Find out what The British Tourism & Travel show’s sales manager Lloyd Jones gets up to on a typical day in the office…
8am
It’s Friday, the school summer holidays, and it was manic this morning. I’ve got to drive to the in laws and drop the kids off. A usual 30-minute journey turns into an hour all round trip. This is the only bit of me time I’m going to get today so the tunes are coming out, I’m taking it back to 2001 with Usher and the 8701 album – if you don’t know, you should do!
I know it’s not a good thing to do but I have to look at my emails on my phone before coming into work – I like to know what’s going on before I enter the office. I’ve got three emails since I left the office last night from potential exhibitors who require stands. It’s a great feeling to start the day with some positive news.
9am
Shortly after entering the office, I catch up with Tracey from Visit Wales, we’re just finalising everything before the big launch to Welsh partners. The team at Visit Wales are excellent at recruiting new and existing partners who value domestic travel trade buyers. It looks like we’re ready to go!
10am
Today is our weekly team Skype call. Our team of four live in three different parts of the country, so you might think this would be challenging – far from it. It’s the closest, most dynamic and talented team I’ve ever worked in. We speak to each other more than our other half’s.
11am
Event director David throws a few high-profile speaker names out that really gives us a buzz, he always pulls things out the bag with his array of contacts. Operations manager Pip has been updating the floor-plan to accommodate some exhibitor’s requests for bigger space, she’s amazing and can always find a solution with some unexpected requests. Marketing manager Caroline is preparing an exhibitor postal mailing and it looks superb, she’s yet again done a fantastic job along with our talented design team.
1pm
As it’s Friday, it’s pub lunch and it’s my round to get the beers in, my week always seems to come around too quick. This is a short lunch for me as I’ve got an important call with the chief executive of Visit Cornwall, Malcolm Bell at 1.45pm, as we need to finalise his stand before we both head off on our summer holidays.
3pm
The afternoon is filled with calls to exhibitors, to finalise some stands – so far we have Hilton Worldwide, Marriott Hotels, Ticketmaster, Kew Gardens, Visit Liverpool, Visit Wales, plus many more already signed up for 2018. We’re also getting some good interest from our new Destination Europe area of the show. This dedicated new area is appealing to key decision makers who plan and book itineraries for both international and domestic tourists. It will feature a diverse range of attractions, destinations and hotels across Europe, and will provide ideas and inspiration for a variety of British travel trade buyers who attend the show, which is exciting stuff!
5pm
I’m leaving the office today for a two week holiday! Can’t wait. I jump in the car, stick on Talksport and listen to the latest football transfer gossip (I’m a huge Liverpool fan). I’m off to pick up a traditional British tea on route for the family tonight, good old Fish and Chips and I think they’re deserved.
No two days are ever the same in event sales. For me it’s not all about the targets, it’s about working as part of a team to create something unique for the marketplace we represent. As a company, we’re renowned for our attention to detail and the hours we put in on our exhibitor’s behalf. And I think that’s reflected by the visitor experience we create year after year– we’re looking forward to the next show in March. See you there!
British Tourism & Travel Show – the largest domestic tourism showcase of the year for the UK and Ireland’s travel trade, returns to NEC Birmingham on 21-22 March 2018. For further information, please visit www.tourismshow.co.uk.