Supplement to
Travel Agent Professional
Britain:
For Niche Markets
If you look at back issues of Travel Agent Professional, you’ll see I’ve put together a number of articles extolling the virtues of using backdoors into Britain (Birmingham and Manchester), bright ideas for Family Travel, shopping trips for Girls Getaways, getting all steamed up with Britain’s Heritage Railways, the Cotswolds and how to make Niche Markets profitable.
Well, I’ve now brought them all together with a brand new Aladdin’s Cave of a website which will help you to match the right UK travel experiences to your client’s time frame, interests and budget. Check it out at www.customgb.co.uk As over 60% of travel agents are female, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s quite a large section given over to Girls Getaways featuring a private access tour of Downton Abbey, Sophisticated Shopping in London, Antique Fairs and London Markets and a short, largely London based tour In Memory of Princess Diana. For those interested in Embroidery, Needlework and Quilting I’ve got that covered as well. The Cotswolds also lends itself well to Women Only travel with a Tea Room Tour and another featuring Strawberries, Lavender and Roses! A cycling tour also offers a different perspective on a beautiful, often steep corner of England. Family Travel is well catered for with London based trip that can include a speed boat ride on the River Thames, a flight on the London Eye, a James Bond themed tour and a side trip to the Dr Who Experience. (Harry) Pottering around England delivers locations featured in the films plus a visit to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter.
Bubble, Fizz and Pleasant Surprises
For Stately Homes and Garden lovers, there are tours for the Chelsea Flower Show (end May) and the Hampton Court Flower Show (early July) that allow you plenty of time to smell the roses. Having discovered that there are 245 Orchid Societies in Nor th America there’s also a London programme specifically for the European Orchid Show and Conference next April. There are also some imaginative suggestions for making valuable extra commission out of tailor made pre and post cruise extensions sailing in/out of Southampton, Dover, Tilbur y and Har wich. Many ďŹ rst and third time clients will want to spend time in London but more regular visitors will thank you for offering them more time in the countryside.
This year, we’re celebrating the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare which offers the chance to be more creative about theatre tours. This includes an interesting tour that follows the route led by the Bard as he journeyed between London and Stratford upon Avon. It’s the brainchild of a ver y experienced Shakespearian actor who also leads the tour. For art galleries and museums looking for fund raisers there are value added visual arts programmes and for those who’ve been smitten by the many costume dramas on Masterpiece Theatre there’s a Jane Austen tour which can be timed to coincide with the annual Jane Austen Festival in Bath. If arranging a UK tour for your own church is on your agenda there are travel less, sing more cathedral city based tours that roughly follow a route taken by Chaucer’s Pilgrims from Southwark to Rochester and Canterbury, while another connects Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury. There are 2 versions of a John Wesley Methodist Heritage tour and a memorable Pilgrimage tour that visits the holy islands of Iona, Incholm and Lindisfarne.
These UK products are all good to go and they will be of great interest to the many different niche markets on your doorstep. YOU are the missing link. Supplied with the right conversation starting itinerary, you have the skill to get them there and back with smiles on their faces and earn some valuable commission while doing so. For further tour information please contact Paull Tickner at pjtickner@customgb.co.uk • www.customgb.co.uk For more information on Travel Agent Professional come visit us at www.travelagentprofessional.com