TRAVEL AGENT PROFILE: WETHERBY TRAVEL

Travel Daily discovers the secret to Wetherby Travel’s success. Owner, Cathy Jackson Spence, says a passion for people is crucial.

Name:                    Cathy Jackson Spence
Title:                       Owner
Agency:                Wetherby Travel. member of The Global Travel Group
Location:             Wetherby, West Yorkshire
Experience:      40 years
Specialise:          Luxury tailor made holidays for discerning travellers.

Our success story

We have been in business in Wetherby for 12 years, starting off in a small courtyard office before moving into a high-street location 18 months later.  Our business started by creating golf tours for the local golf club and getting the details right!  Before long other golf clubs were coming to us to organise trips and tournaments and soon members were coming to us to take care of their own personal and business travel needs, and so the ball started rolling.

We signed up with The Global Travel Group from the onset and found them to be a great support.  The early days of any business can be a new and stressful experience and they helped us to keep up personal motivation and focus! Their interest and enthusiasm for the business doing well has been consistent throughout.

The most important factor in our success has been our team.  We all have a genuine passion for people and really believe that “people buy people first”! The vast majority of our customers have booked with us many, many times, often multiple holidays a year, and it is them who are our best form of advertising.  We work hard to make sure every detail is right for them on every single booking.  We offer a full concierge service and include all the little extras as standard, such as security fast track, airport lounges, meet and greet and transfers.  We work for our customers as if we were planning our own holiday and always look for ways to ‘wow’!

Communication is critical for us. We have an incredibly experienced team and we always look for ways to share our skills and experiences so that each of us can interact with every one of our customers and give a seamless and professional service no matter who they are dealing with.

Our personal service means that our valued customers sometimes become treasured friends!  We send birthday cards, special anniversary cards, and always a welcome home card, and it’s these small acts of personal interest that clients really value.  We also host an annual and much anticipated VIP ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ evening which is supported by our key tour operating partners.  It is an opportunity to thank our clients for all of their support and introduce them to new holiday ideas and destinations.

But of course, our key USP is that we have George Clooney and Jude Law working with us in a “Meet & Greet” capacity!  We really do… They are our two miniature dachshunds – the most vibrant and popular members of our team!

What next?

Our retail business is growing year on year and we plan to keep up the pace.  We have developed excellent relationships within the business community and are looking to increase our presence in this sector through our memberships of trade organisations such as Wetherby Business Association, Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary club.

I plan to keep a happy team who continue to develop their skills and experience and will keep on delivering the standard of excellence to our customers that we have built our reputation on.