Thursday 25th February 2010

Snowy Ripponden

A busy day in the office phoning round several private groups and clubs - it is good to make the time to chat to these good people who put in their time to organise trips and tours for either their horticultural society, u3a group or historical society - private groups is a big part of what we do at Brightwater Holidays. A few good leads and ideas came from it including a seven night break to Krakov for 20 people - now there's an interesting city that I've never personally visited but we have run several very successful tours for various groups. Krakov is now so accessible due to the number of regional flights in and out of Poland.

Jenni is busy finalising coaching requirements for the season ahead, Hazel is booking up garden visits and Reservations is still busy with bookings - There has been a flurry of interest in Tresco after a recent ad in the Telegraph and some late bookings for Japan in early April, when the blossom is at its best. Orkney and Shetland continue to be very popular for the summer ahead - I am sure the wonderful TV series by Simon King on Shetland currently running on BBC 2 is creating a great deal of interest. Also for some reason Benbecula this week has had a boost.
I dash out the office and catch an Easyjet down to Bristol (having to wait for some time to get the wings de-iced).

Wednesday afternoon Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!! The M5 and M6 around Birmingham and Manchester was a nightmare due to roadworks and the volume of traffic - I am travelling north to Ripponden to speak to the garden club. I stay calm by listening to the whole of a dramatic recording of Macbeth - funnily enough I tell the garden club about my 'educational' journey with Macbeth (the Thane of Cawdor) as I have some lovely slides in my presentation of Cawdor Castle Gardens as it features in our Gardens of the Far North holiday. The organiser had telephoned me early in the morning to say that they had 4 inches of snow, and was I still coming - of course I was, it would take more than a bit of snow to put me off. Actually it was a lovely sunny drive (apart from the delays) but as I was eventually rounding the north of Manchester I spied some snow on the hills in the distance and as the M62 got higher and higher the snow got thicker and thicker - then the fog came down! I could imagine Heathcliffe wandering these moors! It is certainly a wild part of the country (and that is just the ladies of the Gardening Club!!) - they were a great bunch and were all very grateful I had made the effort. They met in a lovely old pub-cum-inn called the Malt House (in Rishworth) - very nice too - if you are ever passing I would recommend it for a nice meal.

Home at one in the morning - say no more!

I knew this week would be a bit of a blurr - I'm off to Penzance tonight.

Monday 22nd February 2010

Winter coming to an end?

It's after five in the evening and it is still bright sunshine in Cupar - surely winter is coming to an end, but the garden around the office is as hard as iron and Luton Airport is shut with snow! This long and protracted winter has definitely had an affect on early spring bookings - I guess people are finding it difficult to imagine spring blooms in Cornwall in March when at the moment all we've got are snowdrops - I have not seen a single daffodil out yet.

We were all sorry to hear of the disaster in Madeira with floods and landslips in Funchal - it seems that the damage is very localised and all the hotels are operating as normal.

It was good to get round all the staff today, I can't remember when we last had a full compliment, what with illness and holidays - but today we were firing on all cylinders, good interest in a special deal we have organised at Tresco and the Dutch Bulbfields still proving popular.

Andrew in Operations is telling us all of his wonderful day skiing in Glenshee with perfect Alpine conditions, and I don't know what the girls in Reservations were laughing about at lunchtime - they seemed to be having far too much fun in the office!

And I am pleased to announce that our iceberg in the carpark (from before Christmas) is still there - although admittedly it is a shaddow of its former self - just a sludgy grey blob of ice mixed up with road-scrapings. Will it make it into March? All it will take is a few more nights of sub-zero frosts, and that is not too hard to imagine.

I've got my usual hectic week whizzing all over the country - Fife today and tomorrow, then Halifax (to speak to a Garden Club) on Wednesday, then a day trip to the Scilly Isles (Tresco) on Friday - I am looking forward to that as it is a couple of years since I've been, and there are changes afoot on Tresco that I need to try and understand - more on that later I have no doubt.

Friday 12th February 2010

Much as I would love a quiet morning to catch up with things, I am sent to the vets with my two spaniels for their annual jabs - Mij and Dizzy are not happy and start to shake immediately we pull into the car park!

At lunch I am north of Bath in a nice little pub meeting the chap who runs a great garden website Great British Gardens - we have a good chat and he gives me some useful tips as to how I can develop our own website http://www.brightwaterholidays.com

At last at four-thirty I slump home hoping to switch off for a week as the kids are on half-term, but no, there is a problem with a client who is not happy about some such matter and I have a half hour conversation which doesn't seem to get us very far, and I fear that the early part of next week will involve me trying to pour oil on troubled water. I knew staying at home for a weeks holiday was not a good idea!

Thursday 11th February 2010

Both yesterday and today I have the joys of the London Underground during rush hour! What a nightmare - I start off being my usual polite self - saying 'After you' then realise I am going to get nowhere unless I shove to the front!

I meet Alison in a coffee bar near Kings Cross and we plan our meeting with the Guardian - we talk through figures, advertising yield and other such marketing ideas, none of which are needed as the wind is knocked out of our sails when five minutes into our meeting Kathryn (our contact at the Guardian) informs us that she is moving to South Africa at the end of March - All change.

We then scoot down the Victoria Line and change hats when we team up with the Daily Telegraph Travel Department for a very positive meeting. All goes to plan and we agree an advertising campaign for the next couple of months. They announce the launch of an exciting new Telegraph Gardening Website which was a pleasant bonus at the end of the meeting.

Alison heads south to Gatwick to return to Fife and I head north to return to the car park of the Premier Inn in Welwyn Garden City to collect my car (which seems to have been there a lifetime).

Early evening finds me in the charming old village of Welwyn (i.e.not the new town) to speak to yet another garden club. Another big turn out and a happy evening is had by all. I head off back down the motorway at 10 o'clock and don't get home until 1 am.

Wednesday 10th February 2010

AITO General Meeting

One of the few benefits of staying away from home is a full cooked breakfast, and the Premier Inn does me proud!

I trundle along to the station and join the rest of the commuters heading into central London. I remember a tip from last night and get off at Finsbury Park rather than staying on right to Kings Cross, and before you know it I'm at Green Park in another faceless Starbucks phoning the office in Cupar to see what is going on at Base Camp.

I am attending the first of a series of Quarterly AITO meetings (Association of Independent Tour Operators) - this time it is being held at the Royal Overseas League Hall, which is rather splendid. The day whizzes by in a blur - I sit next to Martin Randall (Martin Randall Travel), Sue Ockwell (Travel PR) and a couple of new members who specialise in India. The morning session is pretty dull with discussions about Merchant Services and the Travel Foundation (which in fairness was very interesting.)

Over lunch I chat with a fella' from Journey Latin America - telling him of our new tour to Ecuador - he tells me of an interesting garden in Panama called Finca Dracula - where all the flowers are black!

The afternoon session is even more depressing with a discussion entitled 'Living through the unthinkable'. This was an AITO member who's £20 million travel company collapsed and went bust! There was some sharp intakes of breath during the presentation! To finish the afternoon Steve from Sports Tours gave a very moving tribute to Bob Cole (latterly of Sailing Holidays) who died at his desk just before Christmas - Steve's tribute sort of put the rest of the day into perspective!

Tuesday 9th February 2010

Welwyn Garden City - Premier Inn wild night!

Ahh the glamour of the Travel business! I was thinking that when I checked into the Premier Inn on the ring-road of Welwyn Garden City - but actually it was much better than I thought. A friendly lady checked me in, offered me a paper in the morning and told me the times of the trains to London. The room was clean and comfortable - admittedly with a view of the railway line, but hey, it was cheap!

I had a walk round Welwyn town centre to get my bearings and to track down the church hall where I was to speak that evening.

Back at the hotel I had time for a quick bite to eat and as I entered the restaurant a very smart lady in a red dress came in at exactly the same time as myself waiting to be sat by one of the staff. 'A table for two is it?' I looked hopeful, but the lady in red was having none of it! So it was a table for one, my only company being my paperback.

There was a big turn out at the Welwyn Garden City Horticultural Society - perhaps 120 people. I give a good performance and go down well. Several people say they have travelled with Brightwater Holidays before - one comments fondly about Peter Clough after I mention him related to our holidays to Tresco and Gardens of the Far North.

I am back in the Premier Inn and tucked up in bed by 10 o'clock - what a rock and roll lifestyle!

Monday 8th February 2010

Back in Cupar for a flying visit and first thing I see as I come into our car park is the iceberg now into its 8th week! Fortunately the daffodils are making progress beside it.

On my desk a pile of Holiday Questionnaires from the Up Helly Aa tour to Shetland.

'Really enjoyed seeing Shetland - Guide Excellent - will be back!'
'Malcolm Milne is one of the best Tour Managers we have ever had'
'Methodical planning and attention to detail ensured that the outings ran smoothly'
'A very good tour would recommend to anyone'
'I hate being hassled to fill in questionnaires!' - (me too)
'Tuesday rained all day' - (fair enough)

Overall the tour is very well received - and I note some interesting suggestions for future holiday destinations being - Fair Isle and St Petersburg.

Last week I happened to see the first in a new series of TV programmes about Shetland, following the wildlife photographer Simon King who lived on Shetland last year. It had spectacular scenes of Otters, Killer Whales and seabirds galore - the Shetland Tourist Board must think it is Christmas! It is on Thursdays over the next few weeks - well worth a look.

Looking ahead we have some diverse tours about to operate - Libya, Scotland's Extreme North West, Madeira and a Snowdrop Weekend. Never a dull moment.

Friday 5th February 2010

It has been a funny week really, starting with a quick skiing weekend in Les Arcs, skiing in minus 30 degrees! (I will never complain about the cold in the office again!) Then returning for a small operation on my nose - only to find that it wasn't to be that small an operation after all, returning home not a happy bunny at all.

I was told to have two weeks off work - but how can I do that? I had planned an all day financial meeting on Thursday and a quick flying visit to the office on Friday (today). Doctors said definitely no flying until next week - could be a bit messy if you were to be sitting next to me. That said I got through a day of number-crunching yesterday, but was pretty drained at the end of it (mind you, I usually am pretty drained after our quarterly accounts meetings!)

Today I am much better - thanks for asking - and have managed to get on top of emails and some correspondence. Alison, Jenni and all have been great keeping all the balls in the air in Cupar - we had another good week last week and this week's bookings seem to be up on last year - maybe the worst is behind us and the recession is over - who knows?

Our tour to Sicily departs tomorrow - it just seems like yesterday that I was writing copy about 'almond blossom comes early to Sicily'..... fingers crossed they have had a milder winter in Sicily than we have had here. Next week looks like it is going to be a bit of a blur for me, with a jammed packed diary - two garden club talks in Welwyn Garden City, an all day AITO meeting and meetings with the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph for good measure - ho hum, it is never dull.

Tuesday 26th January 2010

Strangely, I am looking at last week's record bookings - our best week's business for several years - just as the Government announces at lunchtime today that officially the country is now out of recession. I take that with a pinch of salt! Still difficult times ahead I fear.

Our guide in Shetland checks in with Jenni to say they have all arrived safely and everyone is excited about tonight's Up Helly Aa, the great Viking Festival held every January in Lerwick, when a replica Longboat is carried through the streets of Shetland's capital by a group of 'Hairy Vikings' dressed in horned helmets and sheep-skins. Flaming torches are then thrown into the boat and the whole lot goes up in smoke and sparks. The party should go on until the 'wee small hours' with music and entertainment throughout the town. One of the most exciting things on the Up Helly Aa tour is that one of our passengers is a past winner of Mastermind - the winner with the highest ever recorded score no less. This must be a bit off-putting for our guide who is now a bit sheepish as he is giving out his information on Shetland - (let's hope the 'History of the Shetland Islands' was not his specialist subject!)

Monday 25th January 2010

Evelyn tells me of a booking she took on Saturday morning from a lovely lady who claims to have been on one of our first ever tours - to the Gardens of the Far North in 1992. She remembers it was escorted by Peter Clough who was then the Head Gardener at Inverewe Gardens. (Sadly Peter died in December 2008 and I was amongst a large gathering of the great and the good of the Gardening World for his funeral at Land's End in Early January 2009). Peter was a real character and a wonderful man in every sense. What Peter did not know about gardens was not worth knowing - he was also a gifted harpist - I remember an incident that happened on an early tour we ran on behalf of the Alpine Garden Society when on the last day of a week tour - it was groaning with plants, with boxes and boxes of little alpines all along the back seat of the coach. Well, disaster struck, and the coach crashed and ended up in a ditch! - fortunately all passengers were fine - but oh no! what about the plants? The back of the coach was described as 'Alpine Soup!' Did Peter panic? Did he heck, after he had sorted things out with the Police and a replacement coach was organised, the rest of the party 'potted-up' their alpines with Peter serenading the group on his harp from the top of a large rock! Such fond memories of Peter brought back one happy customer after 15 years of running a hotel where she was tied to the business and could not take a holiday. Now retired it is comforting to know that she has come back into the Brightwater fold.

Tuesday 19th January 2010

First responses come in from the emailer - good brochure requests, good group bookings in today, and Evelyn is working a treat on the phones!

Alison is on great form geeing everyone up and leading by example as she always does.

Fix up some meetings for mid February with the Guardian and Telegraph when I am in Welwyn - booked into the Premier Inn Welwyn Garden City for an overnight, which I am not looking forward to at all! Was tempted to book into a posh hotel but thought better of it (Ann's wrath at expenses time!) and better to set a good cost cutting example!

Late evening call to Helensburgh Horticultural Society who agree to a group tour to visit gardens in Yorkshire - nice end to the day.

Crash out in the basement flat - spring weather short lived - freezing fog all day!

Friday 15th January 2010

I can't believe how solid the car park still is with ice - it is lethal! I spend an hour at lunchtime hammering away with Andrew's shovel trying to clear a path - the ice in places was 3 inches thick - I make little progress, but it makes me feel better, but probably not good for my tennis-elbow.

I work with Jenni on a quote for the Mediterranean Horticultural Society to Sorrento - it looks a lovely tour, a world away from Fife today. Let the staff know that we have a full page colour ad in tomorrow's Telegraph for Tresco.

Better bookings this week - it seems the world is still turning!

No delay on my return flight to Bristol.