Owner David Carruthers said he believes the new Gillygate Street branch will benefit from the “buzz” tourists create as they pass the shop.
“York is great for independent shops,” said Carruthers, who launched the brand in nearby Haxby in 2005. “It is full of tourists all year round. We’re not going to get business out of them, but it does create a nice buzz having them there.
"Gillygate is a thoroughfare, and the street is full of independent businesses. We feel we’ve selected a place that works.”
In York, there are currently several independent travel agency branches – including Heritage Collection Travel and Hays Travel – as well as a Tui branch and a Trailfinders shop.
Carruthers added: “It’s nice to sit in our shop in York and hear the Minster Bells chime – we’re 50 metres away from them.”
A repeat customer gave the new Conexo Travel branch its first booking – return flights to New Zealand – shortly after it opened last week.
“The customer said it was great that we were opening up here,” Carruthers continued. “We’ve had some great enquiries so far.”
‘Always looking for opportunities’
Asked whether Conexo Travel – a member of the Hays Travel Independence Group member – would look to continue expanding its retail network, Carruthers said: “We’re always looking for opportunities. It’s very much one shop at a time. We’ve had an eye on York for a while.”
Carruthers confirmed four staff have been recruited to work in the Gillygate branch, but revealed none have previous travel industry experience.
“Everyone is new to travel,” he said, adding: “We will distribute the experience in the Haxby team among the new team and they will learn that way or they will learn online.
“It’s a logistical challenge. We do ask for people with experience, but if they’re well-travelled, we’ll still take them on.”
Carruthers said “quite a few applicants” had completed a travel and tourism course before applying. “I like to see if staff have a passion for travel," he added.
"These applicants can demonstrate that but they’ve done the course. They knew quite a lot about the tour operators that we work with, so there’s a bit of knowledge there.”
