Agent’s ‘relaxing’ holiday kicks off with spate of bookings

An agent’s relaxing seven-night break got off to a manic start after he helped four clients and took three bookings within 24 hours of leaving for the airport.

Lee Harrison, co-owner of Malvern World Travel, was on his way to Bristol airport by car the night before flying to Rhodes when he received an enquiry from a new customer about a cruise.

With his wife Hilary, who is also the company’s co-owner, at the wheel, Harrison researched and booked the client’s holiday, which cost around £2,000.

“Knowing that we would be on holiday in Rhodes for a week, we tried to clear away as much of our work beforehand,” said Harrison.

“The night before we left home, we took a booking from a regular cruise client and he mentioned his daughter might be in touch with us to book her own cruise.

“As we were heading to the airport, I checked my iPad while Hilary was driving and saw we’d already had an email from her asking to book a specific cabin.

“With the aid of technology, I was able to log in to Complete Cruise Solution, check all the details and book the cabin, which cost around £2,000.”

Harrison’s workload did not ease up when he landed in Rhodes as he had more enquiries to deal with.

He secured a Fred Holidays booking to Spain, a Jet2 trip to Crete and rearranged a passenger’s flights – all on his first day on holiday.

Harrison added: “We had a pretty intensive rail and Spain enquiry for clients with very specific requirements – we confirmed this booking with Fred Holidays for £4,800 shortly after arriving in Rhodes.

“We also had a slight scare when clients travelling to the Scilly Isles from Exeter suddenly found themselves going nowhere as the M5 had been closed. After landing in Rhodes, we spoke to Premier Holidays and got them put on a later flight.”

Harrison added: “There’s never a dull moment in travel, but that’s the joy of working seven days a week!”