Have you ever wished you could fold yourself up and fit into a client’s suitcase when they go travelling? Well, these mascots are lucky enough to pull it off – they are often to be found travelling the world, accompanying agents on fam trips, joining clients and their families on holiday, and helping their agent owners to host escorted tours.

Mr and Mrs Olive

Olive Lounge Travel

Olive is, unsurprisingly, a cuddly olive. “It’s very apt,” says Gill Polyhos, co-founder of Olive Lounge Travel, a TTG Top 50 agency in 2025. Mrs Olive is married (or dating… there’s some confusion about the status of their relationship) to Mr Olive, who lives at the Bingley branch of the Yorkshire-based agency.

Mrs Olive, or Olive for short, often goes away on fam trips and accompanies clients on their holidays, and has visited the likes of Disneyland Paris, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta and Ibiza. Between travels she stays in the shop, and the children who come in always make a beeline for her. In fact, in the five years Olive has lived at the branch, she has perhaps become too well loved by the families she travels with. Gill says: “We thought for a while she’d been lost because one family took her away and we waited a long time for her to be returned. We thought they’d gotten too attached!” 

Having Olive is such a great thing for the children, explains Gill. “It’s quite special for them to take something with them they’re protecting and taking on a journey,” she says, “I remember my daughter taking her school bear with her when we went travelling and it’s quite special making those memories.”

Beyond the children however, it seems the staff at the shop also love Olive. “We have quite a few conversations about her because she’s dating Mr Olive, and we have lots of discussions about them … we look all the time to expand the family,” says Gill. Olive also moves around the shop a lot, gets dressed up, wears sunglasses and poses for photos on social media.

Deben Bear

Deben Travel

Deben Bear was purchased by owner Lee Hunt shortly after opening in 2012. Originally, Deben Bear was just for team use on fam trips to help spread the word about Suffolk-based Deben Travel, another TTG Top 50 travel agency in 2025, on socials. “Being a new business, we tried all forms of marketing at the time, this was just a bit of fun that has now continued for 13 years,” explains Lee. 

Now Deben Bear travels with clients also, and has dedicated albums on Deben Travel’s Facebook page, as well as making regular appearances on their Instagram. Lee says: “He really has been all over the world. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, India, South Korea, bear watching in Romania, meeting Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi F1, helicopter trip in Dubai, Rocky Mountaineer, a few safari holidays, cruises.... he’s very lucky!” While not travelling, Deben Bear likes to reside on the business class flight seats at Deben Travel. 

Now Deben Bear is a veteran in the travel industry, and he has the war wounds to show for it. Although he was never lost entirely, he did lose a leg once while travelling with a client in New York. “Luckily, particularly with healthcare being so costly in the USA, our customer repaired him,” jokes Lee. 

He adds: “Deben Bear is great for fam trips. He brings brand recognition and is good for building relationships with clients.” However, Lee warns, “you do need to be mindful that it does not come across as ‘tacky.’ There is a time and place for mascot photos.”

Trevor and Tracey

Regent Travel

Olive isn’t the only one who likes to don her holiday gear. A knitted pair, Trevor and Tracey, are ready for all occasions, with accessories such as hats, scarfs, sunglasses, binoculars, suitcases, passports and cameras.

Both Tracey and Trevor have lived at Regent Travel in Stone, Staffordshire for around eight to ten years now, and were created by a grateful client. She knitted Trevor first, and about a year later, gifted the team Tracey too. “Trevor was a thank you gift from a regular client who went on many, many holidays with us,” explains Sarah Clewlow, senior travel consultant at Regent Travel. She adds: “They’re so unique, and they were knitted specifically for us and that’s why they’re carrying all those travel-related things. It’s very personal.”

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, Trevor and Tracey have settled down from their adventures and are now considered retired. They live on a shelf in the centre of the shop with their two children and a dog. Tracey was never much of a traveller to begin with, but Trevor more than made up for it by joining Regent Travel’s escorted tours every two to three months.

Sarah says: “They’re good for the office morale and when customers ask about them we get to tell them where Tracey and Trevor have been and where they came from which is lovely.”

Pondy

Ponders Travel

Three-year-old Pondy the bear might still be fairly new to the industry, but he’s made up for it with the sheer volume of trips he’s been on. Pondy attends every Ponders Travel escorted tour, and has become quite the major focus for these trips. It’s a good thing he’s not camera shy, because clients on the escorted tours are given the challenge to take the best photo of Pondy, and can claim bragging rights on the final night when Clare Dudley, managing director of Cambridge-based Ponders Travel, announces the winner.

It’s because of these trips that Pondy has climbed the rigging on Star Clipper, dressed as a pirate for a fancy dress party, visited Krka National park in Croatia, and been up close with wildlife in Costa Rica. 

“Clients love him and they take the competition very seriously,” explains Clare. “He creates a lot of fun while we’re away, and we [the staff] love all the fun he makes.” 

Woolly Jumbo

C The World

Woolly Jumbo, a specially designed Shaun the Sheep, was purchased for C The World as a result of a charity bidding war created by Aardman Animations. In 2015, more than 50 giant sculptures of Shaun the Sheep, decorated and designed by local artists, were distributed across Bristol as a public art trail. These Shauns were then sold at auction, where Woolly Jumbo was purchased, and the money raised was given to Bristol Children’s Hospital. 

“At Christmas we put a Christmas hat on him, just to get into the spirit of things. We do get a lot of families coming in with their kids just to say hello to him which is great for business as well because we just get chatting and then conversation moves on,” explains Caroline North, sales consultant at C The World, Bristol. “He’s definitely got us in conversation with families, and then we’ve had enquiries from that.”

Woolly Jumbo is jumbo indeed, and hasn’t been able to do any travelling himself, although he’s great to have around the shop. “He’s not going anywhere because he doesn’t fit through the door,” jokes Caroline. She adds: “When it’s raining, we give him a little pat on the head, and he makes a good coat-stand for our wet coats… We’d be lost without him, let’s just say that!”