Pamela Brownlee opened Fly Away Travel in Ballina, County Mayo, in 2008, but while the team sold a considerable amount of cruise, she decided a separate brand would better raise awareness that customers could book cruises with them.
She launched Cruises For You, along with a new website cruisesforyou.ie, and a new Facebook page, at the end of February.
In early March she organised a day-long launch party with branded cupcakes and a competition to win a cruise donated by Royal Caribbean, and invited western Ireland station Midwest Radio to cover the event.
“The 11am until 1pm show is really popular and has an audience reach of around 120,000 people,” said Brownlee.
Midwest sent an outside broadcast vehicle to Ballina and broadcast the two-hour programme live from the Fly Away store.
In the two weeks leading up to the launch day, and while the radio broadcast was being aired, the agency managed to accumulate more than 1,000 competition entries, the names from which it can now add to its database.
“It was an older lady that won the mini-cruise, and they were here in the store when the name was drawn, which was wonderful,” said Brownlee.
The new Cruises For You brand has a separate phone line and Brownlee said she hoped to ultimately employ a home-based cruise expert as well.
“I thought carefully about the name,” Brownlee explained. “In cruise, it’s so important to match clients with the right cruise for them, and Cruises For You conveys the idea of us tailoring it to your specific needs.
“For now, I really want us to become the best-known cruise specialist in the north-west, but maybe in five or 10 years the brand could be national,” she added.
Fly Away Travel is one of five finalists in the Ireland regional category of TTG’s Top 50 Travel Agencies.
