A huge congratulations from everyone at ITTN to Kieran O’Donnell of Barrhead Travel in Belfast, who has been recognised as one of the best travel agents in the UK by Travel Weekly’s Agent Achievement Awards.
The Agent Achievement Awards has celebrated excellence in the travel trade for the past quarter of a century and is regarded as the highest honour in the industry for both individual agents and agencies.
Assistant Manager Kieran O’Donnell earned his place as ‘Leisure Agent of the Year Finalist’ by excelling not just professionally, but in support of partners, colleagues, customers and their communities.
O’Donnell holds an abundance of service traits acknowledged as part of the judging process, one being his dedication to his customers.
When travel resumed last year, Kieran personally delivered PCR tests to customer’s doorsteps, collected them after testing, and returned to test providers where elderly and vulnerable customers had trouble getting to testing centre destinations.
This is just one example that reflects the lengths Kieran reaches to ensure his customers have a seamless, care-free experience.
It is such service that Kieran believes cannot be experienced online, he explains: “During the pandemic, a person who booked their holiday online had a far different experience than those who booked with a reputable travel agent.
“As confidence continues to build and travel becomes more and more accessible, we are experiencing a higher intake of repeat custom and new customers who are looking for a human connection and someone they can trust with their next holiday.
“At Barrhead Travel we have a Stress-Free Guarantee policy that we have had amazing feedback from, all of our customers are completely financially protected with everything taken care of – meaning all there is left to do is enjoy that long-missed holiday feeling!”
O’Donnell is one of six travel specialists in the Barrhead Travel Belfast branch based in the Victoria Square Shopping Centre who sell a wide range of holiday offerings including cruise, staycations, touring, wedding and honeymoons, city and beach breaks – all tailor-made to each customer.