Agent Diary: Lates isn’t my favourite – bring on the forward bookings

ArrangeMY Escape general manager Jennifer Lynch looks back at a summer to remember

I’m still not over Paris, are you? What a spectacular setting for the 2024 Olympics. Alongside the sporting brilliance, the event showcased France’s iconic landmarks, its rich history and its colourful, diverse culture.

I’m not sure if it was due to my French heritage, but I certainly felt connected and emotional watching it. I heard a newsreader describe it as “humanity at its best”, which I thought was quite fitting.

While I was enjoying the Games, I wondered how many people were watching them and thinking of booking a trip to France as a result. Could we see a resurgence in holidays to the city of light and love? Or, better still, to France in general?

Conversely, the news that was making headlines while the Olympics was on was devasting. My heart goes out to the families who have suffered unimaginable loss in Southport. This incident set off a chain of violent rioting around the UK, which has been a scary situation for so many.

City centre life

Our city was fortunate enough not to experience any attacks, but we were advised to shut the store and run away in the event of violence, which left my team in Worcester petrified. I can only imagine the horrors for any high street agents that were at the heart of the riots.

While we thankfully avoided it, twice in the past month we have come in to find the windows of our Worcester shop smashed. Our heart sank both times as it felt like personal attacks. Thankfully they weren’t, and police found it was the result of lads having a scrap on a night out.

There is always a risk like this when you have a city centre location, but we wouldn’t change it for the world. With the great British summer upon us we are able to open the door fully, and wow do we see some sights.

Watching the world go by sure provides us with a few giggles. We have a lively pub opposite, with a fair few characters entering and leaving. Apologies to any tour operator that has been on the phone while it’s been a little rowdy lately!

Win-win

Over the past few months, I’ve been running a competition to win a trip to Barcelona with easyJet holidays, which we paid for ourselves. I’d highly recommend this to any agent. Yes, you have to pay for the holiday, but the data you collect is invaluable. Plus, the exposure alone from the competition is great. I asked entrants to complete a short questionnaire. It included questions such as ‘Name the destination you would most like to visit’ and ‘How do you normally book your holidays – online or with a travel expert?’.

A staggering 80% said they booked online. This led me to create a mailshot targeting online bookers and explaining the benefits of using travel experts. We instantly had an influx of enquiries.

Finally, as we head towards the end of August, I can let out a sigh of relief. Lates season really isn’t my favourite time of the year. Has anyone else struggled with clients who have a long list of requirements, yet who want to depart within two weeks? I know we are good at our jobs, but we are not miracle workers. Bring on the forward bookings!

Get a headstart in your career

I was lucky enough to join the 25th birthday celebrations of Tipto at Uttoxeter Racecourse in Staffordshire. I’m coming into my 21st year in travel, and throughout my career, Tipto has remained a consistent source of knowledge and inspiration, from learning, meeting suppliers and growing my network to now taking my own teams along to build their careers.

I was delighted to win Tipto Member of the Year at the Agent Achievement Awards in 2023. I would encourage anyone selling travel to get involved, should that be the training platform or attending a nearby roadshow. Last year, after attending a Tipto SuperShow, a new member of my team converted a booking worth over £18,000. That’s the power of training!