USAirtours targets ‘the next level’ Ella Sagar


USAirtours’ new chief revenue officer has outlined plans to take the business “to the next level” over the coming years, as he hailed the success of a standalone cruise brand that has seen bookings increase by more than 50%. Jaymin Patel joined the


destination specialist operator from the finance industry in October as a consultant on future growth and took up the role in April. Patel said the


company was targeting “pretty ambitious” 20% year-on-year sales growth to ensure it was “around and


successful for the next 45 years”. He said a key priority was rolling


out a new online “look it, book it” tool beyond an initial test group to make it easier for agents to book with the operator, with a particular focus on homeworkers who may make bookings outside its call centre hours. Patel said: “People have a brilliant experience when they ring the call centre, but increasingly, with how the world is going, it’s becoming 24/7. “We developed


Jaymin Patel


our online ‘look it, book it’ tool, which I


think is going to be really


powerful, with first-in-class technology that is easy to use


Worcester agency’s £100k Barbados sale is biggest yet


Andrew McQuarrie


ArrangeMY Escape’s Chloe Grove has secured the agency’s biggest leisure booking to date with a multigenerational trip to Barbados worth nearly £100,000. Sales consultant Grove, based in


the company’s Worcester store, spent about three weeks on the booking for a group of nine to stay at the Colony Club over Christmas and New Year. “It was definitely a huge


achievement for me – I felt over the moon,” she said. “It shows hard work pays off.” Grove, a former hairdresser,


6 30 JULY 2026


joined the business about four years ago. Jennifer Lynch, general manager of the two-branch agency, said the £99,483 booking was the biggest she had seen in her career. The business secures bookings


worth £30,000-£40,000 every six months or so, she said, adding: “It just so happens that in the same month [as the Barbados booking], I did a £45,000 booking for four couples to Borneo, so we were buzzing already, but this trumped it.” She said she was “really proud”


of Grove for booking the Barbados trip, a 10-night half-board stay via tour operator If Only.


The name


USAirtours can be limiting, so our Beyond Cruising brand gets out the global proposition


and a really exciting step for us.” The operator has also launched


its villa collection online with live availability to create “a better sales process”, and “cleaned up” its customer data to more accurately identify enquiry and booking trends. Further priorities include getting


feedback from existing partner head offices, developing technology to help with closing sales and enhancing in-house training for products such


as cruise, where sales have been exceeding expectations. USAirtours launched a


“one-stop-shop” cruise brand called Beyond Cruising last October, and Patel said the creation of the standalone brand had resulted in cruise bookings increasing by 54% year on year. “We did not realise the power of


Beyond Cruising when we launched it,” he said. “We have always sold cruising, but the name USAirtours can be limiting, so Beyond Cruising gets out the global nature of our proposition.” He said Japan cruises had proved


“very popular” and the operator was focusing on being able to package out-of-date-range cruises with multi-centre itineraries.


Chloe Grove The lead booker’s son and


daughter-in-law were previous ArrangeMY Escape clients, but the latest booking will be a surprise trip and will mark a return to the Colony Club for the lead booker. “It was quite an easy sale,”


said Grove, adding the lead client “had his heart set” on the Platinum Coast property operated by Marriott International under its Luxury Collection brand. She said booking such a high-value


trip would give her greater confidence to take on similar challenges in future.


Asked how she celebrated her


achievement, she said: “I had a drink when I got home but apart from that it was back to work. It was a great achievement and I’m really chuffed.” She praised If Only for its help


with the booking, singling out business development executive Lauren Dudley for her “great” support. “She helped get the booking


across the line,” Grove added. ArrangeMY Escape opened


its Worcester store under Lynch’s management in 2017, before opening in Malvern, Worcestershire, in 2023.


travelweekly.co.uk


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