Bury College Travel Shop is celebrating its first successful academic year of business as staff, students and the general public have enjoyed booking their tailor-made bespoke holidays.
Leading Travel Counsellor Pete Whitehead was delighted to team up with the Bury College Travel and Tourism department in September 2018 to open the Travel Shop, a specialised travel agency offering customers a full holiday booking package. Since opening its doors, Pete, who has over 15 years industry experience, has helped many holiday makers plan and book their holidays as well as providing vital career-enhancing work experience opportunities for students.
Based in the Bury College Travel and Tourism Hub, trained Travel and Tourism learners have been assisting Pete with bookings and general travel enquiries giving them a direct insight into the world of travel. The Travel Shop has also allowed Bury College staff to book both personal holidays as well as academic trips and lecturers have received enhanced professional development travel training.
Pete Whitehead, who before starting at Travel Counsellors looked after travel consultants all over the UK and Ireland, said, “It’s been a great experience working with the students. The passion they have shown for this industry has been great to see. I’ve personally got a huge sense of satisfaction being able to contribute to their learning by providing work experience in a real life business environment. From my own perspective, working alongside students of this age has given me a greater insight into what destinations and trip types the “Instaworthy’ demographic desire. It’s been a win-win opportunity.”
Sarah Partington, Head of Curriculum for Travel at Bury College added, “The travel team are extremely proud of their successful collaboration with Pete from Travel Counsellors this year. Pete has provided bespoke training for our learners in all aspects of the travel shop including researching itineraries, costing holidays and developing knowledge of booking systems. It has been great to see the students developing their confidence by answering phone calls, sending emails and participating in marketing.”
Victoria Howell, a Bury College employee, is one of the members of staff to have used the Travel Shop to book a trip of a lifetime. Victoria said, “Pete planned my trip to Reykjavik in Iceland to see the Northern Lights. Pete planned my four day itinerary which included trips to see the Whales and a visit to the Blue Lagoon. I couldn’t have done this without Pete’s help and assistance.”
The Travel Shop is open Monday to Friday, 10am - 3pm during term-time. Any bookings offer 100% financial protection and are ATOL bonded. For more information or to make travel enquiries, please call 0161 280 8284 or email: travel.shop@burycollege.ac.uk
