Mandy Nickerson - MD Update

31st March 2008

After a week of meetings and follow up to the conference in Berlin, I went to Morocco for a four night stay.

You know how they say don’t ask a trades-person about how they apply the trade in their personal life? Well that would be me! I am, if I say so myself, great at delivering excellence to our customers, with the support of a first class team at Bales. A part of that is giving you knowledgeable advice and information.

So back to the reason I state this and my trip. We started in the awe inspiring and beautiful Atlas Mountains and stayed at La Roseria, an idyllic spot to stay, located in the midst of the mountains. It has beautiful gardens, which will be covered with roses in the next two months. The day after we arrived we went on a day trek – with my brand new walking boots on, which I have never even walked around the house in, and with no idea that we would need sunscreen. The Atlas Mountains are ideal for trekking, some people even go for some adventurous mountain biking. We stopped at the top of the mountain – which felt like it was around the same height as Everest – but when seeing it that evening it looked rather like a mole hill! A delicious picnic of freshly prepared salads, with peeled tomatoes and cucumber.I would like to say I am a good bearer of pain, but clearly I am not as my feet hurt so much and I was particularly sunburnt. Advice that Bales give to you in our tour notes is to 'ensure you have broken in your boots and wear sun cream’, why oh why didn’t I heed our own company advice!!

My goodness, if you haven’t yet been to Morocco - and I must admit I have to go back and explore far more now I have seen how incredible the country is - then when going to the Atlas mountains at least try and stay at Kasbah Tamadot. It is Richard Branson’s private retreat and is a small hotel, with no detail overlooked. It is a magnificent type of fort that has been painstakingly restored and refurbished to make it the deluxe property that it is today. I am by no means a painter, but I like to have a go. The Atlas Mountains would inspire anyone to at least try and have a go at putting paint brush to paper. I saw a few people with their easels, and seeing the pictures they all obviously had a great flair. There are telescopes in the library for guests to explore the wondrously clear night sky. The food is really some of the best Moroccan food I have ever tasted - yes I know I was only here for four nights but I have eaten Moroccan food before. Would it suit you? Well if you simply want to take time to relax, and read and enjoy the ambience then yes it is. And if you want to go off trekking it certainly is for you – although I must admit I would only be tempted to do day treks, coming back to the gorgeous hotels for nights in luxury. You can, however, go off and do overnight treks for several nights if you are more adventurous, fit and happy to leave the luxuries behind.

Marrakech - what a vibrant and lively city! I would defy anyone not to get carried away by the warm and exciting atmosphere. The souks – well I am not a shopper but I did have to be dragged out kicking and screaming as there was so much that I wanted to buy. We came out to a central main square, which from 4pm turns into a very lively spot full of street entertainers, singers and snake charmers. Many mobile restaurants are put up and it really is a genuine and authentic scene, that is not done for tourists. I could have stayed there for far longer but we had booked into a fabulous restaurant for dinner. I guess it is these places that we know about that help make your experience more special, as sometimes it is only through recommendation that you get to go to some of the hidden gems.

The riad / hotel we stayed in here was Le Jardin de la Medina, which translates to ‘garden in the old town’. The medina is a walled area of town with a maize of small roads and alleys to go through. As you enter into the riad, it is like a secret garden and a much more expansive area than you would expect, with every room having its own very private terrace.

Do you feel like I do in as much as the more you travel the more you want to explore more? The world is your oyster! And certainly it is with us, as we can simply arrange whatever you want in the destinations we feature. Go on, please give us a try – we aim to exceed your expectations every single time.

We are juggling between the range of products we are going to offer you in 2009. Also for many of you who have not yet booked for 2008, what we can do to persuade or lure you to travel with us? Please let me know what we can do to assist with your travel plans.

You got it - if I don’t mention fitness, then it is because I am not doing anything about it. I am a great believer in the fact that we have the time to do most of the things that are really important in our life. How many times do you hear people say ‘I just don’t have the time’ and in the next breath they are talking about a TV programme they watched?! It is all about our own priorities, whether it be a work life balance or deciding to be fit. Against other things, in truth getting fit for me and retaining it is a real effort and it is one of the few areas in my life that I need to be motivated into doing it, hence the reason I set myself physical challenges, as then I have no option but to get fit in order to succeed.

I better get back on the treadmill if I want to complete the Inca trail this summer, so speak again soon… I am running!!

14th March 2008

Where do I start? Well I guess that I would like to let you know that the team of five from Bales completed the Malta half marathon. Vivienne, our HR Director, was the fastest female, whilst I was most definitely the slowest! You know when you do something and hate it and then forget you hated it?! Rose tinted glasses etc., well last time I ran was 7 years ago and in a flash it was déjà vu. As soon as we started, I remember how much I promised I would never do it again. I really can say if it wasn’t to raise money for a good cause I would not put myself through it. However, later that day we were all talking about where next to do a marathon… so I must be some kind of sadist.

So lots of exciting things going on – as you know we work with many of the top hotel companies around the world and so it was a pleasure to see our friends at Orient Express again and discuss ways we can grow the market together in Peru, Brazil and the Orient. As well as Orient Express’ wonderful hotel properties they also include trains and boats in their portfolio. I guess everyone has a short list of favourite hotels that they have been to or are on top of their wish list to visit – I would be very surprised if one of Orient Express’s properties wasn’t on it for a great number of people.

The Guild of Travel Writers have an Annual book launch to which they invite a cast of people from the travel industry – I went along to see my good friend John Carter (who is Chairman) deliver a speech – certainly one of his fortes; he is an excellent speaker. The evening offers such a great opportunity to meet so many of the best travel writers. If you read travel articles and features or watch travel programmes, I hope you would agree that sometimes the piece captures your imagination and can truly inspire you to want to visit the place about which you are reading or watching. That is a virtue only the greatest communicators posses to be honest – and I will get into trouble here - whilst there are some greats there are a lot that really are very mediocre.

Mark Bennetts (our Planning Manager) and I winged our way to Berlin for probably the largest travel trade show in the world. On our first day we trawled through snow and I was mindful of slipping. No – I was safe – we had entered into one of the halls…. but safe? Me? I don’t think so! went off to the ladies and on the way out, forgot there were steps and fell down them landing on my already pathetically weakened knee (for regular readers - second time in 6 weeks!). You soon forget though, when you are surrounded with people from all over the world and meeting innovative and exciting people and talking about new and existing products and destinations we want to offer you.

Of course it would be the week that there was a national transport strike and so taxis were in more demand than ever. I went along with my Oberoi Hotel friends to get a taxi as we were all going to the same drinks reception. I thought it was amazing that a drive that should have taken half an hour took nearly two hours because the taxi driver got so lost – what a great opportunity to see the city! So often, and I know many of you will identify with this, when you are travelling for work you just see your hotel and the meeting rooms. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how varied the city is and would even say in some areas it is quaint.

Anyway how does this visit to the show affect you, the reader and hopefully a client or potential client? Well we are always in pursuit of pioneering, which to be honest is far more challenging today than ever before. We work in such great partnership with our agents and hoteliers overseas that we find out much more about development and new and attractive features we can build into our holidays. Whilst we of course still offer group travel, there is no doubt about it – more and more of you are opting to travel on a Tailor Made basis and we need to ensure we can give you attractive and competitive itineraries and at every stage of the booking process display to you the huge knowledge and enthusiasm that runs through all the Bales staff about the destinations and about getting your holiday right.

I was so happy to see that already confidence in Kenya has been restored and there was a very positive vibe about tourism for 2008. Tanzania has actually gained more visitors, how wrong could I be. I had thought that the problems in Kenya would affect much of Africa tourism. Both countries offer such a fabulous vistas, really superb lodges, and such great safari experiences where you get to see the big five.

I am often asked if the credit crunch crisis or the talk about recession has affected our business. I can honestly say that I think for many of you a holiday is so important – it is something you look forward to, something you hopefully really enjoy and gives a lifetime of warm and happy memories. I believe that for many people it is the one thing they must do and in fact need – in today’s world where so many are living such busy lives. Talking about busy - I guess I better get back to my day job…

Speak again soon