FRONTLINE
probably the making of my business. I thought travel would come back at some point, so carried on booking, cancelling, rebooking, refunding. Because I looked after clients, I built a lot of my customer base then – they’re still booking with me now. I expanded to the point where I couldn’t manage flying and the business. I was passionate about the business, so it took off from there, because I could dedicate my full attention to it. Olivia was my first recruit – she’s one of my best friends and was deputy manager at Tui. My latest recruit, Becca, is a friend too. We’ve both been in travel about 18 years. They’re in West Yorkshire. I’m in South Yorkshire.
Q. How do you find clients? Friends and family, and the local community and businesses with flyers. I’m primarily on social media and prolific on Facebook. Most customers are nationwide. Constant Travel is always sending updates about promotions, and we’re part of Hays Travel Independence Group, so we get their updates. They’re really supportive. I signed up for the Hays conference and I’ve been to the PHA conference every year. I’m normally lucky enough to be invited to the Jet2 VIP conference and easyJet Holidays’ Big Orange Party too.
Joe Biggs
The Personal Holiday Advisors agent tells Samantha Mayling about being named leisure agent of the year at this year’s AAAs
Q. How did you get into travel? I left school at 16 and did a Thomson apprenticeship in Sheffield. I was promoted and was a top seller. Aged 21, I thought ‘I’m ready to be cabin crew’. I was at Virgin Atlantic for five years, then cabin manager at British Airways for five years. I started to miss travel and wondered if I could do homeworking alongside flying, so applied to a few homeworking companies. Some said I couldn’t be crew and a homeworker – it’s a conflict of interest or you’re not available when you’re flying. Personal Holiday Advisors, part of Constant Travel, said they’d love to have me. That was 2018, so I built my business from there. I’m actually the original PHA.
Q. How did your business develop? I used to get one week off every month, so I was balancing flying and bookings. We were part of Freedom, which went out of business with Thomas Cook in 2019. We joined Hays Travel and just about got back on our feet, then Covid hit. But Covid was
26 30 OCTOBER 2025
Q. What do you sell? I book a lot of mainstream beach. With Hays’ goal of more long-haul and cruise, I’m focusing on building those. I’m an accredited Clia cruise expert. Customers assumed I just booked bucket-and-spade holidays, so in the last two years, I’ve been pointing out I can book cruises and tours too. We always do well with Black Friday and have really good peaks. I make a big deal of peaks and build customer excitement. One idea I got from cruise lines was to include a golden ticket when I send travel documents to customers as an incentive to rebook before they get home – and lots of them do.
Q. What about customer service? I don’t see a sale as ‘book it and done’. I’m very conscious of the customer journey, from enquiry, through booking, pre-travel, in-resort and post-travel. I send personal emails every step of the journey, telling them what to expect, offering appropriate products. I’m starting to integrate AI to make our lives easier and enhance the customer experience. If there’s somewhere I’ve not been, I use it to create itineraries and tailor suggestions. I probably do 90% of bookings on my phone as more trade sites are mobile-friendly.
Q. Tell us about your travels. I go on working holidays about once a month, which has the double benefit of promoting places on social media while I carry on earning. I love cruising. I had two weeks on Queen Victoria and a week around Iceland with Celebrity Cruises in July. I was at Constantinou Bros Hotels’ Asimina Suites in Cyprus in October. I feel like an old man on TikTok, but I’ve got 2,500 followers there.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO WIN BIG AT THE AAAS?
I was absolutely thrilled. I’ve won several other awards but to win the Leisure Agent of the Year Award (home-based or call centre) at Travel Weekly’s Agent Achievement Awards in London in July was the icing on the cake, especially considering the calibre of the other finalists. Lucy [Huxley, editor-in-chief] told me that the judges said I stood out because I do some things that other homeworkers don’t even think about. I’ve got a website and use MailChimp a lot. I look at the customer journey and have a presence across lots of social media channels – not just Facebook. I’ve got a really loyal customer base as well. About 65%-70% of my customers are repeat, which is a sign you’re doing something right. I’ve got more than 1,110 five-star Trustpilot reviews. I ask clients at every stage to leave me a Trustpilot review. Travel is my life. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. It is a lovely industry to work in, with lovely people. I’d
never say never to opening a shop either. I have got an idea of where I’d like one, it’s just waiting for the right premises to come up.
Joe with fellow AAAs winners
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURE: Steve Dunlop
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