Just the ticket: Celebrating booking success in difficult times

Hitting the beach

Mair Jones, co-owner, Bordessa Holidays

We have about 18,000 followers on Facebook. We posted a Newmarket Holidays deal for a Kenya beach and safari trip, which returned a £7,500 booking for three adults in 2022.

The client had booked with us before and was pleased with the high service. I also posted a DIY Iceland package, which has had more than 100 comments.

We’ve taken five bookings for it so far, 11 passengers in total, all with upgraded rooms and added excursions at about £420 per person. It’s a small, but good start.

Cruise converts

Andy Sharples, franchisee, Cruise Holidays UK

I took a booking with a retired couple in their 70s who usually book a few Jet2holidays trips to Madeira with me each year.

Then they phoned up and said they had seen a Cunard cruise advertised and if the price was correct, they would book it.

It’s a 12-night Canary Islands cruise from Southampton on Queen Victoria in November. They felt confident everything would be OK with coronavirus by then.

Dreamy Dubai

Maureen Evans, managing director, Freedom Travel Longton

I booked a regular client, his wife and two children to Dubai business class for October half-term staying at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The booking was worth more than £21,000. Two hours after confirming the holiday, the client found it cheaper online – it’s a big problem with forward bookings at the moment.

I have discounted out of my commissions to keep the booking. Happy to say I have kept the booking, which was also due to the loyalty shown by this regular client.