Q & A
Graham Balmforth NATIONAL SALES MANAGER, SUPERBREAK
What was your first job? A Saturday job selling maggots in a fi shing tackle shop. As you can imagine, travelling home on the bus with that distinctive odour sometimes got me some funny looks from my fellow passengers.
Graham Balmforth
has 22 years’ experience with short break specialist SuperBreak. He previously worked for Wallace Arnold Tours for nine years
How did you get into travel? I started as publicity assistant for the National Bus Company, designing leafl ets and handwriting timetables. Those were the days when a sat nav was a map, and air conditioning meant opening the window, sometimes with a handle…
What’s the best thing about your job? The variety; no two days are the same. Plus, having the opportunity to work with some great people, both close colleagues and business partners. I hope the travel industry can continue to be a people business going forward.
What’s been your most insightful professional decision? Moving from National Holidays to Wallace Arnold. It was a big step up at 27, from sales executive to sales and marketing manager, but I worked with some great people and mentors, from whom I learnt a lot about business relationships and commercial sense.
BIOGRAPHY
SuperBreak, national sales manager Wallace Arnold Tours, sales and marketing manager National Holidays, sales executive National Express, assistant publicity off icer
What’s been your biggest professional risk? Taking on the chairman role at TIPTO in 2008, as the credit crunch was taking hold. It was a tough time, but all the independent tour operators worked hard to keep their products out in the retail sector, with huge support from travel agents.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the industry? Terrorism. We all have to be aware that it may aff ect strategy plans and economic outlooks. The game plan must be to keep going — we mustn’t stop selling dreams to the public.
74 ABTA Magazine | August 2017
What are some of the best opportunities facing the industry? In travel, 50 is the new 40 and 60 the new 50, with lots of appetite for experiential holidays and breaks. The variety of product available to these ‘younger’ silver travellers opens up opportunities for many operators.
What does a SuperBreak short trip offer that other operators don’t? Huge variety and a one-stop shop to encompass all aspects of the short break. For holidays of less than fi ve days, we off er trips all over the world, including theatre, at ractions, Royal Palaces, fl ower shows and concerts.
What’s next for SuperBreak? New products are always around the corner. Lesser-known areas of Iceland have just been introduced to supplement our massive growth of packages in Reykjavik. We also have new MasterChef holidays, great UK dinner deals, and watch this space for something very exciting coming soon in Europe.
Where do you like to go on holiday? The old town of Pollensa in Majorca is a big favourite of mine, but I love a UK break with my family — London, the Cotswolds and the North Norfolk coast are particular treasures.
Where would you most like to visit? New York, as I haven’t been there yet, and the Seychelles.
Is there someone who has helped to shape or mentor you professionally? Chris Campion, who was marketing director at Wallace Arnold Tours. He mentored me on how to work with a smile, and showed how relationships with both staff and customers are key to making a business successful.
Is there any other career you’d have liked to try? I’d have loved to have been a song-and-dance-man in the movies.
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