Well,no prizes for guessing how April 2010 will be remembered.The eruption of the Icelandic volcano(no,I’m not going to spell it!) caused the greatest disruption to travel plans that Europe has seen in a generation.Hundreds of thousands of bemused and weary travellers were either left stranded in foreign lands or prevented from travelling abroad on business or pleasure in the first place.The repercussions have been,and will continue to be enormous,not least whether the restrictions imposed by NATS in the first place were too severe.Airlines and insurers are now faced with bills running into billions of pounds,and,like it or not,ultimately we will all end up paying for the chaos.
Of course many of our clients were innocent victims of the Volcano.We had passengers stranded in India,Tenerife,Florida and Dubai.We also had to work quickly to change the date of a Caribbean Wedding which fell prey to the Ash cloud and also to rebook the deserved holiday of some troops from the Signals Regiment who had just returned from Afghanistan.Amazingly,considering the disruption and disappointment for all those affected,everyone remained calm and philosophical,and it certainly made the jobs of our staff much easier in the face of these unique circumstances!!
April will also be remembered as we at Ocky White Travel bade a fond farewell to Shan.Shan had been with us for more than twelve years(over two spells)and will be genuinely missed by her colleagues and clients,many of whom became her good friends.Shan has moved away from the area,to Barry,and is now working at Cardiff Airport,so you may well bump into her up there.Anyway,Good luck Shan!
On the positive side,we are delighted to welcome Christine back to work after her op back in February.
Well,I suppose we are now officially into Spring,even if the weather is determined to show otherwise!I think this year March came in like a lion,and went out like one too!
Anyway,the rotten weather has certainly been good for business and we have been exceptionally busy.Victoria has settled in quickly and is showing what a great asset she will be to our team.Kevin is a lucky young man!He has won himself a mini cruise on the inaugural voyage in June of the latest Norwegian Cruise Line ship,Norwegian Epic.
We were honoured and delighted this week to be able to confirm bookings for some of the locally based troops,the 14th Signals Regiment,who have just returned from a long and draining tour of Afghanistan.If anyone ever deserved a well earned holiday,it’s these guys!!Well done and thank you!
We are delighted to say that we have a new member of staff today.Victoria Langdon has joined our team having gained many years of valuable experience in the travel industry at one of the major multiples.Victoria also spent time working for Princess Cruise Lines,so she has quickly been installed as our “Cruise Specialist!”
Victoria also has great experience in handling group bookings of all sizes,so,if you are thinking of getting your family,friends,work colleagues or stag/hen party together for a holiday,please get in touch with Victoria!!
Well,what a start to 2010!I may be wrong but I can’t remember such a prolonged period of cold weather such as the one that heralded the New Year and is forecast to still be with us for the next two weeks.It is causing widespread disruption and chaos throughout the UK,and in particular with the travel arrangements of thousands.We are busy everyday dealing with concerns and enquiries from anxious travellers,and apologies to you if at times it has been difficult to contact us.So far,we have managed to get some staff into the office everyday.Kevin has put his skiing experience to good use by safely negotiating his way in from Fishguard.Poor Shan is the unlucky one-she lives within walking distance so she has no excuses.Eleri is snowbound in the country,hopefully we’ll see her again in May or June!
Anyway,the point is that barring extreme conditions,there will always be someone in to help and advise you,and you can’t always say that about the online companies!!
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS!
We would just like to take this opportunity to wish you all a fabulous,peaceful and relaxing Cristmas!We hope to see you all early in the New Year to plan your well deserved Summer Hols!!!
Just had some fantastic deals emailed by one of our major ski operators.If you are thinking of getting away for Christmas or the New Year,check these out!!!
DEC 19th Val D’Isere Chalet 7nts £469.00 pp
DEC 20th St. Anton Chalet 7nts £419.00 pp
DEC 26th Tignes Chalet 7nts £679.00pp
There are lots more offers too for other dates/destinations!!
I am delighted to say that the final total raised for Children in Need stands at a WHOPPING £477.50!!!!!
As well as the offer from Ocky White Travel,other members of staff in the shop pitched in too and all helped to swell the funds.Special mention must go to Noel Robinson,our maintenance man.Noel finally agreed,under intense pressure,to shave off his trademark moustache.This was a big decision for Noel,bearing in mind that he had had the moustache for 36 years,and even his wife had never seen him without it!!Special thanks too to Gareth and the rest of the team from Radio Pembrokeshire for their excellent coverage of the day’s fun and games.Last,but not least a big thank you to all those customers who booked their holidays over the weekend and have therefore contributed to such a worthy cause!!!
Two bits of grim travel related news have surfaced today.Firstly,i’ve just read a report by the Office of National Statisics that says visits abroad by UK travellers slumped by a massive 14% in the year to September!Wow,that’s a huge number of people staying at home completely or reducing the number of foreign trips they are making.Barely a day goes by without one airline or another warning of a huge drop in profits or the need for capital investment to see it through the next few months.Of course,it’s not just the airlines that are suffering.The second bit of bad news today was the fact that tour operator Holiday Options has gone into administration.Holiday Options was a relatively small independent niche operator,with an excellent programme to Croatia,Cape Verde and the Azores.From an agent’s point of view,it’s a great shame to see these smaller companies fail.
Enough of the doom and gloom.With 9 trading days to go in November,we are on course to record our BEST EVER November sales figures!This will be a remarkable feat given the economic situation,but is a glowing testament to the level of expertise and help from all the sales consultants-Well done!!
Christine came into work today and announced that she had been thinking about what to do for Children in Need.Immediately fearing the worst,I told her it was a waste of time holding me as a hostage as no one would pay the ransom anyway!Luckily,she had a far more sensible idea.We have decided that for every holiday booking that we make between Thursday and next Tuesday,Ocky White Travel will donate £25 to Pudsey Bear.If you are thinking about your next holiday at this moment,why not pop in and see us in the next few days and contribute to a very,very worthwhile cause.
