Bales Online Diary

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Welcome to the August edition of Mandy’s online diary, your insight into what is going on in the world of Bales!
Mandy Nickerson (nee Bales) Managing Director
August - Diary Entry 1 Returned from Egypt where we hosted a dinner for the Bales local agents, hoteliers and cruise companies to say thank you for their continued support and to strengthen our close working relationship so that we can continue to provide an excellent service for our customers. We also hosted a dinner for our guides, some of which are also now Tour Managers for Bales. They are a vital part of the Egypt trips for our customers because they provide local, in-depth knowledge on the antiquities that are visited as part of the itineraries. Each event was a great opportunity in itself to hear feedback from local sources about how our holidays are received ‘on the ground’ and for us to relay customer feedback to them. This exchange of information is really important to us as it means that they feel valued by us and also by our customers.

August - Diary Entry 2 Whilst in Egypt I also took the opportunity to visit our new ‘dahabiyyas’, the Zahra and the Nesma. No amount of brochure description can prepare you for the serenity and tranquillity that you experience on-board these 18th century style Nile vessels, they really are a ‘home from home’ and provide an idyllic, wonderful way of cruising the Nile. This was my first experience of the dahabiyya’s, Mrs Bales (Mum to me!) experienced a cruise when we first launched the Zahra Cruise itinerary, and I was taken aback by the wonderful on-board ambience. The boat’s exclusive, private moorings ensure that you are never too close to the other larger cruise ships and the on-board staff’s attention to detail is second to none – I came back with a mission to find 10 friends I can take out there with me on a private charter! You can even charter both boats together so that the experience can be shared with even more people.

August - Diary Entry 3 Also in Egypt, Martin Edwards (Egypt Product Manager for Bales) and I inspected several of the hotels and cruise ships utilised as part of our regular itineraries. Whilst we do have staff that do this on a regular basis, I feel that it is important that I understand and keep abreast of any changes, needs and developments that our suppliers have. This included a visit to the Movenpick, Aswan, where amongst other things I learnt the origins for the name of this successful hotel chain. The story goes that the owner of Movenpick was sat watching birds swooping down to feed one day and was fascinated by the ‘move and pick’ sequence that he found himself spectating – hence the name ‘Movenpick’ was formed.

August - Diary Entry 4 I also met with the General Managers of five other properties and a new cruise boat ‘The Royal Lotus,’ which appears in the Bales 2007/8 brochure ‘Egypt and the Middle East.’ The cruise boat, which is part of Movenpick in Egypt, is a very impressive boat with kitchens that have very proud owners. As an ex-chef I can definitely identify with this! The kitchens are spotless and vast and guests on-board are invited to cocktail parties, or spot visits in the kitchens on a regular basis.

August - Diary Entry 6 Lots of internal meetings took place today, again focussing on HR issues. I am delighted to welcome four new staff to the office this week, who I am sure will very quickly grow to feel at home within Bales. August - Diary Entry 7 My husband Steve and I have always agreed that with four children, it is imperative that we spend some one to one time with each of them, especially during the summer holidays. This year saw Steve go off to Bath on a cultural weekend with one of our sons and then attend a Rolling Stones concert at Twickenham, whilst I ventured off to the V Music Festival with another son and his cousin. It was a great and interesting experience, and luckily the weather held out for us; but I am none the wiser when it comes to pitching tents – ours collapsed around us sometime during the night! We are also very excited to see our daughter return this week from a years work placement in the US. She is studying travel and tourism, so is following in the family footsteps, and we are all delighted to see her home! August - Diary Entry 8 Back at work, and today sees the launch of our staff lunches. This is a new initiative whereby each month I take a few members of the team out for lunch and a bit of a ‘catch up.’ This means that I stay in touch with our staff and they have an informal chance to chat and give feedback on anything within Bales Worldwide. I love this part of my job, which brings back fond memories that I used to have when my role was a much more hands-on one, with all staff in the day to day running of the office. The lunches really are a pursuit for a totally united team, I know it sounds really twee but it’s true, our office environment is so much about customer care it’s important that we all buy into the same passion for what we do. August - Diary Entry 9 Bales Worldwide has agreed to sponsor the SHINE Awards this year, which recognise and celebrate the accomplishment of women in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. I had a meeting with the SHINE board about how the awards will pan out this year, these are always enjoyable because they recognise the achievements of so many leaders within the industry and actively campaign for fair working conditions for everyone. A good example of this is when flexible working conditions for parents were introduced recently and we campaigned to have the same conditions applied to everyone working within the travel industry, parents or not; thus enabling homeworkers to manage their jobs more effectively. This is a great achievement as homeworkers are key workers within the travel sector. In addition to this, we introduced the concept of sabbaticals to our staff working at Bales. The nature of our business means that we find that many staff get the urge to travel, whether it is for two weeks, three months or longer. These things all add up to make a difference where our staff are concerned, and to me it is important that they feel they are working in a flexible and open environment. This trust and support of our staff is the strong foundation of which our highly satisfied customers are built upon!

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August - Diary Entry 1

August - Diary Entry 2

August - Diary Entry 3

August - Diary Entry 4