How long have you worked in the travel industry?
It’ll be 22 years this summer. I started out in a customer-facing role, greeting holidaymakers and dealing with whatever queries, requests – and complaints – they had while on holiday. Those five years ‘on the ground’ really made me understand how much people look forward to their holidays, and how much trust they place in their chosen travel company to deliver on those expectations. Given how much is invested, not only financially, but also emotionally, in a holiday, it’s absolutely crucial to get things right for them.
We gather you’re a keen skier. What do you like to do in summer?
Besides skiing, I also love walking, which is just as well as I have a cocker spaniel who needs a lot of exercise! Austria is my favourite destination for skiing, and I tend to find myself drawn there in summer – I am a big fan of mountain scenery.
In the UK, obviously there’s plenty of great walking in Yorkshire, and the Peak District and Lake District aren’t that far away if I fancy a change of scenery. I’ve got a lot of family in Scotland, so I often head up there, too. I’m very familiar with the corner of
Fife that Inntravel’s newest Scottish holiday explores – it’s a beautiful stretch of coast.
Do you have any other interests?
In my day-to-day life, walking the dog fills up most of my free time, but on holiday I do like to indulge in a spot of wine tasting. I’ve visited some wonderful vineyards on my travels in Croatia, South Africa and Portugal.
Presumably you’ll be sampling some Inntravel holidays over the coming months. Which one(s) are you particularly keen to experience and why?
Yes, I’ll be making it a top priority to travel with colleagues from the Holiday Development Team to visit some of the most popular destinations and hotels, and to sample some of the walking routes, to get a really good idea of what Inntravel holidays are all about.
On a personal level, I fancied a
walking holiday in Norway at the end of the summer – in all my years of travelling, I’ve never been to Scandinavia – but I’m told that northern Norway, in particular, is best booked well in advance and that, to get the exact dates and itinerary I want, it would be better to go next year and to start planning soon. Instead, I’ll probably opt this year for a centre-based walking holiday in the Austrian Tyrol – either
Lake Achensee & its Mountains or
An Alpine Stroll. There’s nothing better than being high up in the mountains and looking down on the world below!