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The team and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Global Travel Group Conference this year in Leicester.

The highlight of the conference for us was Blue Bay Travel cleaning up at the awards ceremony; taking home an amazing four awards! The team (pictured below) were absolutely over the moon. We  won awards for ‘Agent of the Year‘ from Thomas Cook, ‘Top Performing Agent‘ from Virgin Holidays, ‘Best Website‘ from The Global Travel Group and our very own Leighton Glover won ‘Sales Manager of the Year‘ for Kuoni, so a huge congratulations to Leighton and the team for all their hard work and a massive thank you to all the operators.

Day one began with never-before-seen trade and agent panels with three members from various operators and agents on stage taking part in Q&A sessions. Our Managing Director, Stuart Wilson (pictured above), was selected to be part of the agent panel and was up on stage sharing his thoughts and insight about our company, the industry and the story of how Blue Bay Travel came to be.

The evening continued with a Gala Dinner and awards ceremony with snooker legend Willie Thorne presenting the awards. We were also treated to entertainment from the cast of ‘Let Me Entertain You – The Stage Show’ who rounded off a wonderful fun-filled evening.

Day two commenced with Speed Dating sessions where operators and agents got together for 10 minute sessions to share thoughts, feedback and ideas for the future.

The conference concluded following a truly inspirational talk from guest speaker, Hilary Devey, Founder and Managing Director of Pall-Ex Ltd., award winning entrepreneur, Business Inspector on 5 and the new ‘Dragon for the Den’. Hilary shared with us her story of how she created and devloped her own company.

It was great to meet and catch up with everyone from the industry and we returned filled with positivity, pride, inspiration and, more importantly for you guys, lots of great ideas for the future to ensure we continue to offer the best service possible for our customers!

The Blue Bay Travel Team at the Global Travel Group Conference Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony (left to right: Andy Stark, Stella Travel Services. Angela Wilson, Gemma Pyatt, Lauren Goostry, Stuart Wilson, Kevin Baskeyfield, Leighton Glover, all from Blue Bay Travel)

Photographs © Photography by Steve Dunlop

CUBA! Oh yes, you lucky things… we’ve added a brand new destination to Caribbean Warehouse!

We now offer a fantastic selection of 4 and 5 star hotels on the beautiful island of Cuba.

Click here to read more about Cuba and take a look at our fab new hotels!

Have you been to Cuba? Leave us a comment below and let us know your favourite bars, restaurants, places to go, things to do… anything you like, we’d love to hear from you!

Interested in booking one of our new hotels? Call our team now on 08444 999 330!

Just a quick update to let you all know how we’re getting on! Firstly I’d like to say a massive thank you to our very kind sponsors that have donated so far. In just one week we’ve already achieved 18% of our target, which is fantastic!

We’ve been racking our brains thinking of more ways that we can raise more money for Comic Relief and I’m pleased to announce that Peter, one of our Travel Advisors, has bravely volunteered to have his legs waxed!

If you would like to help you can donate by clicking the banner below and then clicking ‘sponsor me’. Don’t forget that everyone that donates via our Blue Bay Travel Red Nose Day Giving Page is automatically entered into a prize draw to be in with a chance of winning a £100 Love2shop Voucher!*

You can read the original blog here to find out what else we’re doing to help raise money for Red Nose Day.

*One entry per donation, qualifying entries must be received by midnight on 18.03.2011, terms and conditions apply.

A report into the behaviour of British holidaymakers has revealed some intriguing  and surprising results.

Alongside the expected results that Brits tend to eat less healthily, drink more and generally let their inhibitions loose when on holiday, the report highlights stark differences between sexes, ages and even regions.

While men often indulge in buying new clothes (36%) and exercising (20%) in preparation for a holiday, they are far more likely than women to not do anything to prepare for their holiday. Women make far more elaborate preparations, including everything from dieting (36%) and exercise (30%) to indulging in pampering manicure/pedicure (22%), fake tan (15%) and spa treatments (7%) to ensure they look and feel their best when on holiday.

Age also plays a big part, while older holidaymakers like to read up on their destination (65% aged 55-65), those aged between 25 and 34 are more likely to partake in pre-holiday shopping and grooming.

The top five things Brits hope for in a holiday include rest and relaxation (71%), escaping everyday problems (47%) and rejuvenation/health (35%). With the top five hoped-for holiday experiences including seeing beautiful places (60%), new experiences (52%), fun (52%) and escape (45%).

More than one in ten of Brits hope for some holiday romance and say they have much more sex while on holiday, while couples in established relationships hope that a holiday will provide them with an opportunity to reinvigorate their relationship. Although, we might expect that young, single holidaymakers are the most likely to have sex in unusual places, this appears not to be the case, with couples aged between 35 and 54 being the most adventurous.

It’s no surprise that we enjoy spending our cash when on holiday, but what do we spend it on? The top five ways Brits like to spend their hard-earned cash include day trips (45%), local foods (41%), local handicrafts (31%), health and beauty treatments (19%) and clothes (17%).

When asked what they like to eat and drink on holiday, four in ten Brits like to treat themselves to different foods while away from home, with women being the most indulgent (42% of women vs 37% of men). Women also have a greater tendency to make unhealthy food choices (17% of women vs 11% of men) and eat more than usual (19% of women vs 17% of men).

British holidaymakers confirmed that fine dining is more popular with older couples (12%) and couples who don’t have children (11%), while cost-conscious families are more likely to make the most of all-inclusive deals which take the stress out of feeding children.

When asked what they think will be important when travelling in the future, British holidaymakers favoured protecting the planet, with 22% of people saying a holiday gives them an opportunity to connect with nature. While younger people say that going to the moon will be important in ten years time (11%).

Almost a quarter of Brits still view luxury as a priority as affordable luxury holidays continue to be the most popular holidays booked, with weddings and honeymoons abroad becoming increasingly popular.

It’s clear that the right holiday can enrich our lives in many more ways than first thought and ultimately what British holidaymakers want from their holiday is to relax, have fun and enjoy themselves with friends, family and new friends they may discover along the way.

Source: Kuoni Holiday Report 2011

Please support us in raising money for Comic Relief and help transform the lives of poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged people across the UK and Africa.

As well as helping to tackle important issues in Africa, Comic Relief cash also helps thousands of disadvantaged people across the UK facing poverty and deprivation. In fact, wherever you live in the UK, you’re highly likely to be within 30 miles of a project that’s using your cash to change lives and transform communities.

All the staff at Blue Bay Travel will be taking part in various activities to help raise money, including a pyjama day, quiz and anything else we can come up with before the big day! Our very own Thom has also volunteered to let us shave off his lovely long locks if we exceed our target of £400! And as if that wasn’t enough, our Directors have kindly offered to match the total we raise in-house, so please dig deep and donate whatever you can to help!

Not only that, but if you donate via our Blue Bay Travel Red Nose Day Giving Page you will automatically be entered into a prize draw to be in with a chance of winning a £100 Love2shop Voucher!*

Click the banner below and click ‘sponsor me’ to donate now via our Blue Bay Travel Red Nose Day Giving Page.

Join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to keep track of how close we are to reaching our target and pop back after the 18th March to see photos of what we got up to on the big day!

*One entry per donation, qualifying entries must be received by midnight on 18.03.2011, terms and conditions apply.