30 Under 30: Meet Hannah Lovett
The pandemic has put a pause on career development for many in the travel industry, but for Holiday Extras’ senior marketing executive Hannah Lovett it’s provided a stepping stone to success
Hannah Lovett may have been working in the travel industry for just two short years – almost one of which has been spent in the midst of a debilitating pandemic – but her savvy work ethic and rapport with travel agents means she’s already singlehandedly managing Holiday Extras’ trade marketing.
The 29-year-old joined the ancillaries company in 2018 after working short stints in TV, at a digital marketing agency and with a sustainability-focused membership organisation.
“Within a few months of working with [Holiday Extras] I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do, because there’s so much freedom and I have lots of fun working with agent partners,” says Lovett.
“Even though I’ve come into [the travel industry] late I feel like I’ve got a lot from it in a small amount of time,” she adds.
The senior marketing executive works across all platforms to promote to travel agents the entire Holiday Extras portfolio of products, from airport hotels and lounges to security fast track and holiday insurance, and also works closely with the partnerships team members to support them in their business ventures.
“Ultimately, I sell parking spaces, which doesn’t sound glamorous at all!” Lovett laughs, adding “but holidays are so important to people and if you’re able to play even a small part in helping them make magical memories it’s nice to be involved with that.”
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
The Covid-19 pandemic this year has posed challenges for everyone in the travel industry, and Lovett is no exception, with the Holiday Extras management team putting her on furlough for three months until July, when she returned to her full-time role.
“The last year has been a massive learning curve for everyone and I’ve been learning on the job, learning to think on my feet,” she says, explaining that she’s had to move a lot quicker when it comes to implementing campaigns than she would have in normal circumstances, and that she became a one-woman team as others were sadly let go from their trade marketing roles at Holiday Extras.
But there is a silver lining; Lovett has been able to learn new skills and develop her career path beyond what she thought possible.
“My skillset has really expanded and I’m doing things that I never thought I’d be able to do, so I’m excited to see how I can go further with that,” she says, adding that being awarded a TTG 30 Under 30 place at the beginning of 2020 has been one of the proudest moments of her career so far.
“I thought I was too new in the industry to win and [the announcement] came at a really nice time – when everything was up in the air with coronavirus – it was refreshing and a real confidence boost,” says Lovett.
One of her biggest achievements in her Holiday Extras role, she explains, was the Golden Ticket Giveaway incentive that ran in January and received more entries by its halfway point than any previous incentive had received overall. This kind of success stands Lovett in good stead to develop an even stronger career in travel marketing, but what advice would she give to others hoping to follow in her footsteps?
“I’d say something that my mum used to say to me: ‘when you’re on your way to the top, be nice to everyone because you never know who you’re going to meet on your way down’.”
To that, she adds some wise words of her own: “I’m proof that you don’t have to have studied travel [to make it into the industry] – the opportunities are there – and don’t be put off by what’s happening at the moment because people are going to want to travel again. It’s escapism from the real world.”
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Company number 08723341.
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