shortage The travel industry has been urged to offer higher salaries to job candidates to attract better-quality applicants and overcome a “talent shortage”. C&M Travel Recruitment managing director Barbara Kolosinska said wages for many had been “too low for too long”, despite salaries for the average new job in the industry rising by 11.6% in 2023.


travelweekly.co.uk


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