Q: What has been your secret (or not so secret) to successfully running an agency for 25 years?
A: Resilience, I think. Surviving the collapse of Ansett airlines and Traveland within the first three months of owning our business gave us a strength I didn’t know I had to then face the challenges and changes of the next 25 years.
Q: What excites you most about the new location for Helloworld Travel Ferntree Gully?
A: We are bigger and brighter and have already seen a “different” demographic of client coming in our door.
When even the local traders stop to walk in the door and comment on how good we are looking, that certainly puts a smile on my face.
Q: How does your local knowledge and experience in the industry help contribute to the success of a store?
A: People know who we are, know we have supported local businesses, sporting associations and charities.
The appreciation for someone being able to speak to or see the person “who owns the business” is highly regarded in local communities.
Q: As a successful multi-store owner, what are some tips to another owner considering expansion?
A: Just do it! Having systems and procedures the same across our stores makes it easier for all the teams to know.
A level of uniformity in our service standards and delivery also lets clients know they can call in to any of our stores and be assisted.
Q: What are your thoughts on how the travel industry looks at the moment?
A: It’s a very strong industry, facing a challenge right now with AI and how we balance the positive and negative elements of it.
The negative is how clients may perceive it as being “the truth”; the positive is the clients turning to and returning to agents for the human intelligence element.
Our trusted knowledge and expertise is being sought and valued.
Q: Is there one particular segment of the travel business that’s booming for you at the moment?
A: Cruising remains a strong sector in our industry and we are also seeing a higher number of ‘multi-generational’ travel. I know I personally fit into that now, happily taking our adult children and grandchildren on trips that create lifetime memories for all.
Destination wise, Japan still holds great interest and enquiry level, while our traveller wants to be more immersive in their travelling, with smaller groups and experiencing local as best you can.
Q: Finally, what is it about working in the travel industry that you love so much?
A: Making dreams happen and difficulties easier for our clients.
When in the same week I assisted a sad man to take his wife’s ashes home to her birthplace and another man be able to bring his 11-year-old daughter out to Australia from Myanmar after waiting seven years for her visa, it reminds me that what we do matters!
https://web.helloworld.com.au/store/ferntree-gully/
