Travel Weekly Blog

Regular contributor Brian Hordon reflects on Travel Weekly's Mystery Shopper feature as Cruise Month draws to a close...

It had to happen during cruise month: Mystery Shopper went looking for a cruise holiday. The result? An excellent outright winner and a variety of scores for the other agents.

As for the agents who scored lower, it is difficult to apportion blame - I certainly have sympathy for the sales consultants who were the focus of Mystery Shopper's attention.

Lack of knowledge, lack of awareness of cruising, lack of confidence, lack of training? It is easy to "point the finger", but I see the Mystery Shopper exercise as an opportunity.

How many travel agents actually incorporate the weekly Mystery Shopper feature into their in-house training? The script is in place, the subject is clearly defined; the discussion can be based upon:

• How would our front line sales consultants handle this question?
• What products would we have proposed?
• How would we have closed the sales discussion?

Mystery Shopper can appear a little harsh when reviewed after the event; but used positively, it can be yet another superb resource - especially for cruising.

And of course the feature included five selling tips by Andy Harmer from the Association of Cruise Experts - another invaluable resource for all levels of sales consultants.

Final point; I have every Mystery Shopper featuring cruise requests from the very beginning (yes, I know, how sad!), and with literally a couple of exceptions the score card remains very similar to the latest mystery shopper.

Don't despair, Luton, just adopt a positive attitude and learn from the experience.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd

Travel Weekly Cruise Month has featured some statistics which are worth looking at. We are all aware of the year on year growth of the UK cruising stats produced by the Passenger Shipping Association, and of course the frequent exposure for the need for younger first time cruisers to develop the market; but is everyone aware that the percentage of these first time cruisers is actually slightly declining?

How many travel agents are aware that there are more than 40 new cruise ships on order right now?. Also, is everyone in your office aware that more than 50% of these new ships are projected to offer ex UK cruises?

Agents and cruise lines agree that a selection of mini cruises on all types of cruise ship are a recognised feature of creating visibility and ultimately business for a full cruise holiday, but I wonder how many travel agents uplift this different product and ensure that their customers are aware of this opportunity.

The short break holiday market is a boom market, so why not the short break cruise market?

But it is essential that agents do not lose sight of the cruise needs of the most important market - the mature market. Agents must remember the age and wealth demograhic profile of the UK population. It is this market that has time and money and that will continue to provide the volume for travel agents.

In her opinion column in 14 September Travel Weekly, Fay Thompson of Instant Cruise Holidays, summed up by saying, "So for all you budding cruise specialists, take heed; brush up on your product knowledge - there are big ships to fill".

My summary - there are lots of big ships to fill.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd

This post comes from Gill Hartigan, winner of the Agent Excellence Award for best sales consultant, small agency, in the Southwest and Wales.

Next week the Caribbean Tourism Organisation will be holding its ‘Courses for the Caribbean 2007’ event in Oxford.

I’ll be going along. I run the weddings and honeymoons department at Howard Travel, so I’m on the lookout for new wedding opportunities for both the company and my clients.

Meeting contacts from the various exhibitors is also useful, especially if you need some expert advice. And of course I’m also hoping to gain knowledge and information that will add to the pleasure of experiencing the islands myself.

Here are my three favourite Caribbean bookings:

• A wedding at the Radisson Cable Beach in Grand Bahamas. It was for 19 passengers with a total cost of over £23,000. I found it most enjoyable, challenging and very rewarding – and it sparked the idea for the wedding department within Howard Travel.



• Last year I booked a wedding at The Beach Club in Antigua for 20 passengers at a total cost of £22,000. The resort is a favourite of mine, in particular the superior rooms which have direct access to the beach.



• In November I have a wedding booked for 13 passengers at the all-inclusive Holiday Village Golden Beach in the Dominican Republic. Their child prices go up to the age of 14 years and they have four-bedded rooms, so I was able to keep the price down to £10,700.

What’s your best booking to the Caribbean? And if you attended the Durham CTO training event, what selling tips did you pick up?

Gill Hartigan, Howard Travel

A new post from regular guest blogger Brian Hordon (Silversea UK)

Travel Weekly Cruise Month is now in full flow with news features, product information, comment, and above all another platform which focuses upon the exciting world of holidays at sea.

My post of June 14 was titled "the new cruise era" and focused on how developments in the cruise industry would benefit the travel agent. Cruising really is now a mainstream holiday and offers volume business opportunity and profit.

Cruising now caters to clients of all ages and wealth profiles. There are ships which offer the perfect holiday for younger, active people; ships which deliver an all-round holiday for families; ships that recognise the special needs and desires of the mature traveller.

There is now no excuse - there is a cruise holiday for every market segment, nationally.

But the Travel Weekly Cruise Month must not be seen in isolation. The features, the thoughts and ideas, the ship visits and training opportunities should all become integral to your next business plan, which should feature your projected cruise targets and promotional programme.

The opportunities here must not be overlooked: they will contribute to the profitability of your agency.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd.

Regular contributor Brian Hordon (Silversea UK) kicks off Travel Weekly Cruise Month...

The timing of the Travel Weekly Cruise Month could not be more appropriate.

Passenger Shipping Association stats continue to show excellent passenger percentage growth year on year, the new Association of Cruise Experts (ACE) goes from strength to strength, and cruise lines are putting plenty of energy into maintaining this success. They are all doing an outstanding job.

However, I still detect concern from many agents about whether the cruise market is factored into their company business plan.

Is this down to lack of confidence or product knowledge on the part of frontline staff? Or is agency management failing to create a plan for increasing local cruise business? (As we say in the Silversea Cruises Luxury Cruising Academy, "Your target is to own the cruise market within your area.")

Some of this may seem controversial, and I am happy to apologise if I have touched a nerve. But I am also happy to say that the solution is now available, this month, and in many forms.

Travel Weekly's focus on cruising throughout September, alongside its cruise roadshows throughout the UK, are resources that must not be underestimated. Reading up on the market is always important, but hearing it from an enthusiastic and professional cruiseline salesperson cannot be emphasised enough.

These people are good, so make sure that you leave each cruiseline discussion with all the features and benefits of their company - who buys, how to sell, going to market, training, agency support, ship visits.

All this first hand knowledge will strengthen your plan to "own the cruise market within your area." It will also provide the confidence that is too often lacking.

And that's not all: the new ACE programme and conventions; the online cruising training programmes; the cruise company roadshows throughout the country - it's all there. The amazing thing is that it is just for the travel agent.

Have a great and successful cruise month, and use all this new knowledge to make sure that the rest of 2007 and 2008 onwards delivers your best cruise profits.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd.

This post comes from regular contributor Brian Hordon (Silversea Cruises UK)

Visit Britain plans to spend one million pounds promoting English rural tourism to the UK holiday market, and already television and newspaper adverts are appearing.

It is a campaign that will create new opportunities for creative travel agents, and represent a new challenge for many other agents.

I would suggest that in most travel agencies knowledge of overseas destinations, resorts and hotels far outweighs the equivalent knowledge of the United Kingdom; no doubt someone will take me to task on this, but the response will be interesting.

So the challenge is twofold. First, the travel agent needs to recognise a niche sales opportunity and ensure that appropriate operator and product knowledge and customer awareness of the United Kingdom as a viable sales alternative (or even a first choice) is included in business plan activity.

Second - and most thought provoking - the myriad of United Kingdom products need to move up a couple of gears to ensure that the features and benefits of their products become front of mind at the cutting edge of the retail travel agent market.

Just look at the demographics of the United Kingdom population, wealth control etc; many holidaymakers seek safety and security, ease of travel and good value - all widely available within the UK holiday "basket."

But those same holidaymakers are probably booking direct right now due to lack of awareness of how a good travel agent can help them.

Believe me, this can be reversed, so please recognise this superb opportunity and go for it. It can also make you money!

One million may not seem like a lot. But if it succeeds (and there is no reason why this highly creative campaign should not) I am sure more money will become available for promotional activity, so the need to be in place is paramount.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd

This post comes from our regular guest poster Brian Hordon of Silversea Cruises UK

Nothing focuses the mind like adversity! My last post for TW Blog addressed my concern with the proliferation of events currently taking place in the travel industry, from consortia issues to mergers to environmental concerns.

The current postal dispute brought to mind another pressure area faced by travel agents: digesting the enormous volume of feature and advertising material which is published each week.

I won't go into the increasing importance of focused training in travel - I will blog on that another time.

But I will close this post by saying that I sincerely hope the sharp-end salespeople in the travel business walk with pride.

Their knowledge invariably embraces leisure travel, air and rail, cruising, hotels, car rental, destinations and resorts, airport parking, passport and visa inormation, computer skills, insurance and lots more.

And I haven't even mentioned the behind-the-scenes staff who deliver additional essential skills.

It sometimes takes a third-party issue - such as receiving an enormous volume of must-read material after having had no mail for a full week - to put things into perspective.

Incidentaly, I had no mail as mentioned, but I did have several e-communications introducing late sales opportunities, special pricing, thought provoking destination ideas. Is there a message here?

Brian Hordon
Director of Training Development
Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd

A new post from industry contributor Brian Hordon (Silversea Cruises UK)

Current and future change encompasses a plethora of subjects; mergers, consortia development, green issues, market growth, e-marketing and technology.

On top of that there are "new" dimensions such as niche markets, luxury travel, UK tourism, and of course the amazing expansion of cruising.

These are all high profile issues right now, and will continue be so for some time.

For travel agents in particular, change can make it easy to lose sight of the most important business element: the customer.

Change inevitably demands new skills, and these skills represent a real opportunity for creative and aggressive travel agents to recognise and deliver the quality of service that the increasingly demanding customer has come to expect.

If you recognise these opportunities and deliver the service right you will have the opportunity to ensure customer loyalty. Lose sight of the opportunities and you could open the doors even wider to the new booking channels that are already threatening traditional agents.

This week I will have enjoyed 50 unbroken years in the UK tourism and travel industry. In that time I have experienced countless changes; but the agents who recognised change, embraced the "new" and adapted accordingly are in most cases still around, and in many cases thriving.

This industry is a wonderful business to be in, and current change represents a special challenge. Agents who recognise this challenge, adapt their business model accordingly and do not lose sight of the customer could be on their way to a new dimension in travel.

I wish I was 50 years younger!

Brian Hordon
Director of Training Development
Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd.

A post from regular industry blogger Brian Hordon...

A postcript on "why are women not at the top with more travel companies?" (see my post of 29th January 2007). The departure of Sue Biggs from Kuoni will be discussed by the travel trade for some time, but my focus is on the achievements of this amazing lady.

She really does represent the perfect role model for aspiring female travel industry leaders.

I won't go into how long I have known Sue, suffice to say it was long before Kuoni days.

The subsequent years have seen this lady power her way up the commercial ladder (supposingly littered with male obstacles) displaying all the abilities needed to hold a very senior position.

She has creativity, determination, and the ability to recognise potential, whether in people, destinations, products or investments. In my opinion what stands out above all else is her "streetwise" character, which many people in travel have, but do not demonstrate.

Female or male, just copy Sue. If you deliver you will climb the ladder, and the gender issue will disappear - believe me! This wonderful industry of ours is full of remarkable talent and it is going to be needed in volume during the coming years.

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd

This post comes from Silversea Cruises UK director of training development Brian Hordon.

The online editor of Travel Weekly recently highlighted some research by Boo.com which found that agents are the source of travel information least trusted by consumers.

Travel review websites were in second position, which raises the issue of travel agent vs internet yet again.

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises UK

Americas4u director Andrew Winstanley, a member of the Travel Weekly Cruise Club, sends this account of a visit to the Holland America Line vessel...

Cruise ship visits are great, but nobody who runs a travel business has time to spare. So is it worth taking a whole day out to tour a liner?

After visiting Holland America Lines MS Veendam in Dover I can say categorically that the answer is yes. There really is no substitute for seeing the product first hand.

I and around 130 other agents were met at Dover by the Holland America team, who split us into groups for an escorted tour of the ship.

Whilst MS Veendam is now 11 years old it is still a five star experience. There are exquisite works of art on most decks and it was interesting to compare this smaller 1200-berth ship with some of the superliners I have visited.

Despite its age, the ship isn’t stuck in the past. The new Explorations Café – powered by the New York Times – is an elegant coffee shop with Internet access.

I was also surprised at how good the children’s facilities are in Club Hal and the Loft, and teenagers will be delighted with their own adult-free Oasis on the sports deck.

There are all the other luxuries you would expect, such as the Greenhouse Spa and signature restaurants, but one attraction I had not seen before was the Culinary Arts Centre, where guests can watch world-class chefs in action.

With travellers seeking more and more from their holidays this extra twist could prove a big draw.

So my advice is get out and see what you are selling – it will help you match your clients to the right cruise.

Andrew Winstanley, director, Americas4u

Ed: for more on this theme see 'Training is vital for cruise agents' from last week's Travel Weekly

Right on cue after the iffy 'stay away from agents' advice published on MSN last week (read reactions by Travel Weekly and on Travel Rants) Classic Collection Holidays managing director Nick Munday emails this piece of virtuoso sarcasm...

My barber recently told me of a fantastic idea he'd had that would completely revolutionise the hairdressing industry: Haircutonline.com.

The benefits to the customer would be immense, he assured me. A new style and cut would be just a click away!

Step 1: Download your choice of style. As a convenience to its customers Haircutonline.com would only make three basic styles available online owing to the difficulty of certain haircuts.

Step 2: Grab your scissors and follow the online instructions. At this point a flashing disclaimer would warn the customer that as Haircutonline.com was acting solely as an agent, rather than a principal, it could not be held responsible for any accidents that might occur during the process.

And the greatest benefit of all? Haircutonline.com cuts out the middleman, saving the average male customer a massive £7.00!

While telling me this my barber gave me a cut that was executed with all the expertise and experience that a professional acquires during years of personal service, and which seemed such good value for money at just £7.00.

I wondered whether he had been sniffing too much setting lotion, or been reading up on the benefits of bed-banks and dynamic packaging. Was it purely a coincidence that I went home and registered the domain name Dontbookyourholidayonline.com?

Nick Munday, managing director, Classic Collection Holidays

I heartily endorse Brian Hordon's comments (see also Travel Weekly letters, 18 May) that agents are missing out by not doing more to sell coach holidays. They are easy to sell, have good rates of commission and attract customers who are loyal and also prefer to book with an agent.

Short breaks and holidays by coach are big business. A recent Mintel report predicted the market would increase by 23 per cent at current prices to be worth an estimated £2.93 billion by 2011 with passenger numbers rising to 8.8 million, fuelled by the demand for more costly overseas holidays.

Coach operator members of the Coach Tourism Council (CTC) would love agents to help meet this demand and sell more coach holidays, By tradition most sell direct to their customers but they appreciate there is a huge untapped market that agents have access to.

All our coach operators recognise the need to adapt and move with the times and there has been multi-million pound investment in new coaches, door-to-door collections, new product and huge improvements in service levels with use of higher quality hotels.

And as well as selling tours operated by national coach companies, all travel agents will have a locally based bonded coach operator offering a wide range of UK and European holidays.

Agents can also sell the environmentally friendly credentials of coach holidays. They are not just safer to travel in than planes, trains and cars but pro rata use less fuel. While every gallon of fuel will take two car passengers about 30 miles, a gallon of coach fuel takes the same two people 200 miles.

So let's see more agents join us in selling coach tourism.

Christopher Wales, chief executive, Coach Tourism Council

I wonder how many travel agents overlook the many profitable opportunities offered by the vast coach holiday market?

I have to confess that I have not studied "the numbers" for some time (i.e. years!) and am ashamed to say that I had not recognised the amazing volume of travellers who booked a domestic coach holiday last year.

A MINTEL report mentioned in Travel Weekly highlighted the drop in numbers experienced during the last 6 years, and it is only when you stop and ask why that you realise that perhaps the coach holiday industry needs an image review not dissimilar to the cruise industry's.

The Travel Weekly feature used the words "blue rinse" "old people" "youth focused" - all words that until recently were totally associated with the cruise holiday, and just look at the success of cruising today.

The coach holiday really does meet the needs and desires of the travellers of many age groups - meeting a variety of different people, friendship, safety and security, and a variety of different destinations which appeal to holidaymakers who have already travelled extensively and are beginning to enjoy the unique and special benefits that Britain offers year round.

Yet again, more opportunity for the creative and aggressive travel agent to expand customer support, develop new business and of course MAKE MONEY! (I am sure someone will tell me - do customers ask for a deal when buying a domestic coach holiday?)

The world of travel is surrounded with opportunity and domestic coach holidays MUST be seen as yet another market arena to explore.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd.

More awesome stats from the wonderful world of travel & tourism were published this week. Two really caught my imagination.

First, that 40.6% is the predicted increase in what the British will spend on tourism in the next five years. Second, that £27 billion is the amount spent on overseas holidays in 2004.

Just taking a few minutes to step aside, clear my mind, and review what these stats actually mean is quite simply mind boggling! My immediate question is, "Who will handle all this business, and how?"

Everyone says "the computer, the internet etc." But the really professional travel agent who reacts to these stats NOW, with training, possible niche product focus and other special opportunities can well achieve success beyond their wildest dreams.

Is everyone ready for this opportunity? Is anyone ready for this opportunity? I wonder.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd.

I was delighted to see the creation of the Travel Weekly Cruise Club. Great timing for a special initiative which sits alongside the increasing profile of PSARA. This development offers more agents the opportunity to make an impact within the rapidly expanding cruise market.

Thanks to a number of factors - increasing numbers of ships across all market levels, global destination opportunities, pricing which offers real value for regular cruise travellers as well as the all-important new-to-cruising customers, online support at all levels - there has probably never been a better time for agents to make a firm committment to this exciting and profitable product.

For many years during presentations at Seatrade global events, I used to say that "cruising offers a true cradle to grave holiday opportunity." Now there really is a new cruising experience for all travellers, and with the remarkable growth of the older customer, the safety and security alongside the total travel experience delivered by a cruise really does contribute towards outstanding sales opportunities for the creative travel agent.

After so many years of growth it probably sounds silly ask whether this is a new beginning for the world of cruising. But with the Travel Weekly Cruise Club (a first as far as I can remember), a revitalised PSARA, superb online support and increased field sales activity by many lines, I personally believe the "new" cruise era has just begun. Be there!

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd.

After my last two rants (here and here) I think I'd better say something positive! There are some companies that are a pleasure to deal with - ones that know their products aren't run-of-the-mill, that know their prices aren't easy to get exactly right and that are happy to do the job they are paid for.

Like Keycamp for instance. They go through the prices, make suggestions etc - I'm sure they have a smile on their face. Virgin is another one I like dealing with. Not always easy to get through to, but in general when you do they are happy to help. I can't stand talking to grumpy people - what the hell are they doing in the job if they don't like talking to people?

And those companies that actually help when a mistake has been made. A few years ago a girl called Rachel at the consolidator I spoke about recently made a slight mistake on a round-the-world quote. Rather than wash her hands of it, she told her supervisor and the three of us came up with a solution that suited all of us AND didn't upset the client.

Two years on and we still give 95% of our Oz & Nz business to the consolidator and Rachel. Not only does she seem to enjoy her work, she is efficient too. In the last week she has secured a booking for nearly £8,000 to Oz and another for £10,000 to NZ. The moral of the story? Service with a smile makes us all happy!

Diane Coleman, Tickets Travel

Having had the privilege to be educated within the Travel & Tourism industry by some of the truly great motivators of their time, it occurred to me that none of them implanted in my mind the enormous satisfaction that sits alongside winning an award for excellence.

Make no mistake, the world loves winners, and that feeling of pride when you are recognised for delivery of excellence, alongside the admiration displayed by colleagues, is a unique emotion.

I wonder just how many travel agents simply adopt the attitude "I won't win so I won't bother to enter"; most definitely NOT the attitude. You simply do not know the minds of the judges.

So, if you have any thoughts that you, your colleagues, your office MAY just get into the winners' frame, then get that award presentation in NOW. The feeling of pride when you do win cannot be described, but it will stay with you for the rest of your life (and it looks good on your C.V. too!).

I am sure that there are many other award winners who share these thoughts on this very emotive subject.

Editor's note: Travel Weekly is currently accepting entries for its Agent Excellence Awards.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd.

Introducing a new industry blogger, Karen Bryan...

I am an independent travel consultant and writer, promoting lesser-known destinations in Europe. I started my business in 2002 and have developed the NAB (Niche, Articles, Blog) system for my business, enabling me to NAB my share of the travel market.

As a small business I've had to find a niche for myself. I can't compete with the big boys on destinations such as Paris, Rome and Prague - I'd probably be on page 30 on a Google search. So I concentrate on lesser-known destinations. I write articles and destination guides for my site and then have them published on as many other relevant sites as possible - the first one I wrote, for Lake Iseo in northern Italy, is now the top search result on Google.

I started a blog in October 2006 after receiving an email for a student writing her dissertation about travel business blogs. I didn't know much about commercial blogs but I did a bit of research and thought I'd start one myself.

The blog has delivered an increase in Google page rank and a substansial increase in site visitors and bookings, without me having to spend any money on advertising. However it is pretty time consuming researching and writing posts. I also spend time reading and commenting at other related blogs.

Karen Bryan, Europe a la Carte

"What on earth's happening to BA?" I heard myself asking the other day.

I'd taken some time off to spend with my mother-in-law (she's OK actually!) who was flying from Cyprus - via London - to the US.

She'd booked with British Airways because she likes flying with them, and as she said when we greeted her (her hands full of goodies from Paphos), "it's not too fussy about luggage restrictions either". Oh the irony...

If you ask me, things went wrong, because we'd been so meticulous in the planning. I'd got the time off, ironed her sheets, made her bed and laid out her towels. I'd bought her favourite tea, stocked up on marmalade, and bought croissants and fruit for breakfast.

Then thousands of British Airways staff threatened to go on strike.

Worried this would mean a fortnight in the UK before she could find a connecting flight (goodness knows where she got that idea from, but that's what she thought), and worried also that this might have put a strain on our relationship, she took the option of changing her flights.

Of course, you know what happened, the strike was called off, but by then it was too late. She was en route, and her non refundable, non returnable tickets had already suffered one change.

We ended up picking her up from Gatwick at 3am - the flight was delayed - bringing her back home, putting her to bed, for all of two hours, and getting her up and out to Heathrow at 7am for the second leg of her journey.

So, before she'd barely landed she was off again. Bleary eyed I hugged her goodbye and wondered how I was going to fill my days off (there was certainly no housework to be done!).

Suddenly it all felt very flat. I slumped into the sofa and looked around. The tea had barely been sipped; the croissants were untouched. We'd had so much to gossip about; I realised we'd ended up saying very little. She was gone, and I was left hoping that BA would sort itself out - once and for all!

Karen Bowerman, reporter, BBC FastTrack

Brian Horden, one of our industry bloggers, wades in to a long-running debate...

That question has appeared yet again..."why are women not at the top with more travel companies?"

My views on this subject go back in history, and then jump right into the year 2006.

My first three bosses in the travel industry were all female, and I can only repeat what I have said on many other occasions: my gratitude to these people for the knowledge, wisdom and experience which they shared has been reflected in the many successes that I have enjoyed in my travel career.

I also wonder how many women actually want some of the top jobs in our colourful industry?

So often, behind the scenes of some of the more successful companies is the strategic thinking of the female mind....the "engineer" behind the success of new thoughts, new ideas, and new systems.

And, on a slightly different "tack", customers enjoy talking to women, especially professional, knowledgeable and enthusiastic women, and moving these people "upstairs" within the company so often removes the best people for face-to-face contact (how often do you see "super salespeople" retail managers working on the Foreign Exchange desk!).

Some contentious views, I am sure; and just to support some of my many thoughts on this subject, just look at the cruise business with Carol Marlow as president of Cunard, Trudy Redfern as vice president of Silversea, Lynn Narraway, director of Carnival Cruise. Or look at the women in First Choice…air and retail, and all successful

Do women want the top job, and all the "baggage" that goes with it, or would they rather be in the position of quietly driving the company forward from behind the scenes? I am sure there will be lots of thoughts on this.

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises

You know I don't mind paying full price for a holiday and I never EXPECT to get a concession especially in peak season (although Cosmos give agents 20% even in August!).

But I do hate to think that a member of the public has got a holiday cheaper than me.

Perhaps I'm expecting too much but as an agent you'll come back and, all being well of course, promote that particular travel company for free!

A small concession or reduction goes a long way. I remember booking my honeymoon nearly 20 years ago with Paris Travel Service on the Orient Express - they gave me 25% and I never forgot it. They were always my first choice for Paris.

So all you tour operators out there: a little goes a long way and lasts a long time!!!!

I recently took my kids to Lapland. The tour operator who we will call AcrossSnow didn't give us a concession. Okay, I thought, its peak season, not much availability (and no I couldn't go with Cosmos as they didn't have the dates I wanted But they WOULD have given a concession!).

But it really bugged me to hear that of most of the group, we appeared to have paid the most.

Meanwhile, back in September I was the lucky winner of two tickets to Australia with a well known consolidator and a well known middle eastern airline.

I held off telling the kids – as I thought I'd wait to hear what the restrictions were. I knew I wouldn't be able to travel peak season, Dec, Easter etc but it was via Dubai and going to Oz, so surely August would be fine?

Anyway, they were very excited when I told them. I had to go back to the shop and open up so they could get some brochures and begin planning their dream trip.

All running smoothly until the consolidator told us the airline don't allow any school holiday travel. The kids’ dreams were shattered, so I if I could pay a supplement.

Three months later (and I now only have nine months to use them) and the consolidator is STILL waiting for a reply from the airline!!!!

In the meantime two staff here booked their holidays and I no longer have more than two weeks to go anywhere!!

So now I've asked if I can give them to someone else. I wonder how long this response will take…

So, anyone out there fancy a trip to Oz? Don't hold your breath, though, as if it takes them another three months to let me know there'll be barely anytime to use them as it'll be Easter, then Half Term, then the private school hols, and then its Scotland school hols, then its August and UK hols – and then they expire!!

It's great being a travel agent!!!

Diane Coleman, Tickets Travel

Never let it be said that we share a language with the Americans – their latest abuse of the Queen’s English: “Mancation”. No, really.

Apparently, this means leaving wifey at home to get on with her darning and embroidery, then escaping with the boys instead.

The JW Marriott in Las Vegas isn’t the first to (ab)use the term, but it promises the chance to live a dream lifestyle that lets men be men. Well, wealthy men – you need a spare £25,000 to play this game.

JW’s Mancation should appeal to the inner James Bond in every middle aged man, with casino trips, martinis, fast cars and, er, golf. Pneumatic female entertainment is not provided, but you do get to keep the golf clubs.

One of the major attractions, apparently, is the chance to dine in an authentic Irish pub, shipped over and reconstructed brick by brick from the Emerald Isle.

Complete the experience with a private beer tasting with the publican. Genuine Irishmen may refer to this as a lock in.

It might sound laughable, but when this kind of money is involved it’s no joke. The individual bits of the package combined would usually cost in excess of £28,000 – more than a deposit on a rather nice house – so the £25,000 price tag will seem a bargain to some.

Take a stroll around the forecourt of you local Porsche dealership and you’ll see there really are people out there with this kind of disposable income.

Have they got time to book their own holidays? No.

Are they the kind of people who’d pay someone else to sort it all out? Yes.

You do the math, as our American cousins might say.

Anna Winston, intern

Diane Coleman of Tickets Travel, one of our industry bloggers, writes:

Well I don't know about you but December isn't exactly time for most agents and operators to be rushed off their feet is it?

You would imagine most operators would be happy to quote on good bookings (or any bookings for that matter!) – but apparently not!

As an independent agent we like to put our business with specialist operators where we can and hope to receive as good a service as we'd like to think we give our clients – one where we can get through to on the phone, one that values the business and comes back to us when promised etc etc.

Imagine my surprise when I received quite the opposite from two very well respected companies that shall remain nameless.

No. 1 was for a quote for two families to SFO [San Francisco] and Las Vegas – approx £10,000. One North America specialist, which is usually on the button, didn't reply to our email, so we phoned them; a quote was emailed, we were told.

We hadn't received it and we were asked to check. We are a small agency with two computers and not many more staff, we were sure we hadn't, but we checked.

We hadn't received it, so we were told it would be faxed!

It didn't arrive. We chased again. Your fax isn't working, we were told – but we'd just received another fax and we'd just sent one!

We asked why it couldn't be emailed again. Apparently the lady that had completed the quote had a clear out and mistakenly erased it! It did come eventually with another ramble about how it had been sent the week before and how we ought to get our fax fixed, etc [makes you wonder if they need the business!!].

No.2 was for a quote to Chile. I'm afraid to say that 20 years in the business still hasn't given me much experience of South America. The clients may as well have been talking to me in Spanish when they gave me the details!

So I approached a company I'd like to do more business with – a specialist with a director with a very apt name for this season (it wasn't him I spoke to).

I'll be honest with you, he said: “You won’t get anything for Jan or Feb – its peak season.” I'll try for November – but the clients will go any time Jan or Feb, they don't want November.

“You need to book nine months in advance at least for Chile – it'll come back full,” he said.

I was getting nowhere. In the end, I said: “So you don't want to try and see then?"

No, he said, “I'm just being honest”. Shame really as Travel 2 managed to come up with something for £7,300 – admittedly it was difficult to get the seats but we got there in the end.

I don't know about you but I cant afford to turn away business for that sort of money and even if I could I wouldn't – I want to keep my reputation as I've spent a long time building it!

Oh and by the way: Feliz navidad.

I'm beginning to get my head round the Spanish after all!

Diane Coleman, Tickets Travel

Julia Feuell from New Frontiers writes:

Today I was interviewed, along with ex-Travel 2 operations director, Kelly Golds, by the BBC regarding the industry job losses expected to be announced soon.

The interview will be televised on BBC One, including Breakfast TV, as well as News 24 and World.

Nigel Cassidy asked me questions about why I thought Thomson may be making the cuts and whether travel industry jobs may be in decline. I felt the weight of the travel industry in answering these questions, but tried to answer as honestly as possible.

The honest answer is I don’t know why Thomson is making the redundancies.

Brian Hordon, from Silversea Cruises and one of our regular industry bloggers, writes:

WTM is a remarkable GLOBAL event, and although I know that there are often negative comments within the UK with regard to the cost (travel, hotel, etc), this expense does not seem to deter many agents who travel from all corners of the world on a "one stop" shopping and learning exersise.

I remember a well know travel personality who left the tour operating world and moved into retail; he would attend the last day at WTM with his 4 x 4 and trailer, "helping" our global tourism partners by taking unused quantities of destination material for use in his high street agency.

Actual specifc destination material is often in short supply within the retail arena, and access to these country, resort, hotel brochures can be of real benefit, and can be distributed by agents AFTER the customer has paid the deposit and the booking is confirmed! No free distribution outlet here!

This entire scenario ia actually a communication feature which can be "loaded" into your newsletter, e-mail blast or blog, targeted at YOUR special customer data base.

I would love to hear what other creative activities have been developed by other agents within the trade show arena.

More World Travel Market. Wherever you looked, whatever you read, from the various platforms hosted by the travel and technology experts within our business, the words appeared with remarkable frequency: dynamic packaging, cruising, specialist holidays, long-haul holidays.

This MUST be sweet music to the creative travel agent who has taken a lot of "hit's" during recent years. Is the tide turning I ask?

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises

Introducing another of our industry bloggers, Diane Coleman of Tickets Travel

I've not long returned from an educational in Spain. Well, I think it was Spain – all I saw was inside of hotel rooms. All very nice but I could have been anywhere in the world!

Anyway, the scene was set – the bar, where else – for some funny story swapping...

At work one sunny Saturday. It’s a village, so these afternoons are spent catching up on paperwork, serving the odd person (these are not odd people as such where I'm from, I mean odd as in one or two).

I’m watching people in their wedding attire, attending weddings being held in the beautiful churches at each end of the High Street.

In walk two men in top hat and tails. They're lost, I thought. Surely not - drunk perhaps?.

"I want to book a honeymoon" says one of the men. Ok, I thought, its candid camera (or a modern version), I'll play along.

“When for?" I ask. "Tomorrow or Monday" comes the reply.

It’s no joke – the groom stood before me, wanting to arrange the honeymoon, he explained.

They'd just left the reception to book it and could I call back on the best man's mobile (I wasn't allowed to call the groom!).

I was very unsure, but apparently they had a great time in Madrid. I never did get to ask if the bride thought it was booked all along. Indeed, I wonder if they are still married…

Diane Coleman, Tickets Travel

Introducing another new industry blogger, Karen Bowerman, a reporter for BBC FastTrack

Is it just me, or do you get wound up by things that seem trivial and meaningless? Like jigsaws. I mean, what’s the point of cutting something up, only to spend hours putting it back together again?

And hotel guest questionnaires. What a waste of time they are – and what’s the point? All those boxes, trying to predetermine your response. All those fair, goods and excellents vastly outnumbering any negative alternatives.

I was thinking this the other weekend when, as a treat I took my Mum to a country house hotel which boasted a lovely leisure complex. With winter drawing in, I thought a swim, jacuzzi and steam would be just the way to keep cosy and warm.

Alas, the “heated” pool was cold and the jacuzzi more like a bubbling plunge pool. I got excited by a gush of steam in the steam room – but that was the sum of it. Our weekend of leisure saw the pair of us shrivelling up in the sauna.

So, when I was handed a guest questionnaire I decided that instead of being sceptical, I would offer comment. I mean, if you don’t tell them (although I had been pretty clear – “Hello reception? Yes it’s me again, I’ve emerged from the freezing pool and the hairdryer’s now broken”) then how can they put things right?

So, I put a few crosses in the less favourable boxes in the leisure section, and left the rest of the form blank.

Why did I bother? I’ve just received a letter from the manager. He’s apologised for the pool but said how pleased he is that I enjoyed my stay and found the staff friendly and helpful etc.

You know, when I flicked through the form, I thought about crossing through the sections I didn’t bother filling in, and then chided myself for being so petty.

I had put my prejudices to one side, just to have them confirmed by hotel staff. They filled in the rest of the form on my behalf, deciding to mislead their manager and misrepresent a customer.

A joke? Maybe. But it just shows, as I’ve always feared, that these guest questionnaires are a joke too.

Karen Bowerman, reporter, BBC FastTrack

Introducing the first of our winners to become a regular blogger for Travel Weekly, Brian Horden of Silversea Cruises.

The perennial job argument has never changed - "they always want people with experience, but if I cannot get a job in the travel industry how will I get the experience?"

A feature in the 27 October edition of Travel Weekly made reference to the need for a minimum standard of training, and this is without doubt