'We're here and we're ready to help when clients are ready': UP CLOSE with Penny Brown and Amanda Gore from The Godalming Travel Company

Godalming Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We profile some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called 'Up Close in Godalming'.

Today we chat to the owners of The Godalming Travel Company, who are looking to the future after a difficult year.

For many of us, dreaming of foreign climes and holidays abroad is one way of getting through this particularly grey and depressing lockdown.

Penny Brown and Amanda Gore, owners of The Godalming Travel Company, are waiting to turn those daydreams into reality once restrictions are lifted and we can start booking to go abroad again.

A tough year.

With borders closed, flights grounded and hotels shut across the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the travel industry.It's been a tough year for the travel industry. "Since March last year we have had very little new business," says Amanda. As Covid tightened its grip and the world started to shut down last year, their energies were concentrated on getting their clients home. It was a busy and stressful time, but they managed to get every one of their clients back safely. "The situation was changing so quickly with borders closing and flights being cancelled. We had clients in the Costa Rican rainforest with no airport close by and some in Brazil, who had a very challenging journey to make the last flight before the country shut down," says Amanda. Then there were the clients who had booked holidays and had to cancel or rearrange their plans. Many were due to travel at Easter, a matter of a few weeks after the UK started shutting down for the first lockdown. Penny and Amanda were left dealing with clients who had had their plans turned upside down at short notice. Immediate response.

Despite horror stories in the press about people unable to make contact with airlines and tour companies, trying and failing to get refunds after airlines were grounded and cruises stopped, clients who had booked with The Godalming Travel Company were able to get an immediate response from Amanda and Penny.

"People invest a lot of money in their holidays and whilst many were fighting to get their money back from hotels and airlines, our clients could just pick up the phone and we would deal with it for them," says Penny.

Uncertainty.

With changes in the rules and the new quarantine requirements it's a difficult time for travel agents right now, "particularly with the ever- changing regulations," says Penny. People are desperate to start travelling again but naturally very wary about making a commitment with so much uncertainty. "I think people are very nervous about parting with their money, not knowing what the situation is, and that it can change so quickly," says Amanda. "The travel business has been shut down. Hospitality has been shut down. For a year the business has been closed, and it looks like that's going to go on for much longer. That knocks people's confidence because they really don't know what's going to happen." The situation has caused a great deal of concern for travel companies, and with another year of this there are going to be some companies who may not survive. Penny and Amanda are determined to weather the storm and say they know that there will be a huge pent-up demand once we are all able to travel again - is just a question of when. They are getting enquiries for travel from September onwards, although it looks as if those booked for trips in April and May, and through the summer, will have to wait a little longer to see if they can get away as planned. "We're here and we are ready to help when clients are ready," says Amanda. The beginning.

Amanda and Penny had spent 14 years in a job-share arrangement with another travel company when they were made redundant. They launched The Godalming Travel Company in 2013, bringing with them their passion for their work and their wealth of knowledge gained from years of globetrotting and working to make people's holiday dreams come true.

"We wanted to carry on in travel, and it was just the push we needed to set up on our own," says Penny.

"We had always thought Godalming was a great place to have an agency, and at the time we came in there was just Thomas Cook. We wanted to offer a different, more bespoke experience for clients."

They set up shop at 8 Church Street, opposite Cornmeter.

Specialists in the world!

They are specialists in New Zealand, the Caribbean, Australia, Canada, India, Sri Lanka - actually they are so widely travelled that it's difficult to think of a part of the world where they don't have first-hand experience. And, as they say, if they don't know, they will know someone who does! "Where we come into our own is that we have travelled a lot and we have had a lot of experience, so we are creating holidays for clients based on first-hand experience," says Penny. "If clients are going to spend a lot of money on a holiday, it's important to have the advice of somebody who can put it together for them and give them personal recommendations." Amanda is a particular expert on New Zealand, having lived there, and they are currently 'working their way round South America' as they put it, having not long since returned from a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos. They went with travel industry company Abercrombie and Kent, a reward for being one of their top agents. And after returning, they were so enthused that they booked several clients on trips to the same destination. Passionate about travel.

"If somebody wants to travel to one of the destinations we have visited we get really excited," says Penny. "We feel really passionate about it."

In fact "some clients say they only want to go where we have travelled," adds Amanda. "A lot of clients come in and know where they want to go. Some want to go on a 'trip of a lifetime' and ask for suggestions," says Penny. "We put together an initial itinerary and costing and can then tweak it where necessary. "When we're planning people's holidays we plan it as if we are planning our own," says Amanda. "We want them to have a really good experience, and we will work to give them that." Feedback.

They get a lot of great feedback, with clients popping in to thank them for their hard work and inspiration, and to share stories about their travels. Some, pre-Covid, just dropped in for a cup of tea and a chat, underlining the strong relationship Penny and Amanda have with their clients.

"We love having the shop in Godalming because we really enjoy seeing people face to face - just having that personal contact," says Amanda.

With tentative signs that the world may just be beginning to emerge from the pandemic, Penny and Amanda say they are looking forward to making bookings for their valued clients as soon as restrictions are lifted and it's safe to travel, creating unique experiences and making their clients travel memorable.

In the meantime, if you're looking for inspiration for your long-daydreamed-about holiday, you can click here to visit The Godalming Travel Company website. There's a new site coming soon to inspire you even further. You can call The Godalming Travel Company on 01483 419341 or email them here.