by Mike Greenacre, managing director, The Co-Operative Travel Group and member of the Institute of Travel & Tourism

I thought long and hard about what focus I should bring to this article - APD, Financial Protection etc...

But, like Dermot Blastland, I wanted to keep the pressure on to really focus on the incredibly important issue of climate change.

Amongst the economic doom and gloom, there have been some positive and encouraging signs for the travel industry in recent weeks.  According to an ABTA survey, 68% of people are prepared to increase their holiday budget or spend the same as last year to ensure they have something to look forward to.  Almost half believe the break from routine and credit crunch pressures is a vital escape to maintain sanity!  ABTA predicts that the average spend in 2009 will be £632.04 per person.

By Peter Marsh

Every enquiry is important  but they all fall into one of two types, be they walk-ins, telephone callers or e-mailers:- 
Lookers; possible customers, shopping around maybe but also they could be wasting your time.
Bookers; who definitely want something – you just have to find out what. 
Each are potentially valuable, but what are the extra ideas that could convince them to book with you?. 

By Richard English

I was quietly nursing a drink at a recent travel function when I was approached by a young lady, also bearing a drink, and wearing a determined expression on her face. I didn’t recognise her and was slightly taken aback when she said, “Ah. I know you! You’re Richard English” I had to admit that I was, indeed, he, and apologised for the fact that I didn’t recall where we had previously met.

By Richard English

Many years ago I was the manager of a travel agency in the Home Counties and we had a friendly postman whom I shall call Fred. Fred used to book with us and one year had made a booking to Moscow – a rather less common destination in the days I am speaking of, but Fred was an adventurous kind of chap.

One of the drawbacks of my profession is that I am frequently consulted when things go wrong. When companies, such as yours, realise that they have a problem, which may have resulted in a client complaint or grievance and disciplinary procedures. The next thought process is that “our people need training” to ensure our customers are satisfied and our working relationships are more positive. But is that the logical next step? I believe not. You can’t always throw a training solution at an organisational or management deficiency. Let me tell you why.