So last night was the night we would be relatively tortured in these 60mph winds by staying in a Haven Caravan at Primrose Valley, Filey.
The day started with tea, coffe & Millie’s cookies… This certainly got me excited. I still have no idea how I haven’t tried one of those delicious, moist, warm cookies before in my life? Next time I see a Millie’s Cookies I am going to get me one of those!
The itinerary for the day was to go “speed dating” with the suppliers & tour operators. We did this by going into six different caravans and having a good old chinwag about their products they can offer.
We met Tony from Great Rail Journeys who has a fantastic persona, lovely guy! This company offer tailor made and escorted trips on the railways of the world. It sounds perfect for our Coach clients who are looking for something different.
Nicky Yates from Attraction World was her usual bubbly & happy self, giving us a great reminder of how great the product is and the diversity of tickets for all destinations.
Disney were also present, two lovely girls who talked us through all things Disney, which I was more than happy to listen to. Having been to Paris & Florida it was great to listen about the benefits of a Disney cruise. They even have “wave phones” so families can split up on the ship & still be able to contact one another, what a brilliant idea? Something l will definitely taking back to the shop & selling confidently.
Jewel in the Crown were present, having travelled with them before on my own holidays it was great to see an insight into the mindset of the company & what they are about. It is only a small team of 11 but they offer some amazing deals to Turkey & Goa.
Classic Collection the luxury tour operator. They are amazing at what they do & really give the clients that extra “wow factor” for example one of the reps will be waiting for the travel clients with bottles of water on arrival at the airport. They still have the old school wallets with travel guides sent to the clients. If you are looking for something special then these guys can really help.
The gentleman from Balkan Holidays really opened my eyes to the likes of Bulgaria which is somewhere I try not to sell or wouldn’t travel to myself. I’ve never seen it as a “cultural” area that I would enjoy, especially the club 18-30 area of Sunny Beach! The resort of Nessebar is a unesco heritage site & you can get waterfront restaurants where you could pick up a three course meal & drinks for roughly £10pp! It’s very good for those like myself, who enjoy authentic Greece. It will definitely be somewhere that I will think about in the future.
After lunch Louise Tansey from Bourne Leisure went through their products such as Haven, Butlins & Warner Hotels. I’ve always been sceptical of these holiday arrangements purely because of the types of people they attract etc. but it’s great to see that do many people are enjoying some of the new attractions. Can you believe at one of buntlins main resorts will have fish swimming under the inside pool? How cool is that?!
Overall it was a fun experience, we even got to enjoy the hospitality of the caravans & the Mash and Barrell pub where food & drink flowed. What it is to be a travel agent?
