Outstanding Travel Agency of the Year and Outstanding Business Person of the Year – Northern Beaches

Uschi Howard, General Manger of The Travel Authority Northern Beaches, who has been selected as a VIP Buyer for Luxperience (10-12 September) has taken out two awards at the recent Northern Beaches Local Business Awards. The first is for Outstanding Travel Agency of year and second is Outstanding Business Person of the Northern Beaches.

We interviewed Uschi about her business, here’s what she had to say:

Please tell us about your company and what makes you unique?
With over 30 years experience in the Travel Industry and having watched, cringed and fought to run a business that does not put the dollar first, but rather uses it to compliment a work/life balance within their organization, I finally found myself in the position to put all I had learned into practice:
I opened my own Travel Agency (under the umbrella of an existing Agency). I had a very clear idea as to what I wanted to create and managed to communicate this to my business partners AND team members. The outcome was a nearly instantly profitable, multi award winning branch office with growth rates that no one else experienced in our section of the industry.
Our Agency has an all-encompassing approach to staff, suppliers, clients and the physical environment we all meet and/or work in.
Vision, Passion, Knowledge and…. Implementation.

Tell us about some of the bespoke itineraries you have put together for your clients.
Itineraries are varied and many. From the “I want to explore Italy for 3 weeks” to  “where can I take my entire family of 40 people to celebrate my 70th birthday”. We have Wellbeing tours, Antique Roadshow Tours, Marigold Hotel – the tour, etc.
From travelling on a tight budget, to make me happy I don’t care what it costs. Our team prides itself at working with our clients, so their holiday becomes a true and memorable experience.

How did you come to work in this industry and what makes it so exciting for you?
I have started working in travel in 1979 as a girl Friday and have worked in just about every area of this industry. The essence of our industry is its people. I absolutely love the challenge of matching client, product and budget on a daily basis. Problem solving, negotiation and sound knowledge of the workings of our industry are key factors to the success of any booking process. To consistently rise to these challenges and surpass our clients & suppliers expectations is truly exciting and satisfying .

What one thing has had the biggest impact on this industry over the last 5 years?
After the internet, came the suppliers who thought it would be best to market directly to the general public, thus effectively competing with us, the Travel Agent. This prompted Travel Agents in general to really highlight their value proposition(s) to their clients, which resulted in a new generation of utterly professional , highly skilled and motivated Travel Managers. I am convinced that the successful Agencies today are of a much higher calibre than they were 10 years ago. It made us step up to the plate, face the challenges and successfully work within a market that thought we would not be around by 2010. How wrong they were....

Are there any interesting facts or figures you would like to share on your business, target market or industry as a whole?
Staff member’s average experience in travel in our Agency: 25 years (not age, worked in travel...)
The market segment with the highest growth rate is the retail client that USED to book through the internet.
We won our first award within 18 months of opening this agency: Outstanding Travel Agency on the Northern Beaches in the Local Business awards May 2011