IN THE OFFICE

Radstock Co-operative Travel opened its second branch in Paulton, Somerset, last May, following a surge in in-store bookings at its Radstock branch. Selling Travel caught up with Branch Manager Colin Curtis a year on, to find out why customers are returning to high-street stores and which destinations are top sellers for 2018.

Branching out

"Since the opening of our second store last year we have seen a real growth within the local area for people looking to book with an agent.

"We are becoming well known for being an independent travel agency that offers everything from package holidays to tailormade trips and cruises.

"Being situated in a bustling shopping complex ensures that we have constant traffic and gives us ample opportunity to catch the attention of potential customers or simply inspire people with our frequently changing window displays.

"We've seen a huge increase in customers returning to the high street year-on-year, which has resulted in high sales figures and an increase in staff. We’ve also found that our customers value a friendly face and trust that we will deliver a service and destination knowledge that the internet simply can’t compete with.

Making a comeback

"this year marks the return of turkey and egypt, which are destinations that people would have steered clear of a year ago. there is still a huge appeal for these places and Brits especially love the climate and culture that they find there. "Croatia continues to be one of our biggest sellers, along with trips to the States – Florida, las vegas and California bookings are on the up as we see the dollar rate increase.

Training tools

"We host weekly training sessions for our agents and invite tour operators to attend once a month. We are members of tiPto and complete a lot of online workshops with them. My colleagues strive to expand their knowledge at every opportunity.

"We also regularly host customer events which has recently included cruise evenings and afternoon tea with escorted tour operators. We work closely with Shearings by putting together group departures which prove very popular with our regular customers.

"there has been a big response from our social media page, which provides us with a great tool in getting instant offers directly to customers and in turn builds a great following for the store. "

Turkey and Egypt are making a comeback in 2018