Presenter (Lisa O’Sullivan):
You might have noticed it’s been rather chilly of late. In fact, it’s officially been one of the coldest winters for more than twenty years. For some, that sparked a wish to get away from it all and what better way to start planning than with Co-operative Travel. I visited the Manchester branch to see what’s involved.
[New female speaker – Zenna]
Well, to be honest, we are quite different to some travel agents, no one is ever obliged to book a holiday. We like to make the customer feel comfortable, we’ll sit them down, we’ll give them a drink, answer all their questions and show them what they need to know. We really get a feel for what the customer wants and try and do our best that way. Sometimes they’ll come in and know exactly what they want, other times they’ll know they want to go on holiday but they don’t know where, sometimes they don’t even know when and obviously that’s where our job comes into play. We have to sit them down, find out what they are looking for and go from there really.
Presenter (Lisa O’Sullivan):
What kind of things do you look for when your booking a holiday?
[New Female Speaker – Customer A]
Probably primarily cost, location, where I’d like to go, whether there’s availability.
[New Male Speaker – Customer B]
Bit of an adventure, a bit of a chill-out.
[New Female Speaker – Customer C]
Price obviously, I think that’s an important factor
[New Female Speaker – Customer D]
I don’t like to go to places where it’s all aimed at the tourist.
[New Female Speaker – Customer E]
Somewhere where I can actually go out and see the country that I’m going to, rather than just staying on a beach.
[New Female Speaker – Customer F]
I’m not a beach holiday person at all. More sightseeing tourism, independent travelling rather than holidaying I suppose.
[Female speaker – Zenna]
At the moment, this year Turkey is really popular, I think mainly because it’s not the Euro and it is really reasonable to get out there. The good thing about Turkey is there really is something for everyone. I’ve personally been 7 times. I’ve been to different resorts and I know where I like, but depending what the customer is looking for, there’s family resorts, there’s a lot of nice all-inclusives, a lot of self catering. Depending whether it’s a couple, or a family or even an older couple, there really is something for everybody and at the moment it’s really popular for that reason.
[New Female Speaker – Emma]
Ok, when would you like to travel? Are you looking in the summer or the winter?
[New Female Speaker – Amanda Shaw]
My experience is quite broad, 17 years working overseas in various destinations so again with that product knowledge, I’m making sure that people get the right holiday.
[Female Speaker – Emma]
Next week? Ok, I’ll have a look for your destinations during the winter…you’re looking at the Canary Islands, Gambia, Goa or further afield like the Caribbean or America.
[Female Speaker – Amanda Shaw]
It’s so much more affordable now to go to luxurious destinations like the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, there’s a lot more call for cruises now as well. Once somebody has been on a cruise they want to go again and again so yes, it’s expanding quite rapidly over the years, definitely and we have to make sure that we know everything that’s going on out there as well.
[Female Speaker – Emma]
Egypt is very good at this time of year for the weather as well and that’s very popular and we could probably do you an all-inclusive deal for Egypt.
Presenter (Lisa O’Sullivan):
What do you think the customer gets when they walk into a travel centre like this?
[Female Speaker – Amanda Shaw]
Face to face knowledge, definitely face to face knowledge, customer service. In quite a few cases we can actually match the internet prices anyway and plus they’ve got that added advantage of a face to face service and I think that means a lot and obviously through that we’ll retain clients and get them in the future as well.
[Female Speaker – Emma]
I’ll take some details, I’ll take your name and address and I’ll send some details out to you or even if you give me an email address I can forward them through by email. You’re welcome, thank you.
[SFX – Phone put down]
Presenter (Lisa O’Sullivan):
If you’re feeling a touch of wander-lust, Co-operative Travel are waiting to help you find the trip that suits.
Transcribed March 2010.