Top Northern Ireland Agency 2024 - Barrhead Travel, Belfast

NORTHERN IRELAND’S TOP AGENCY 2024
Barrhead Travel, Belfast

Located in Northern Ireland’s largest shopping complex, Victoria Square, Barrhead Travel’s Belfast branch has been serving locals for six years. At the helm, store manager Kelly Hutchinson is a fierce champion for her customers. She has created a voluntary appointment system to guarantee time slots and negotiated them car parking discount vouchers. When a popular team member had to move to England last year, Kelly arranged for him to not only work remotely but fly back once a quarter to catch up with his clients in person. Repeat bookers are shown their appreciation with invites to events such as a cruise-themed day with exclusive discounts at the famous Europa Hotel. Making the most of the agency’s location, the biggest event of 2023 was a tour of Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambition, when the vessel docked in Belfast. Fifty customers were hosted for the day, accompanied by five staff. Those overseas are also well looked after. Kelly stayed up all night to rebook customers who had been evacuated from their hotel due to wildfires in Canada. No wonder the agency scores highly in Trustpilot reviews. Barrhead Travel is also able to recommend some of the more sustainable hotel, flight and tour options out there. A fun Canada-themed day in the shop highlighted the destination. Australia has been another recent focus, with a dedicated brochure backed by personal recommendations from a team member’s recent visit – one of several training trips the staff took in the last year. Tie-ups with nearby shops and a pop-up stand inside the shopping centre have helped the agency attract new faces into its store. Locals may even have heard its cruise-themed ads on Belfast’s Cool FM. Over on Facebook, meanwhile, Disney deals have proved particularly popular.

barrheadtravel.co.uk