GTO of the Year 2024: a lifeline for her members

How does it feel to have won the Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award®?

It feels amazing. I didn’t expect it at all. The U3A was over the moon that I had won, and they were very keen to let people know. The reaction from members has been ‘well, you so deserve it, nobody else would work 25-30 hours a week without being paid’ so that has been lovely. The group were thrilled for me and asked me where I was taking them next!

How will winning this award help you in your role as a group travel organiser?

I have already been contacted by more people within the trade and I’ve got a fam trip coming up to Belgium which I have been invited to off the back of the Group Leisure & Travel Awards ceremony. I’m hoping when I come to the Group Leisure & Travel Show in Milton Keynes, that I can get some quick answers from people too.

You have been organising trips for many years, what keeps you going?

I enjoy it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do it. Travel is just in me, and I love it. The people I deal with are always so pleasant and always thank me at the end of a trip and ask what we are doing next. People appreciate what I do and that makes a difference.

I get thank you letters, notes and emails from people saying they have had such a lovely time. We get new people who have heard about the group who really want to join us because of the trips we do.

Why is it important for you to be a lifeline for members?

I particularly like trying to prevent people from being lonely and finding a way of making people’s lives better. Seeing little groups gradually emerge during trips is great fun. It’s my way of helping somebody.

I’ll introduce people and try to increase their confidence so that they’ll be back again and next time, they might be looking out for somebody themselves. To see people come out with confidence is a lovely feeling. That’s the pay-off.

What trips have you got coming up?

We’re going to RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey and then we’re off to Bournemouth. I have a new person helping me out with the trips and she has found out that the pavilion in Bournemouth hosts tea dances so that’s something different and somewhere to go if it’s raining.

We have also got the National Memorial Arboretum and the Royal Philharmonic’s ABBAphonic concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I have booked a tour of the Royal Albert Hall before the concert too. In December we’re going to the Musical Museum in Richmond and I’m still looking for something I can do in the morning. When I come to the GLT Show in Milton Keynes I’m going to speak to Visit Richmond for their suggestions.

You said your recent trip to Montenegro was your biggest success story, why was that?

It was quite complicated because some people wanted two weeks and others wanted one week. But it worked out well because we managed to get a large amount of sole occupancy rooms. 22 of us did the two weeks and the other were divided between the two weeks; we finished up with 60 passengers overall.

Trying to get the logistics was quite challenging but everybody was very happy. The hotel was excellent, and everybody loved it – it was a new destination to so many of us. People wanted to go to Croatia but the prices were coming up very high, so we instead looked at Montenegro which is next door and with much lower prices. It really was the most interesting holiday and we had many first-timers with us too.

Where is still on your bucket list?

I’d love to go back to Australia. I don’t know Italy very well either, there are still lots of places in Europe I’d like to go to. Closer to home I really want to go to the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. I just enjoy travelling.