Ask the expert
Claire Ross, product director at Kuoni, on booking the perfect holiday, where customers are going next – and what she loves most about travel
■ What’s special about a Kuoni holiday? We make things personal – and we don’t forget you, once you’ve booked. We keep in touch to make sure you have everything ready as your departure date approaches. We can also give recommendations for extra things to do while you’re away and answer last-minute questions. As we’re travel enthusiasts, we also love to hear how your holiday was once you’ve got back!
■ How do people know they can rely on your advice?
Because we don’t recommend everything. We curate the best, using our connections and long-established partnerships to ensure we have ‘best in class’ choice for clients. We tailor things to give every holiday the sparkle customers expect from Kuoni.
■ What sort of holidays are people booking now?
We’re famous for honeymoons, which makes me proud. If you can trust us with your honeymoon – pretty much the most important holiday ever – then imagine how good we’ll be on everything else. At the moment family celebrations, retirement holidays, grown-up gap years and me-time are popular. We make them all special.
■ Where do customers want to go next?
Kenya is popular, as people love wide-open spaces on safari. The Maldives, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, Mauritius and Dominica also combine beaches with special experiences. We’re also arranging lots of great trips in Europe.
■ Can you reassure people about Covid?
All our hotel and resort staff have to follow protocols to keep guests safe and we’ve also got a Covid Hub, where customers can get information about the situation and the latest rules.
We believe in the human touch, all our travel experts are there to help customers get away safely and every customer gets called personally before they go to give them all the support they need. Our travel experts are also there if anything needs to be rearranged if they can’t travel.
■ What’s your first travel memory?
It’s staying with my grandparents, who were Kuoni customers and did slide shows of their holidays.
I got the travel bug and used brochures to set up a pretend Kuoni travel agency in their house!
■ What do you never travel without?
Trainers. Running lets you see a place in new ways. On a trip to Japan I ran around Kyoto in the early morning and loved watching local markets open.
■ Where else have you had great holidays?
I’m lucky enough to have had plenty. But I enjoyed going to Sri Lanka with my family a few years ago. Seeing it all through my young children’s eyes was wonderful. We loved the kindness of the people, the amazing food and beaches.