Iryna Palokha ran her own agency – Europe Travel Group – in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv for more than 13 years before fleeing the country with her then three-year-old son Zhenya last August, seven months after the conflict started.
Although moving to the UK came as a "big shock", it’s not a decision Palokha regrets. “My son could not live in Ukraine anymore – it was too dangerous," she told TTG. “In April and May this year, the Russians bombed Kyiv every single day. My country has been destroyed. We’re trying to build a new life.”
Palokha now works as a receptionist at a holiday lodge park and rents a flat in the Yorkshire market town of Pickering, but has been watching the job market closely since January after deciding she wants to resume her career as a travel agent.
“I enjoy being a travel agent – I relax when I am doing this job,” she said. “Although my English is not perfect, I think I’ve got the communication skills. The job is very close to my heart. I also really like travelling and going to other countries.”
Palokha has visited Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and has good knowledge of Thailand, Vietnam, China and Bali. Hays Travel offered her a place on its apprenticeship programme earlier this year, but she ultimately decided not to accept it, worried she would not be able to make ends meet.
Palokha, who is 37, has applied for a number of travel agent roles in the UK, but hasn’t had any responses. "I don’t understand what is wrong with me,” she said. “I learned a little bit about ticketing in Ukraine, but I don’t have an Amadeus or Galileo certificate. I still need to do a GDS [Global Distribution System] course.
“Maybe I need to go on a language course because there’s a problem with my English, or maybe it’s my CV?"
Palokha’s parents will arrive in the UK this weekend to stay with and support their daughter and young grandson until next May.
However, her husband Alex has had to remain in Ukraine due to the country’s enforcement of martial law, preventing men of conscription age – aged 18 to 60 – from leaving. He did visit his wife and son on a temporary tourist visa in the summer, but returned to Kyiv three weeks ago.
“It’s very hard because we don’t know when the war will finish – Vladimir Putin is crazy!" she said. “I want to try and stay in the UK for ever – my son enjoys your country, and I don’t want him to see what is going on in Ukraine. We wouldn’t return if the war ended.”
She added “a lot” of young Ukrainians, like her, had migrated to other countries. Her son Zhenya, now four, didn’t speak when they arrived in the UK just over a year ago, but Palokha revealed he has now started speaking English.
Beverley-based Personal Travel Agent Lyndsey West, who works under the Your Co-op brand, is helping Palokha with her job hunt after meeting her at the lodge park after hearing of her plight from Travel Gossip.
West said: “It came up in conversation that I was a travel agent because I had booked the accommodation using a travel agent offer. She told me she wanted to be a travel agent again, but said that she was struggling to find anything suitable.
“I run my own business from home and I just think she would be a great asset. In her current job, she is checking in people and dealing with customer enquiries.”
West admitted Palokha is “worried” about her English. “I just said she should hear some of the people that I talk to over the phone. I’ve had to spell “Rome” out to one customer before,” she said.
“In my eyes, her English would not hold her back if she went for a travel agent job. She has got such great knowledge of European destinations and has travelled around the world – Iryna’s probably been to more destinations than I have."
Does your agency have an opening for Iryna? Drop our reporter Harry Kemble an email on hkemble@ttgmedia.com.
