Travel with Katie Butler: New booking system coming to Total Travel

Katie Butler, Total Travel, writes: Leanne, Kath, Emma and Claire flew from East Midlands Airport and this time it was an early start down the M1 to park at East Midlands short stay car park, just a short walk to the terminal building.

I caught up with Kath to get the low down on their overseas trip. Here is what she had to say:

“East Midlands is a great little airport and a lot of our customers choose to fly from there as it is a straight run down the motorway and a very efficient check-in.

“We were checked in and through security in under ten minutes. I have not flown from East Midlands in a long long time and it reminded me of how seamless it is.

"I have also not been away on conference for a number of years so I was really excited to be asked to take part in this one, at the very beautiful Constantinou Bros Athena Beach Hotel in Paphos.

"We had a jam-packed agenda. I was really looking forward to meeting suppliers and finding out the latest updates to pass on to colleagues and customers.

"I particularly enjoyed the session with key note speaker Marc Hogan, who started his career in sales and marketing, and after a £1 bet to perform a solo show at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival completely transformed his career path.

"We were also given an insight into our new booking system that will be landing at Total Travel next year, we are all really excited about this.

"There will be easier ways to pay for your holidays through a payment link but of course you will still be able to come into our branches if you prefer.

"The new system will also download the information from the main booking straight onto our own booking system and will save time when you are with us in-store.

"I also loved the ‘supplier marketplace’ where there were so many of our tour operators available to chat to – including Jet2holidays, Easyjet Holidays, TUI, P&O, Newmarket Holidays, Wendy Wu Tours and Riviera Travel, to name just a few.

“Our hotel arranged for us to have a Cypriot toga night which was a lot of fun. Togas were provided in our room and we enjoyed Cypriot dancing and traditional Cypriot food.

"We were also treated to a Gala Dinner Night and it was lovely do get dressed-to-impress – we do scrub up well, if I say so myself!”

What lovely feedback from Kath and certainly lots of knowledge gained along with fun, sun and cocktails.

Going back 11 years and with just a team of three, I am super proud to be able to send our team on these invaluable experiences.

January was the top-selling month last week and late bookings as a whole accounted for 26 per cent of our new bookings, with Tenerife and Lanzarote taking top spot.

As we approach Christmas, we are starting to see things quieten down – the calm before the storm as we prepare for January ‘peaks’.