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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: Greetings. Welcome to Doug Tanner, the travel concierge, episode one of this new series. And it's kind of self-explanatory what we're going to be doing here. This is a person that helps our dreams come true. And I have personal experience from this as well. He's absolutely brilliant. But not a lot of people understand what it all is and why we would necessarily go that way. So this series is to bring that to life. It goes without saying...
00:26 Speaker: The main person I'm going to be speaking to in these episodes is Doug Tanner himself. Doug Tanner, greetings, mate. Morning, Chris. How are you? I'm good, thank you. I'm good. I know you're nervous this first one. We'll relax into this one, especially when it's something as amazing as holidays. And I'm going to ask a couple of obvious questions to start with. This is Doug Tanner from Not Just Travel. Yes. Who are Not Just Travel?
00:54 Speaker: Not Just Travel is an exciting franchise, basically. Part of the Hayes Group. But what that means is I'm a... single person, single businessman, but I have the backing of the Hayes Group. They're Not Just Travel started a few years ago by some two great guys, Steve and Paul. They had a vision and they've made this vision grow. And as I said, they've managed to encourage 600, obviously, people in the order, which are growing all the time, to become personal travel consultants, concierges, and with a dream to help people go on holiday and find the best deal.
01:32 Speaker: and the best possible thing that they can do on holiday. And it is access. You've got access to everything, haven't you? We have access to so many things. A lot of people book holidays themselves online. That's absolutely possible. Over 60% of what we sell, you couldn't even find online. So, you know, we can actually access special things, special... I don't like the word deals. I want to put value and I want to put things together that people can't do themselves rather than...
01:59 Speaker: You know, the straightforward stuff is absolutely fine, but we can go the extra mile. And that's an important thing that I understood from this is that, yes, we've got the straightforward things and it can add a whole lot more to it. And we're going to come on to what is a travel concierge in a minute. It can find things that we couldn't find and piece together as a sort of like an ultimate vacation. But it can also be for some people that maybe they could.
02:27 Speaker: but they're going here for that and here for that and here for that. You are that sort of like that anchor point that goes and does all of that and goes, well, you've told me you're looking for this and et cetera, et cetera. But it's like access to so many suppliers and countries and everything. So one of the questions or one of the statements I make when I talk to people is the first question I ask is what do you want from the holiday?
02:52 Speaker: starts everything off. And then they get to thinking what they want. And again, what I often use is a common phrase, how long do you spend usually searching for your holiday? Because people spend more time searching for holiday than they spend on holiday. And we do all that. And the best bit about it is it wouldn't cost you any more if you came to me and did that. And if you wonder how I get paid...
03:17 Speaker: I get paid by the companies that I work with to book the holidays for. I take their time and use it as my time to find out what they want. And I go to them, book this, please. And that's what we do. So, yeah, if you want to save yourselves time, save yourselves the stress of trying to convince your family that you want to go on holiday and where you want to go. We can do all that for you at no extra cost. That's the part that blew my mind initially, because I remember when we first met at a business event.
03:46 Speaker: And my head just automatically assumed, yeah, but I would then, my holiday would cost more because I've got to pay you something to do it. And it's like, no, no, no, it isn't. You're kind of, you know, and everyone kind of goes, yeah, but how do you get paid? It's like, as you said, from the holiday people that you're helping bring this thing together. From my side, it's then, because we've just recently done it, quite a boring one this time. It doesn't have to be extravagant, does it? I know you prefer it when it's get your teeth into it. But...
04:15 Speaker: I was. My wife and I were just back and forth. And yes, the internet is great, but you know you're starting to be fed down the line they want you to go down. And then you go, oh, I think I've got one. Oh, actually, no, that doesn't work. And then let's go back and restart the search all over again. Whereas I turned to you and said, Doug, I'm fed up.
04:38 Speaker: This is what I want. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. I've got a teenage daughter that wants to be able to enjoy. Da, da, da, da, da. My wife and I want this. And I mean, within hours, and that was only because you weren't at your desk at that point, and you kind of went, right, Chris, here's one. And I was like, I never thought of that country, let alone that resort. And that's where you bring that piece together. Yeah.
05:01 Speaker: yeah now it's and uh i was gonna say something then i can't it will come back um before because i we are going to go into more detail of the travel concierge but quickly on the company not just travel um and and you did touch on it it's backed by hayes travel and yeah i didn't even know that initially and that's like I mean, that's a national treasure of a company. People don't know who Hayes are. You know, previously run by John and Irene Hayes. Poor John has passed away. Irene, to me, is a icon of the travel industry. They're the largest UK independent travel agency, I believe. And therefore, you will get a booking with the Hayes reference. So, you know, actually that means I've got them behind me. It's a piece of mind, isn't it? It's a piece of mind. 100%. A big company, you know, very ethical, I believe. And, yeah, they're good to work with.
05:49 Speaker: Right. So, and we have been touching on this already, but let's get into the nuts and bolts of what a travel concierge slash travel agent, independent traveler, whatever we want to call it. I love the concierge bit. Yeah, yeah. Because I know we've just talked about the booking of a holiday, so let's focus on that for a second. Yes, I've turned and given an example that says, Doug, I want this. And you're able to take that and go and find things. But where you really come into your own is,
06:19 Speaker: When you go and piece bits and pieces together or when you go off the beaten track, I mean, cruises I know you're big on. Yeah. But you had an example where it's like, what was the country? Was it Colombia? Oh, Colombia. Yeah. A Colombian river cruise. Yeah. She'd done every other cruise available. Yeah. And you went, have you done that? And she went, no, I haven't. Yeah. Down the Magdalena in Colombia. But the lady also wants to then go off and do a jungle adventure.
06:47 Speaker: So we're going to piece that together as well. Yes. And make it all, you know, it's a seven-day cruise. Oh, that's a bit quick to go to Columbia. Let's make it longer. So can I go and do, you know, a jungle expedition? So, yeah, so we're putting that together as well. And I love that. And you piece these together. Or it could be multi-center. Yes. Whether that's multiple countries. I know Italy is another big one for you. Yeah. And that could be multiple different experiences, locations. Yeah.
07:17 Speaker: And you piece that together. And even then, people say, I don't want to fly. Fine, we'll get you to train. I can put a train. I actually did a mother and daughter wanted to go to Sicily. The daughter didn't want to fly. We put a train series all the way through with stopping in Geneva and Milan, in the hotels, all booked and everything. So we put it all together for them. Something that would be a challenge to do on your own.
07:39 Speaker: But no, that's the beauty. I love doing those. And I'd probably say it now. I go on holiday in my head with them as well. I love looking at all the countries. I love my maps. And yeah, it's great. I actually go. And I'll get in touch with you on your holiday. How's it going? I want to know how you are so that if you've got any issues.
08:00 Speaker: Pretty much people don't. But, you know, if you've got any issues, we can sort them out. If you get to the hotel. Or questions. Questions, that sort of stuff. Yeah. I do love that. The other thing I was just going to say, you know, Travel Concierge is there on the end of the phone pretty much 24-7. Look at today. Here we are, 21st of March, 2025. Heathrow is closed. There's going to be a lot of travel agents, concierges getting phone calls. What do I do? And we can't necessarily...
08:26 Speaker: offer an instant solution but we will work really hard again for no charge to actually not do anything to sort it out for you including if they're trying to get back so they're in a different country yeah yeah That's a bigger one, isn't it? There's going to be a lot of travel agents and consultants actually being consulted at the moment. What do I do? And we're there to help. And it's actually not being funny. We might not come with a solution, but we'll actually be a point of contact where we can just pull pieces together and try and get things sorted so that it's not quite so bad as it might look. And I have to say, and I'm not going to name names because I don't need to get into that, but you know that I had a terrible experience last year.
09:06 Speaker: when my wife and I and my then 12-year-old daughter, we were going from Birmingham Airport to, where were we going? Cape Verde, I think it was. And we ended up spending two days at Birmingham Airport. You hadn't booked this with me, had you, though? No, no, no. Sorry, I aced into it. I hadn't. The reason why I bring it up is that, well, twofold. One, you were amazing to help us out, so we got on a holiday afterwards.
09:35 Speaker: But the big one was that I saw the difference is that we had nobody we could speak to at all. And I'll tell you an example I had is that the very first night, so we were in the airport the whole day. It was an early morning flight. We checked in the night before, stayed in a hotel at the airport early. And it was delayed by a few hours. You kind of go, no, that's a bummer. But OK, bars open. That's fine. And then it became longer. And then it was longer. It was the whole day. And then suddenly we're not going until tomorrow. So they bused us back to a hotel. We did not sleep that night because we got no answers from the main travel company.
10:14 Speaker: of even what was happening next day, what time, what time are we being picked up? So you're on edge the whole night thinking, I don't want to miss the bus back to the airport that they're putting on because we're asleep. And then do you know what? They gave us 20 minutes notice to be down in the lobby to then get the bus back, to then go through the check-in. And sadly, we spent another day in the airport and then they'd been the holiday altogether, which was, but we had nobody we could speak to.
10:41 Speaker: You do when we come through you. I'm going to counter that with a story of a family who went to Innsbruck last year. And they had to stop in Vienna. The flight stopped in Vienna to get the flight to Innsbruck. They got to Vienna. The flight to Innsbruck was cancelled. So they were then given a ticket and they were in a queue of 150 people to get them to sort themselves out. They rang me. While they were in the queue, I got on the phone to the tour operator.
11:10 Speaker: Got them booked onto the flight the following morning to go from Vienna to Innsbruck. And basically, they were booked on the flight with seats secured before they got to the end of the queue. When they got to the end of the queue, that flight was full. So they couldn't do anything. So before they even got to the end of the queue to be sorted out by the people in the airport, we'd actually sorted it out for them. And they went to a hotel.
11:34 Speaker: Got the flight and they had lost a holiday out of the thing, but they just rang me and we sorted it. And they relaxed. Relaxed. They know what's happening. Fine. Okay. We've got a night at a different hotel. Yeah. Because it's the unknown more than anything, isn't it? Yeah. That's right. Yeah. We all say, yeah, it'll be fine. It'll be fine. But what happens if nobody predicted Heathrow was going to shut today? No. So it's like...
11:54 Speaker: Right, good. What do we do? And that's not just today. That's going to be knock-ons for the next several days. Yeah, all the airports around the UK are going to be affected with extra flights and coaches and all that sort of stuff to sort it out. So it's going to be quite a challenge. So that peace of mind, that support, that person on the end of a phone, WhatsApp, email, whatever it happens to be, is just second to none in terms of the holiday. So we've now covered that we can piece together.
12:22 Speaker: whatever on earth that holiday wants to look like. And in fact, as I found, you come up with ideas that we probably wouldn't have even thought of because the inspiration's there. And I love the key word that I always go to with you is inspiration. Yeah. I love it. I love inspiring people. I love giving people that spark and go, oh, right, yeah, I couldn't do that. I didn't know about that. Because we spend a good chunk of money.
12:47 Speaker: for a tiny period of a year, that needs to be special. That's when work's left behind, we get away. What's your holiday about? What do you go on holiday for? And that varies, doesn't it? Yeah. Do I want to do nothing? Do I want to go and see things? The main thing to me is it's memories. Yes. It's actually a memory. You'll probably remember that Birmingham airport issue for the wrong reasons. But, you know, holidays, you get so few holidays a year that actually it's building memories with the family.
13:16 Speaker: that will take you for years to recollect and things. So that's why I think it's important to get the right holiday sorted for you, the right travel arrangements, and even all the little extras, all the little extras that we can sort out. And little extras could be as big as actually the excursions and the things that we do on it, but equally it could be, excuse me, parking, around, airport.
13:45 Speaker: excuse me airport lounge yeah all that sort of thing you know we're putting a honeymoon package together for a couple uh and part of the package is they get a dinner on the beach You know, and we can sort of include all that in the packages, that sort of stuff. So, you know, they get the bottle of champagne in the room. They get a dinner on the beach one night. They get, you know, fresh fruit in the room and they get flowers on the bed and all this sort of stuff. Because we're too British to ask for those things, aren't we? Whereas you're asking on our behalf. That's OK. Yeah, yeah. And it's a surprise, you know. I like that. And equally is that, as I understand it,
14:24 Speaker: what do we call them, package holidays, you're paying, I'm going to use the word premium, for the convenience of everything being all together. Okay, everything I sell is a package. Okay, so however we put it together, even if we do a three centre holiday by train to Rome, so Venice, Rome and Naples, it's a package.
14:48 Speaker: So if any part of that package fails, okay, the element, so I've got a story about a package, soft COVID. Okay, lady booked, lady booked with me a package where she was flying to Shanghai. In Shanghai, she was going to meet her brother. And she had some time on her own, which, you know, we didn't get involved in. Then she went to see the Chinese Grand Prix. OK, so then one night in a hotel. OK, and then was a one hour flight to Vietnam to stay at Phu Quoc for a week and then fly back from Vietnam. OK, the one hour flight from China to Vietnam got cancelled. They couldn't find an alternative. The whole package failed. OK, she got all the money back. And now we just sorted all that out for her.
15:36 Speaker: Wow. So that was actually the start of COVID, which is why Shanghai got her thing. Yes. So the one element, the one hour flight from China to Vietnam, which they could not instigate or replace or anything like that, meant the package, as it were, fell apart. She didn't go, but she got the whole money, all the money refunded. But what I mean by this is that, yes, you provide, but you're piecing together this package. When I go...
16:04 Speaker: on the internet and book a package holiday it's kind of it's there and everything's in and we pay a premium for it whereas what we're talking about here is that you're the concierge that goes okay it could be flights there it could be that center that center the grand prix the this the that the other yeah it gets still comes to me as a package but it's that that's you do the legwork yes
16:27 Speaker: And it invariably is that we try and get a package, then we settle for this circular peg in a square hole. It will still go, but there'll be little gaps that were quite what I wanted. This is about making it what we want. Yeah, absolutely. And so people would come to you, hopefully people will watch this and kind of get an idea of the, okay, I like the sound of this, but what do I do? It will be, have a conversation with you. You've already said what your first question is.
16:55 Speaker: What do you want from this holiday? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. What do you want from the holiday? Budget does play a part, you know. How do you deal with that? Because I know you and I have had this conversation. Yeah. And what I think my budget is, is either I have no idea. Yeah. Or I'm going, oh, it might be this much. Yes. But invariably, you could turn around and find something that's just a little bit over. And I go, do you know what? That was what I went.
17:21 Speaker: That's my budget. Yes, I know. That's the problem. People don't want to tell me what their budget is. That's one of the big issues, which I quite get, because they think they're going to get ripped off. I had not thought of that. Yeah, they think they're going to, oh, I'll say it's, I don't know, 4K, and it'll come back at 6. And I try absolutely not. I will give you, I will bring something to you. I will try my very best to bring something to you in your budget. But then I might say, well, for this extra, you can do this.
17:50 Speaker: So it's an option rather than being led down. And it's a hard one because people don't necessarily want to divulge how much they want to spend. Or no, my biggest one was I wasn't there kind of going, I don't know because it's months away yet. The phrase again I use is you don't know what you've got to spend to get what you want. Exactly. But then again, I go back to them with a quote for 10K, which is fair enough. So there is a budget. Let's work to what your budget is. So whilst it's...
18:22 Speaker: a difficult one to say i don't have a budget um most people usually do and it's just fine let's get an idea but actually i can i can do this in budget but for this we would you consider this if you wanted it would this be of interest that sort of stuff and it is you have to think outside the box i know for what we've did done with you uh this year is that um it includes multi-day access to a water park which
18:49 Speaker: I try to say my daughter will love, let's not kill ourselves. I'm going to love that. It's going to be amazing. And officially, it's gone above the budget of what I thought that we wanted to do. However, the reason we went for it is we worked out we'd have gone for that when we were over there and it would have actually cost more. Yes. And got less days. Yes. And so actually it was like, no, no, no. This pays for us to just raise because we're not going to spend it then. Yes. Job done. Yes.
19:18 Speaker: So it's quite, I mean, I don't envy you. It's quite a woolly thing. Jigsaw. Yeah, absolutely. Jigsaw, but not all the pieces sometimes. And it isn't always that first holiday that you put forward is the one we go. Absolutely. That could be the inspiration that makes me go, love that, Doug, but what about this? Oh, okay, I tell you what, I can go. Yeah, and I will usually try to only send one quote.
19:40 Speaker: Because that is a starting point. Yes, I like exactly that you said. I like that bit. I don't like that bit. Fine. Let's tweet that bit. But if I get sent you three quotes, you go, well, I like that bit. And I like that bit. And I like that bit. Well, it's back into the overwhelm. Back into the overwhelm. So I'll try and send you one A quote because hopefully my questioning beforehand has narrowed down what you want. Like this lady going on this Magdalena cruise in Colombia doesn't want to go birdwatching. So we're not going to send her on a birdwatching tour. You know, it's that sort of thing that you need to know.
20:09 Speaker: know um and they want to fly business class flights brilliant so we get all that pre preset sort of thing so that you know i get the questions out the way um and then at the last point you you go it's going to be this much yes but that's what you wanted you know and we go with it or we don't go with it or we can tweak it or you know um But, yeah, no, I love the job. You know, I really enjoy, I enjoy travel myself, and I really enjoy sending people on holiday. I often, I've got a map on my wall, and I, oh, hey, it must be this today, and all that sort of stuff. Oh, wow. Yeah, no, I had a couple, did a honeymoon in South America, and they spent 18 days, and they had eight hotel, eight flights. Yeah, and...
20:53 Speaker: Every single thing worked. They were met off each plane with a guy with their tickets, with a taxi, and just the stuff they saw, the Atacama Desert, they went on an Amazonian rainforest, they stayed in a lodge and went on an expedition, and they just had the most amazing honeymoon. Yes, it wasn't cheap, but it's a memory they've got of that.
21:14 Speaker: It's just what it's all about. And it can be, what do you want to see? I mean, I know I've planted one that we're going to speak about at some point, is that I and my daughter, as she's starting to become a sponge for knowledge, want to go and see like the World War II, a variety of World War II sites, not just the obvious ones over in France and possibly some other countries. And we'll be able to piece together that it's kind of like, OK, well, here's a whole load that you can go to. These are the passes that we can get you. And that's where...
21:44 Speaker: recommend that we put you stay in and I know that we can piece these things together I think I've also thrown I want to do probably not with my daughter because she'd get bored but my wife and I want to do a train holiday like a cruise but on a variety of trains oh yeah the world's our oyster all of a sudden Thailand Vietnam you know all of these places yeah there's so much out there that's you know worth seeing
22:09 Speaker: And you're always all over all of these different places that you could find a resort that I wouldn't think of. I mean, I recently only found out. I've done Mexico a couple of times and on the sort of the Cancun side, if you will. But apparently on the opposite side, arguably is even nicer. And I think, is that Pacific on the other side? Yeah. Some people say it's even nicer. And I'd never thought to even go that side. So the question is, how can I know about all these places? Yeah.
22:38 Speaker: What I do is I have expert companies and a narrow band. I don't have many. A narrow band of expert companies that I go to. So, for instance, this lady doing this cruise, going back to the Magdalena, I've actually got the company. And what they're going to do, they'll come on and do a three-way video call with us, with me, the customer, and them. Because she's been there. She's an absolute expert on the local country. And literally fine-tune what she wants to do so that we can get the perfect.
23:07 Speaker: holiday for her so yes i can't know everything about everywhere but i've got specialists that i go to and the other thing i'll just go back again like when you were at birmingham airport if you were with a company i've got trade lines into those companies that i can phone and get answered within an hour rather than 12 hours because a lot of people we weren't answered at all yeah so that's where i can
23:33 Speaker: This is how I help the people in Vienna. It was an evening and I got hold of the emergency phone line and they, you know, they sorted it out just instantly. They could get and rebook and do things like that. So, yes, it's, you know, it's a challenge dealing with everywhere. But actually, I love it because it gives variety. And, you know, we can do that. There's just so much I could go on. There's so much we could do.
23:55 Speaker: which does point me in in the timing thing and i'm conscious of our time and you know the whole point being is this series we are going to delve into sort of all sorts of these examples we might have an episode where we'll focus on cruising uh italy as i said i know is a big one for you we'll have a you know an episode or two on some of the different things over in uh in italy
24:15 Speaker: And, you know, a whole, you know, maybe a multicenter one, all sorts of things like that. So there's going to, this is what this series is, to really explore the possibilities that exist there and the experiences that you've already had and the things you know you can do. And I'm going to finish each episode envious and want to go on holiday every darn time. So thanks for that. But very quickly, because I'm conscious, I want to sort of keep this within the time schedule.
24:41 Speaker: we are going to do something every time and that is i'm not moving on to it yet but a sample package yeah doesn't mean you're actually pushing it per se right now because people could be watching this later when it's not relevant but it gives people an idea so every time i've asked you to bring a sample package that's relevant right now yeah as another inspiration of ideas and what have you yeah but quickly potted who's doug tanner we've talked about the travel concierge and the company um
25:10 Speaker: Your background clearly is you love looking after people. I do, yeah. Back in 84, I started a garage from scratch, built that up into a successful business and sold it. Then into a letting agency. And people go, oh no, that's a bit odd. But it's still customer service. Basically, that's what it's about. And I really enjoy engaging with...
25:32 Speaker: personal customers and that doesn't sound right but for people engaged with engaging with people and solving their problems uh be it you know uh their car their house letting or the tenancy or now going on holidays so um I'm actually too soft to be a boss. I tried employing people, but they were only more than me in the end. But I made sure I looked after my staff. So I'm very much a people person, enjoy engaging with people. And again, actually sending them on holiday is a joy because it's just people, pretty much everyone's pretty happy to go on holiday. And it's great to get the stories when they come back. And that's where I'm, again, to try and part of this is to get the feedback on the...
26:16 Speaker: websites and that sort of stuff so that people can um just say how much i don't i don't want thanks i just want people to express express how they've enjoyed their holiday and how you know how how easy it was that's the big phrase i get from all the responses is oh my goodness that was easy because we booked it we sorted it and they went on holiday didn't have to worry about it yeah stress-free travel as you call it isn't it and that's the beauty of it um
26:43 Speaker: Yes, and obviously that changeover as well. I am going to bring it up. Your wife sadly passed away in 2008. And that obviously meant focusing on your two boys at that point. And then once that kind of stabilized, that was where you went, well, I want to go back to... Yeah.
27:02 Speaker: Looking after people. And that's where the travel thing came in. Yeah, yeah. Well, it's a bit of a joke, if you like, you know, because I started, I had this great idea for a nice stable income mid-2019, which probably wasn't the best time to start travelling. 2020 lockdown, yes, not good. Again, I want to say not just travel. Steve and Paul were brilliant. They kept us on board. They found us work that we could get some income from. And when you think about it, at that point, all the travel consultants that had been paid...
27:31 Speaker: half their commission because quite often they used to get half. Yes, they had to actually give it back because all the customers refunded everything. The commission that they'd earned from making the booking, they had to actually repay to the customers. So a lot of people were... Difficult, but Stephen Paul were absolutely brilliant at that. They helped a lot of people sort that out and keep us on board. And so hence I've stayed with them because I believe they're a good ethical company. And it's a case of, you know, let's build my business with the help of Stephen Paul and the massive team they've got at head office. And yeah, I enjoy the work I do and send people on holiday and it's actually, yeah, I enjoy it. It's great fun.
28:15 Speaker: And that's why I wanted to go there. You know I say that I truly believe people buy from people. And I really wanted people to get to know Doug a little bit more. And we'll do that each episode. People will naturally be getting to know you. And I just think that that's important. Final thing then, Doug, on this particular episode, because you can't believe the time's gone already, can you? Really? Blimey.
28:37 Speaker: You bought this one particular package. Talk us through it. Yes. So it's a seven night trip to Italy to discover Pompeii, Campri and the Bay of Naples. So it's just, you know, people have heard about Sorrento and all the breathtaking Bay of Naples and et cetera. So you get your flights and transfers, you get experiences. And again, this is what it's about. It's not just staying in a hotel and trying to find your own way out. You've got, you can explore the stunning island of Capri, renowned for its natural beauty. You can walk through history with guided tours of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Wow. You can marvel at the breathtaking Amalfi Coast and the Ruffalo Gardens. You discover Sorrento on a guided walking tour.
29:18 Speaker: And you can actually go on an authentic farm lunch in the Sorrento countryside. So again, all those things you can put together, they're actually in the deal. And yes, I think you've got something on screen that gives you a date, but... You know, this stuff, it's an inspiration. If you don't want to do that, that's fine. But we can do all these sorts of things around various places, you know, in countries. But I think that's a nice starter. It's based on two adults, you know, basically starts off with two adults. 60% of what we sell is adults. So 40% is families and singles. But it's mainly two adult breaks that we do. But yeah, you know, you've got an option of...
30:01 Speaker: Having something that's all there, you'll get free time to do the things you want. But also you've got some lovely excursions that you can look forward to, to think actually each day you've got something, a focus of each day. And I think that's important because if we're going on holiday, it's all too easy to suddenly become lethargic. And maybe you don't get, I'm speaking from experience, you suddenly go, well, I did need to kind of relax, but I didn't see as much as I intended. And alternatively, you can do too much.
30:28 Speaker: Agreed, 100%. Oh, I haven't seen this, haven't seen that, haven't seen this. Right, OK, but let's just pull it back and do the things that you can do in the time, but still get a relaxing holiday. I mean, I just love that. Seven nights in three to four-star accommodation, return flights, transfers, all of those experiences that you said, checked luggage, expert tour manager, local taxis.
30:49 Speaker: The point being is it's all taken care of. As I say, it is only sample packages that we're putting in there for this. And we're going to just suddenly look at different ones each time because it's just amazing to see what can be put together with you guys to go and have a holiday of a lifetime. I love it.
31:09 Speaker: Doug, we could carry on talking forever and ever and ever, but I need to be disciplined. So we will pick this conversation up again in episode two. Great. We'll make a decision what we're covering on that one because it could be driven slightly by what's around at the time might influence us a little bit. But make sure you pay attention. Doug Tanner, thank you so much for joining us. He is the travel concierge. Make sure you join us for episode two. If any questions or comments come out about...
31:39 Speaker: this when you're watching it. You can put them in the comments and we'll try and keep an eye on those. But equally, you can email Doug. Do you know your email address off by heart? I do. Go on then. So it's doug.tanner at notjusttravel.com. Lots of T's. There is. So there you go. That's the email address. Drop him a line and please don't worry about sort of putting the feelers out.
32:07 Speaker: Doug is just the nicest guy, and if he can't help you or whatever, he completely understands. Too soft to be a boss, too soft for this in some ways. But explore the possibility. Even if it's for next year's holiday, now's the time to start looking. My wife and I have just realised this, is that we need to be thinking of next year, probably now. I'm booking for 2027.
32:28 Speaker: Wow, really? Yeah, I've got three bookings for 2027 already. Because we're not paying now, are we? You can do a direct debit payment. You can do monthly payments. So you can spread it out massively. So with no interest charges or no charges at all, exactly the price of the holiday. So don't put it off. Have those conversations. See what's available. Chew it around.
32:49 Speaker: investigate it but do reach out to uh to doug and and see how we may be able to help doug tanner thank you very much sir appreciate it thank you see you next episode