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As your Personal Travel Expert, I'm here to make planning your next holiday stress-free and easy. Whether you know exactly what you want or need some travel inspiration, I'll use my knowledge and expertise to create a bespoke holiday you’ll love. From the whole package to those finishing touches such as car hire and travel insurance, I've got you covered!
In this monthly video podcast we get to chat about how the travel concierge role works for you, why it is beneficial, and the various options that could be available to you for your holidays, honeymoons, stag/hen breaks, etc.
This is a www.visual-pr.co.uk production
00:00 Speaker: Welcome back to Doug Tanner, The Travel Concierge. It's episode three this time. Straight away, I've got to bring the main man himself in. It's Doug Tanner. Morning, Chris. How are you? I'm good, mate. Yourself? Yeah, good, thank you. Good, good. I can't believe it's episode three already. I know. I know. We're here. It's going crazy, crazy quick. You loved it, though, is that we were getting it going.
00:21 Speaker: and suddenly I threw some ideas at episodes, and you realised it was a list of about 100. Yes. So there's a lot more we can cover yet. Yeah, loads more. I love this one, Doug, I've got to be honest, because who doesn't like talking about holidays and potential and inspiration? That's right. Yeah, no, it's everyone's favourite subject, isn't it? Working can get in the way of holidays. I love that, where we talk about this, actually, where it's, I'm going to use your phrase,
00:52 Speaker: How many weeks are in a year again? 52. We work 50 weeks. We holiday two, just as an arbitrary figure. We deserve to put the effort into finding what's right for that fraction of the year. Absolutely. It's vital. Yeah. And wouldn't you? Anything you do, you want to do the best you can do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we spend more time searching than we do on holiday. Yeah.
01:15 Speaker: And I relate to that. That resonates with me hugely, which is where our conversation started. This one, though, is quite a cool one, I think. And one that we may even have another sort of version two of this later in the series. Top myths of using a travel agent. And it's kind of the bane of your life to some extent, isn't it? That people have these preconceived ideas. Why would I use a travel agent? Why would I bother? Yeah.
01:43 Speaker: So hopefully we'll have a look at that. We have. Well, I've got 10 here, but we'll see how many we get through. So let's belt in and go for it. Let's go quick straight into this one. Number one, travel agents are more expensive than booking online. So do you get what you want when you book online or do you get what's offered to you? So, you know, what I would do is when a customer comes to me and...
02:12 Speaker: wants to book a holiday what I'll then do is go yes that's fantastic what you found but have you considered this and actually it's no more money and what I'm doing there is I'm comparing what they've actually booked or not booked but but asked me to look at with what my brief is and part of my brief is to find out exactly what
02:34 Speaker: Floats your boat, if I can say about a cruise? Sorry. You did. Clang! Or does that hotel have the right beach for you? Or that sort of thing. So no, I don't think it's more expensive to come to us. What you'll get is the expertise to find out the best possible option for you. And then you get the best holiday. After all, we've just said you only get two weeks to go on holiday or whatever, four weeks, and you get two weeks away.
03:03 Speaker: You want the best thing. You want absolutely the best thing that you can find. And, you know, cutting it down to brass tacks, and I've learned this from working with you and I'm a client of yours as well, is that, no, I didn't pay.
03:18 Speaker: No. It's all, you know, behind, you know, it's within the system that you get your money from the travel company. Absolutely. And the whole point is I spend my time and their time effectively researching what you want. Okay. And then I will charge you the same as what you could book it for online. So it doesn't cost you anything. I get paid. I get paid by the travel company for organizing it all for you because they don't have to, because they don't have to come to you with the questions. So I can sort it out and they get less.
03:47 Speaker: as it were negative feedback because the holiday maker is getting what they want. So it works in all ways. It doesn't cost you any more. You get what you want and the tour company and everyone's happy. I think it's a human nature, isn't it, that we're kind of going, well, you've got to be getting paid somehow here. And so we assume.
04:09 Speaker: i'm i'm going to be paying the commission or or you know it's going to be a higher price because it's like no it just it just isn't it's the same price if like let's say for example we were able to go and go right now i'm going to create so it would be the same price yeah but i haven't had to put any of the work in It's a little bit like, I'm going to throw this at you as unprepared, but it's a bit like going insurance, getting insurance. You could probably go online and find insurance, but if you went to a broker, they often can get you a brilliant deal and it matches what you want because they'll ask you questions that the online systems don't. So therefore, you're getting better things. And I think that's the same for us in travel. We can get what suits you better.
04:53 Speaker: than what you just thought. Because there's only a limited option, but we're going to go into that. There is. Limited options. I nearly spoke as well about using my own example, but I know that there's one of the myths that actually goes into that more detail. So we've been very disciplined here, Doug. We are. We're trying to make sure that we're keeping it to the right piece. All right. Myth number two. Travel agents are outdated in the age of the internet. Wow. Obviously, the internet's fantastic.
05:21 Speaker: But it's swamping you with options. And what you want is, again, I go back to the fact that I will drill into what you want and what you actually want from your holiday and then come up with an option. And I'll probably come up with one option or possibly two. If you get more than two, it's confusing. And therefore... You going online, and I get it quite often. Actually, one of the comments I get quite often is people say, oh my goodness, that was so easy. You asked us what we wanted, you went away, you found it, and it's done. And I haven't had to spend hours searching online. So I think the internet's fantastic, but it almost overloads. And therefore...
06:02 Speaker: You think, oh, what about, what about, what about, what about? But actually, as I say, with my process, we can drill that down. And equally, I found if I suddenly go, what about, what about, and I try to step backwards in my search, it destroys the work that I've already done. Genuinely, you have to go too far back to add a new criteria to it. And the criteria is only there if it's a tick box. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? It might not be, my criteria might not actually be in there. I've also found that technology online is very, very clever.
06:30 Speaker: for better or for worse i.e is it beneficial to me or is it beneficial to them and i found that my wife could be on her phone or laptop or tablet i could be on mine do the same search there'll be a call that's the same results but there will be a few differences in it because it will pick up things that she's looked for in the past or something like that and it's like going so that's forcing us down a route to some extent oh yeah yeah whereas your angle is that it opens it up so
07:00 Speaker: I get why people sort of have this misconception that it's outdated, but it really isn't. The internet is a wonderful tool, but it's not the be-all and end-all, it's the expertise. Yeah, absolutely. And I've got so much resource that I can tap into. I don't know everything. So, you know, it'd be a fool to say I did. But I have the access to the tools and the people and the knowledge where it can literally drill down into the exact sort of things that you want. So, yeah, no, it's great.
07:32 Speaker: Definitely not outdated. Yep. So that busts that one as well. Travel agents only book traditional package holidays. That couldn't be further from the truth, frankly. That's right. Yeah. No, actually, what I really enjoy is the more bespoke thing. Happy to book package holidays. I was about to say, you almost have to prove the other way that says, yes, we can do that as well. Yeah. Because I've seen people go, yeah, but I don't want this, you know, piece, piece, piece, piece, piece. Yeah.
07:58 Speaker: You have to let them know that's fine. I can do the traditional packages as well But anybody who thinks that's all you do. It's like the absolute opposite. Yes. Yeah, and we can add in so much more value that you get to access and have on your holiday that you probably didn't you might not even think about yeah so it's the the packet holidays are great but we actually enjoy I enjoy putting stuff in and going to people like like you know going to going to Verona for a weekend I think we've discussed this before and oh by the way do you like the opera yes okay well we've got you and a seat in the open air amphitheater in Verona to to watch Carmen the opera
08:38 Speaker: Oh, right. Okay. Yeah, that's brilliant. What was the one you were telling me about? The after hours tour? Yes, of the catacombs in Rome. You blew my mind with that one. I'm like, whoa, hang on a minute. This is cool. And that's just one example of the additional bits and pieces that you could sort out as part of this. Yes, absolutely. Which means for me is that not only is that wrong to think it's just traditional because you can do traditional, you can do traditional...
09:07 Speaker: supercharged, like add things to it, or you can do a completely tailored. Completely. Oh, yeah. No, nothing better than to literally put, and that comes to light especially when you're doing multicenter. Yes. So, you know, we can do, well, obviously one of my favourite areas is Italy, so you can do your Verona, Venice, and Rome, or Venice, Rome, Naples, and putting those together.
09:34 Speaker: with the special things. We do everything. We do all the trains in between. We get all the flights out there. We can even go the whole way by train. We can just make it to suit your needs. A few people come to me. They don't want to fly. Absolutely fine. We'll get you down there by train. And then they stop over in Geneva on the way there. Paris, Geneva and Milan, that sort of stuff on the way down. So, yeah, it's great. And to put those together is great. I enjoy the challenge.
10:02 Speaker: let's be honest the package holiday was designed for convenience yes um and it's like going okay been there done it actually let's open up the results what we can have and it and like you say is it might be different suppliers different this different that different types it might be different accommodation types as well as locations and and it's been able to piece those things together but it's not me you know hence the convenience was there is that even with the age of the internet as you go
10:28 Speaker: oh blimey but where do i start looking where do i start and we're cynical so how do i now compare well you've got the the knowledge within the organization not just yourself but within the organization yeah that has that comparison there the the reviews there the honest reviews all of that and so it pieces together something brilliant yes i you know i should be getting commissioned for you i gotta be honest i'm i'm selling you i'm selling you um number four
10:54 Speaker: Travel agents limit your choices. I think we've been kind of touching on that already, haven't we? Yeah, yeah. I guess to position that one, to sort of take it deeper, in my opinion, where that myth comes from is that the, and the same with like insurance and things like that, is that we go, oh, right, as a broker, you have that to provide us. And, sorry, that to provide us. And the answer's not.
11:23 Speaker: no i have i think in excess of 200 uh places or companies that I can go to to book things. So, you know, yes, there's a core that I use for doing the main bulk of it, but for all the extras that we can put in and get something special and adapt the holiday to what you want, I've got a vast range of expertise that I can pull in to get you what you want. And it's all about getting what you want. It's no good just picking something off a supermarket shelf. It's having that something that makes your holiday.
11:58 Speaker: special and the point where you're saying getting what you want i love that you really um emphasize the inspiration point is that sometimes i don't know what i want no or i certainly didn't know i wanted that until you put that as an option in front of me it's like hang on yeah that's interesting you had a great example this morning we were both uh at a meeting this morning and one of our colleagues turned around said i want to do a city i like going cities yeah city break but i wanted to do more than one and you then said
12:28 Speaker: River cruise. River cruise, on a seven-day river cruise, you'll get five, perhaps six different cities that you can sample. You're only going to get a day there, but actually sometimes, I think he said he went to Brussels and after the first day, it's like, great. What do we do now? Absolutely. So you get a guided tour or a self-guided tour around the city and you can think, actually, yes, I really like that. I'll go back for a three or four day city stay. But the river cruises are fabulous for sampling at different places. You've got all the food on board. You only unpack once. I mean, this is a different subject altogether. Yes. So you unpack once and you've got access to so many different things. Even more popular.
13:06 Speaker: are the Christmas river cruises where you get to see three or four of the Christmas markets in Germany. I mean, there's nothing better. I think we're going to speak about that one. I like the sound of that. Yeah. So if you like a Christmas market, oh my goodness, you've got the choice of three and you're not having to park, you're not having to find a hotel, you're not having to do any of that. It's all... And the other part once is a big one that I was about to bring up is that I love going to cities.
13:34 Speaker: And my wife would really like us to do multi-centre plays. I just hate that whole idea of go in there, unpack, do however long it is, even if it's more than one day. Yeah. You then go, pack up, check out, go somewhere. And I'm like, no, that's not a holiday. I'm going to need a holiday to recover. Yeah. Whereas that whole nature that you're in the boat, but you're then seeing the cities, that sounds great. And I'll just throw it in. It's not just for old people. Do you know what? I was actually going to, I was trying to debate whether to ask that as a question because. Yeah, I know.
14:04 Speaker: I'm not yet. No. My wife's younger than me. Yeah. Here's a question for you though. I've got a 13-year-old daughter. Yes, that can be a challenge. Some of them are, a lot of them are adults only. A lot of them are adults only. Which is fine because it could be something that me and my wife go, don't stay with grandparents. Yes. They're not, 13 is probably not too bad because they can. She loves culture and all of that. So she'll soak all of that up. Yes. So there are cruises that will take.
14:30 Speaker: uh children uh but it's more limited on river cruises i'll be honest yes so uh but there is options definitely for for children they're not into kids clubs like the big cruise shops and that sort of stuff but there's um there are options how long would they typically be it's normally a seven day is it yeah yeah although you can do a five i think there's a five day but um we've gone off on a tangent we're going specific and we'll probably visit river cruises in in a future episode but i'm loving it as you can yeah yeah no problem at all so uh we went
15:00 Speaker: off that myth was that it limits your choices the answer is it most definitely doesn't is that it opens up and it listens to to what we want you're not you know in a bag uh which leads us on to the fifth one travel agents don't offer any real value i mean i think we've been emphasizing that point is that without question the the knowledge the take the work away the you know the open up the options available yeah that's it and then when you get on holiday
15:27 Speaker: Yes. If something happens, okay, who are you going to call? I won't say it. I'm trying not to. I'm trying not to. Literally, I am your advocate. I'll be there 24-7. Like it or not, for me, I'll be there 24-7. Basically, be a point of contact. Can you think of nothing worse than trying to get hold of a company that you booked through who don't work weekends? You know I had this problem. Yeah, you booked it online and there's nothing you can do. At least if I can't solve the problem, I'll explain that, but I'll work my...
16:08 Speaker: You know, but I'll be there and I have done it. I think we discussed in a previous thing how I helped a family who had a flight cancellation and it's like, what do I do? Right, phone Doug, phone me, phone your travel agent and...
16:29 Speaker: Let's get something sorted. Give me a solution, not a problem. You know, I tend to work with. And I do enjoy that. I might be quite sad, but I do enjoy that part of it because, again, that gives my value. And, you know, I don't want to be doing it too often, but at least I can step in. It's that peace of mind. Peace of mind. I don't intend to crash my car, but I've got car insurance to make sure it's not a problem if it happens. And, you know, I'm not comparing you to a car crash, obviously. Thank you. I'm comparing you to insurance.
16:59 Speaker: But, you know, that's why, you know, it's Doug Tanner, the travel concierge. I know this episode is actually about, you know, myths of travel agents because it's easier to sort of talk globally. Best known phrase, I think we said. I think we really. But the whole, taking it a step further, the travel concierge is exactly that. You are adding the value whilst on holiday, just before go, just when, you know, even if it's like just when we get back, there's been a problem, Doug. And?
17:28 Speaker: it doesn't cost you anything no it doesn't you just pick up the phone it costs you the phone call but you know that's it and stuff gets sorted um i had a recent one where the transfer didn't turn up at 1 30 in the morning OK, he had to make a phone call, which is a bit rubbish, but had to make a phone call. And the taxi turned up. It was only really an hour late, but, you know, it's not great. But if you had to go and get a flight, you're panicking. Yeah, but we've got them a £50 voucher for the next holiday. The company said, really sorry, it was only an hour late, you did get sorted, but here's a £50 voucher for the next time you book. So they wouldn't have...
18:04 Speaker: got that no just by doing anything any other way so that's where you know i think that we can uh really prove what we're worth even though we're not costing you anything no exactly and i think that's a good myth bust is it's a add value on the booking of the holiday the find in the right package or you know mixture of things there is whilst we're on holiday there's that great peace of mind that i mean that example i might say only an hour late i can put myself in that position i've got my family with me uh and we're supposed to be getting to somewhere an hour when you have no idea where that end point is feels like an eternity and is stressful and can undo the benefits of the holiday yeah
18:45 Speaker: Well, and also, I just want to say is that when I just quoted, I phoned him up while he was on holiday. It was only a three-day break. Oh, wow. I actually phoned him up on, how's it going? Oh, by the way, the transfer was like, right, I'll have a look at that for you. He hadn't complained. He just sort of took it on the chin. Okay. But he...
19:03 Speaker: Yeah, he then said, by the way, da-da-da-da, so I reported back, and the result is he's got a £50 venture from it. I love that. You're looking out for us. Yeah, he didn't even ask. You heard that. Roll the sleeves up. Big Doug's on the case. Well, if I can do it, it's great. It's quite nice when you can turn up on something that's a positive, and he's really grateful. And it just...
19:24 Speaker: How can you say it diffuses the anger or whatever? It takes it away from us as well, the need to do it. And that's a big deal. I mean, I know we keep mentioning it, my experience at Birmingham Airport last year. Nothing to do with Birmingham Airport, but to do with the travel company I was with. And it was horrible.
19:44 Speaker: You know, I've got my wife and daughter getting upset that this holiday did transpire after two days at the airport. The holiday then was just cancelled as though it was unimportant. Yeah. What? Yeah. And, you know, I had no way of speaking to anybody. So to have that peace of mind, you know, who are you going to call? Who are you going to call? Doug Tanner. I have to get that in a rhyme. Yeah, exactly. Number six, travel agents. This is brilliant. Travel agents are difficult to reach and work with. I have to pick up the phone. It's a challenge. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It is. You've already used the example. It is.
20:24 Speaker: All hours, there's no limit. It is, yeah. Because, I mean, obviously, I've got people in America five hours behind. I've got people in Thailand, you know, however many hours ahead. I'm not going to get misquoted on that. So many hours ahead. And, you know, if they want something, they'll phone and we'll do what we can to sort it. So, yeah, I think that's an interesting one. Obviously, some other agents don't work hours. They work shop hours. But I don't. So we're here 24-7.
20:52 Speaker: No, exactly. And that's where I think the whole not just travel thing is important with yourselves. Number seven, anyone can plan a trip as well as a travel agent. Discuss. Discuss. Yeah, yeah. I think in certain aspects they can. But it's always, I think it's that thing of coming back, it's not costing you any more.
21:17 Speaker: If you've gone to a travel agent, you get a lot more in terms of like, have you got your visas for going to America? I didn't know I needed them. I remember you having that example, didn't you? Yeah. Have you, you know, somebody went to Australia, they got to the airport, they hadn't booked it through me. And there was a whole story about not getting the, they got it within an hour of the flight taking off. So yes, you can plan it.
21:41 Speaker: But actually, how many times would you want something just checked out, you know, so that if I plan it for you, then you can discuss it and work about it, work on it. But yeah, I think it's, I think the very simple trips, of course, you can go on and plan your flight, your hotel, your flight sort of thing. But anything else, I think then, I think you need some help to just get it right, you know, get all the dots joined up.
22:10 Speaker: I was just trying to remember, was that the myth where you used the phrase earlier when we were chatting about it, if someone just wants a flop and drop? Fly and flop. Fly and flop, sorry. Fly and flop. You fly in, you flop on the beach, and you fly home again. Yeah, so fine. Absolutely fine. There's a definite, everyone knows there's a definite mark for that, but I'm feeling near nowadays, people want more than that. Yes. They'll sit on the beach for a day. And I'm in this mould, is that we've done that for several years now, and I actually came back from last year's holiday.
22:39 Speaker: beautiful place wonderfully relaxing and i but i came back and went i don't feel satisfied no and it was i wanted to do a little bit more yeah but i wasn't sure i didn't know what i don't know and i still don't necessarily know what that is no but i kind of now i'm i don't know whether it's an age thing or something that it's like kind of go do you know what i want to come back and go i haven't just fly and flop i want that
23:06 Speaker: but i want to go and do things so what's a holiday about i'll ask you what what do you go on holiday for i'm turning it back at you now yeah no and i i guess historically i'd have always answered i just want to switch off i just want to do nothing but i'm possibly starting to get into the realms now where i do want a degree of that but i want to escape
23:29 Speaker: And that escape could be enriching, you know, seeing some things. I mean, hence you mentioned about that tour of the catacombs and I'm like, oh my gosh, I need to go and do that. And what would that create? Memories. Yeah. Okay. And that's what it's all about. I think we can buy whatever.
23:48 Speaker: goods we want, but actually life, I think, is about memories. Getting a bit deep, but, you know. I'm going to well up in a minute. But, you know, it is. It's about, if you ask your kids what they enjoyed most, what to be doing in 2020 or something, it's going to be the memories that you've made doing whatever you do, whether it's on holiday or whatever you want. But the holiday will be probably the most focused time when you make your best memories.
24:15 Speaker: you know that's where we want to sort of bring more into it so yes anyone can plan the trip i think we can do it better and i think at the end of the day you're going to get the people that just want to fly and flop hey do you know what they probably could go and do it online you you still are able to do that and throw up more options than they would see which is something we'll see in a minute um and there are those people that take great delight in going i'm going to find
24:43 Speaker: More than one hotel in different locations. I'm going to create the travel. And they almost have that challenge mentality. You know, they're the people that do puzzle books and stuff like that. And that's fine. They're not your marketplace because they're choosing to go and put that effort in. And that's what for me sounds stressful and dead ends and no protection and yada, yada, yada. Whereas you are able to kind of come and do that for the people that kind of go, I don't quite know.
25:12 Speaker: So you've touched on something really good there that people can go off and select different hotels. What if you get to the hotel and it's closed? Whereas we would put everything, even multi-center and multi-pool trips holiday into a package. And under the package travel regulations, if part of the package fails, the whole package fails and we will work with you to get your money back. And that's where...
25:40 Speaker: our big benefit is we package stuff. And we work with tour operators who can, it might be a bespoke trip, as you say, this hotel, that hotel, this trip, this car hire, whatever. And that's all part of the package. So if an element fails, then you have a recourse. So a sort of recourse. But if you've done it all individually, it's for you to sort out. Which means you kind of turn that multifaceted element.
26:07 Speaker: back into a package holiday. So if you're going, right, I don't want a package holiday. That lassoes me and forces me down their route. I want this variation. It's like, that's fine, but we'll turn that into a package holiday, despite it being the multi-elements. The word package has multiple connotations. So your package can be a simple fly and flop, or we can put together a detailed itinerary, and it's still what's called a package. Yeah, exactly. I like that. My travel agents are unnecessary for simple trips.
26:37 Speaker: I'm going to first off argue that point on your behalf, actually, is that I've had examples with you where I've kind of, I was looking online initially, and this is when I then reached out because I got frustrated. I'm there kind of going, I've got, I said, 13-year-old daughter. It's that awkward in-between age for her, bless her, where she's not a kid, but she's not an adult yet. I need something that's going to do, you know.
27:01 Speaker: give her things to do on the resort, nearby, extended activities, whatever, whatever, whatever. And you're able to throw up holidays that might not have been on that travel company's website because they've not linked to it. Yeah, that's right. You find out what we're looking for and you go, leave it with me. Yes. Yeah. So even in simple trips, where I come to is different members of the family traveling. So two grown-up sisters, two elderly, but adult sisters. Yeah.
27:31 Speaker: I can make the choices for them. So why don't you go to, you give me the, you want this sort of hotel, you want this sort of hotel. What about this hotel? And they can then blame me if it's, not blame me, but they can say, no, actually, I don't like that one. Whereas they possibly wouldn't say it to each other. Yeah, all right then. Yeah, that's fine. I'll put up with that. But I can be the point of contact where they go, oh, he's given us this, but this isn't any good. Fine. I'll go and find another one. So the simple trips.
27:58 Speaker: are great. But yeah, I can just add that little bit of extra to it. And again, offer an excursion or a trip that you may not have thought about in where you're going in your destination. No, exactly. I like that. Number nine, travel agents' recommendations are solely based on commission. Well, it's easy to think that. But you know what? I would prefer I have customers for life.
28:25 Speaker: So I would want to make sure that I get absolutely the right thing for you. And so I swing that round. I can book low-value holidays where I don't earn very much commission at all. But the aim there is to retain you as a customer so that when you come to your 10-year anniversary or whatever, or whatever it is you want to do that's something a bit more special, then you'll come to me and we'll book it. It's built on the service.
28:55 Speaker: The commission is partly secondary, but I know it's a business, I would have to make a living, so therefore I make commission. But I think it's all about building a relationship. It's about relationship building. I want to have a relationship with my customers where they will think, oh yeah, okay, and they'll recommend and refer me. What I really want to develop and I really like is for my customers to recommend me to their friends and family. Recommend and return. Recommend and refer and return. It's the 80-20, isn't it? And that's the key thing. And I get that and I can testify to that because I know that a holiday for this year.
29:34 Speaker: really didn't do you many benefits but you didn't care it was all about the holiday itself and that's what i'm even here and it proves the point is i'm saying that no my my dad taught me about the inverted triangle um is that if you put i we so it's now up to two letters and you y-o-u is that it's it's a triangle turn it upside down the priority is on you right then it can be on we that says right are we happy that's going the very last thing is i
30:03 Speaker: right and so taking from your perspective your last consideration is is about yourself um it is about what the customer wants and so no that myth we can go debunked 100 final one we did make it to 10 i'm amazed and with the last one that we're going to wrap up on i like this one
30:23 Speaker: travel agents are a dying profession. I mean, that kind of crosses into the one we did earlier about the internet, outdated in the age of the internet. But in a more generic way, they're a dying profession. To some extent, there are less people doing it because they wrongly went, oh, everyone's going internet. But it is not a dying profession having its place. No, that's right.
30:50 Speaker: I think we've explained this through this session that if you really want something that you're going to remember and build memories on, then we can curate that. We can make that happen. Holidays are either very simple, it can be very simple, and they can be as complicated as you like. But it's a case of, I think we can build our...
31:18 Speaker: loyalty base and things like that on the fact of actually we do quite a good job and the cost is going to be more than if you try to do it yourself. So why not use a travel agent? It's a case of rounding up everything that we've talked about.
31:39 Speaker: It's a case of we're still here and we're still able to provide a service that's valuable. And it's great fun. And it's quite good sometimes to hand over the responsibility of booking something to someone else. Hopefully you'll get a much better proposition. Yeah, no, I think it's very valid. And the other reason that came to mind just then as you were speaking is that one of the other reasons why...
32:03 Speaker: I don't know whether not just travel have given it a resurgence for this, is that the way that the model works is it's not about putting people in bricks and mortar, i.e. you guys, which then has an expense to it that has to be covered, etc. It's like, no, no, no, this is actually you guys are consultants, your concierges, all of that sort of stuff. There is no bricks and mortar for an office block of multiple people. So this is why.
32:33 Speaker: it's lean it's deliberately lean and the focus is on getting the right packages for people so what may have sort of had a a bit of a downturn as a profession because the world changed It's been found a way to pick it back up again because the benefits and the needs are most definitely there to get everything that we've been talking about in today's episode. Yeah. You know, I think you can get the best holiday and we all want the best holiday we can have. And I think you can get the best options through using someone like yourself. The world's massive. And, you know, there are places that I've not even considered going to that the inspiration could come. There are places I've considered but have gone.
33:11 Speaker: no idea where i would go what i would do because i just don't know the country well enough there are places that i might be going oh that looks nice but and i could be wrong and you know with the assistance of being put into a safe environment that goes go and experience that country yeah go and experience that area those natural wonders whatever it might be yeah is that that's where we get the the variation yeah we could carry on talking about this for hours but we have managed to bust
33:40 Speaker: 10 myths there, as we intended. Thank you so much for joining us. How do we get hold of you? We'll have the web address on one of these corners, but how do they get hold of you? Basically, online with dougtanner.notjusttravel.com. That's the website. Email doug.tanner at notjusttravel.com. And things like Facebook at DougTannerNJT.
34:07 Speaker: so she's uh quite simple yeah the facebook's a big one because that's where we'll see a lot of the oh which reminds me i nearly forgot to go to this to wrap this episode yes yeah i did nearly forget and you you'd grab me because what we do is as part of this and this is why facebook is a brilliant uh place for you because you're able to put these is that a number of inspirational packages are put up there yeah and i said right every episode i want a sample package that we bring up yeah what have we got this time
34:35 Speaker: This looks incredible. I know. India, tigers and the Taj Mahal. I mean, who hasn't got that on their dream list? So as it reads, discover the North's golden triangle, hold your breath and feel the goosebumps rise as the sun slowly sets behind the Taj Mahal. Keep a watchful eye for the elusive tigers at the Rathmore.
34:54 Speaker: Rathambore, I think, National Park. So, again, you've got it all there sorted for you. Flights from Heathrow, 11 days. You've got trips out, organised rickshaw ride through the deli. You've got a tour of Agra within this India City of Love. You've got the Jaipur's Palace of the Winds. You've got a dinner with the local family, which, again, you couldn't really organise yourself. You stay in cottages up in some part of India. Enjoy a camel cart ride and an Indian cookery demonstration.
35:24 Speaker: Wow. Yeah. And you've got all the transfers in between. It's, you know, it's part of a group tour. But actually, you know what? You can experience so much. And these people put this together and it's just all curated and sorted for you. And that's what I love. And I mean, it is still able to go mainstream because this is Flights with Virgin Atlantic, well-known company. So we're safe there. 11 days, four and five star hotels, 12 included excursions. And you listed through some of them there. Incredible. 22 meals.
35:54 Speaker: It can go as well from Heathrow and go Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle. I mean, I just noticed one of the points here. Free Wi-Fi and bottled water is available every day on board the coach journeys. Yes. So they think of that. You know, they think you're going to be in hot country. You know, you want to be in Wi-Fi. You want to be telling people about where you are and you've got bottled water. And that is 25, 26 and 20, 27 dates available on that. And it is, I think you used it even this time as well, curating. Yes.
36:23 Speaker: This package sums it up brilliantly. Yeah. You're doing something. You're not just sat and getting to India and going, what do I do? It's all done for you. Best advice then is to reach out to you. They don't need to come to you with preconceived ideas, although they can do. Absolutely. So either or. And just have that conversation and start exploring. Oh, gosh. There's so much out there. It's a fabulous world to visit. And there's so many options that you probably didn't even know about.
36:49 Speaker: If you've got any questions that might come up as well that you think would be, A, you've got the question yourself, please drop it through. And it may be something we do in a future episode to really bring this more to light. But please do reach out and speak to Doug, as you've seen. The scope is endless in reality, only limited by your own imagination. And Doug makes sure that that broadens even further than you ever thought possible. So from myself, Chris Dawes.
37:16 Speaker: Doug Tanner. Thank you, Chris. Thank you very much for today, sir. And we'll see you back here on episode four.