Global Traveller 8th Edition | Page 16

Behind the Scenes Kerrie Dodd, Marketing Since Summer 2017, I’ve been supporting Global Independent Travel Centre with marketing activity. This is a role I fit in around my museum work and family life, often working late into the evenings when the kids are in bed. I work on average about 10-12 hours a month, primarily researching and pulling copy together for the monthly Global Traveller e-newsletter. For this we use a tailor-made Mailchimp template. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so via our website - you’ll receive fabulous holiday offers, travel tips, blogs, competitions and more! I also help with event promotions such as the new Holiday Show (see back page!), proofing the design of marketing materials, copy writing, such as a piece to the Weston Mercury and some social media activity. We work together with our suppliers for sponsorship and develop marketing packages. An example being the placement of adverts in this brochure. One of our recent behind the scenes challenges was the data protection regulations that came into effect in May 2018. As a small family business, we had to adapt our website and write to customers asking them to opt into our communications. Unfortunately those that didn’t had to be removed from our database. Our best marketing however, comes from you, our customers! A simple share of a facebook post, writing a website review about your holiday, forwarding our newsletter to someone, telling your friends and family about us via our loyalty scheme... these little actions really do help our business grow. Sheila Naish, Business Development I have worked for Global Independent Travel for nearly 6 years now. This followed the closure of Comet in Clevedon where I already worked closely with Lisa and the team promoting a holiday club for staff. So when Lisa offered a part-time role doing the same but directly for Global I jumped at the chance! I promote our travel agency services to clubs, businesses and schools. We offer various incentives to these groups, which employers value as a perk for their employees. One of our biggest clients is the Police HQ in Portishead, who we supply regular holiday deals to. We also try to support local community events. You’ll often find me in one of the shops too, helping out. However, I don’t book the holidays... instead I am building rapport with our clients. I am an excellent tea maker and chat to customers whilst they wait for a colleague. Plus I carry out other business support, such as admin. My work is varied and I am flexible (well, only in hours - not my body as my fitness coach will testify!). But, I can be available at your convenience to discuss ideas to suit your organisation. I also help out at Wedding fayres we exhibit at and our client evenings. Which is a great opportunity for me to meet our customers. I love my job! Promoting our travel business is a pleasure. I am proud of our local reputation for giving great customer service, caring about our clients and our integration with the community. Plus I get to discover new worldwide holiday destinations! Sign up to our newsletter at: globalindependenttravel.com or e-mail: [email protected] with your request. You can unsubscribe at any time.