Ava Mann joined Hays Travel’s Romsey branch in July 2024. When she left school, she knew she wanted to work in the travel industry: “It just stood out as such a happy industry to work in,” says the 18-year-old.
As a retail apprentice, she’s working towards her Level 3 Travel Consultant qualification, while gaining practical experience selling to customers.
One day last November, the agency’s phone rang. Ava answered and made some notes: a young lad, looking to book a group holiday for him and his mates, who were in the 18-20 age bracket.
Romsey manager, Natasha Elliott, says: “Ava had little experience, especially with groups, so it would have been easy to pass off to a colleague but she took this enquiry head on, delivered fantastic service and secured a great booking for herself and the store.”
The boys knew where they wanted to go – which was Malia in Crete – but didn’t know where to stay.
“I didn’t know much about Malia,” says Ava, “but I started researching with different suppliers, and was able to come up with three different accommodation options for the boys. Most importantly, I checked that each apartment block was willing to host a big same-sex group.”
“The group wanted the best of both worlds, really, to be close enough to the bars for nightlife, but also somewhere they could take a break from partying, that wasn’t too far from the beach.”
It took about three weeks to get the accommodation finalised – they went with Happy Days Studios Malia, booked through Jet2holidays. A complicating factor was that the group size kept fluctuating. “The numbers did go up and down for a bit, depending on pricing and people not wanting to miss out. In the end it was 23 lads by the time they came to pay the deposit.”
Upselling party packages
Ava also seized her opportunity to increase her commission by upselling the group to a Party Hard package booked through Attraction World, which includes a booze cruise, pool parties, a Lovejuice residency and other events.
“Last summer, I did a girls’ holiday to Magaluf and everyone was talking about these Party Hard packages, so I made sure the boys knew one was available for Malia and it could help them organise their trip and better manage their spending.”
Holiday booked, they’re now ready to travel in June – and Ava says the feedback from the group has been full of gratitude that she’s taken the hassle out of the organisation for them.
Natasha adds: “Ava dealt with multiple changes and updates to the requested quotes with a calm and cool attitude. The customer has even enquired again this week for another trip with friends due to how well she helped with this. It really shows that giving them the responsibility and room to grow with these initially daunting quotes, can lead to great success. Well done Ava, we are so proud of you for taking charge of this booking!”
Crucially, Ava didn’t feel intimidated at any stage of the booking process. “I felt empowered because I knew what I was talking about," she says. "They’d come to me for help and it made me happy that they took my advice onboard.
"Yes, it was a slightly bigger booking than usual, but it was no different to anyone else going on holiday, and I felt like I could relate to them because I’m the same age and I understood what they wanted to do.”
It’s also spurred Ava on to take on more group bookings. She has since booked 17 athletes to Boston, and the leader of that group then recommended Ava to a friend and she’s now working on sending 22 athletes to Florida.
“I would definitely encourage other apprentices to go for these big group bookings. Don’t be scared. Just be sure to do your research and lean on those suppliers, who can help you. It has massively boosted my confidence taking these bigger bookings on.”
