YOU Travel Mairangi Bay has bolstered its staff, as demand remains strong.
The agency has welcomed cruise expert Sally Smith, formerly with Francis Travel Marketing, to its team. And at a satellite desk across the Hauraki Gulf is Jeryl Bromley owner of YOU Travel and Cruise on Waiheke Island who, looking for a lifestyle change, too, in the wake of C-19, will be joining the team as a travel broker. “[Bromley] brings many years of business and travel experience and we are looking forward to her working with all our wonderful team of experienced travel professionals,” says agency owner Chris Harrop. All up Smith and Bromley bring 50 years of combined experience to the business which Harrop says has bounced back from C-19 the same but different “Generally, we are in good shape in retail although an increasing amount of time is taken up with continued changes with compliance issues, creating additional workloads to business owners,” he adds.
. . . Asia On Trend
When asked where his clients are travelling, he says although there’s still good enquiry, travel to the US is down, while Thailand or Vietnam are increasingly popular for beach destinations. “In fact, Asia is very much on trend,” he says. “I put much of this high interest in Asia down to the pro-active marketing of tour and cruise companies, which is also driving high enquiries for Japan. Overall, a holiday in Asia now has better pricing than some Pacific Island options.” While the agency’s Europe sales are muted, Harrop says short notice travel is up with clients prepared to pay higher airfares. Harrop says he’s also selling more around-the-world fares, which are becoming increasingly complex and therefore can’t be done on-line by the traveller. Cruising is strong with Scandinavia in particular very popular, with a lot of enquiry. Pacific cruising, too, is showing strong enquiry, he adds. The agency team, also includes senior consultant Steph Dale and director Nicola Preston. Harrop, Steph Dale, Jeryl Bromley, Sally Smith, Derren McAneaney (YOU travel broker), Nicola Preston.
