Posted by Adele Youngs

17 May 2016

Mothers, businesses and our gift to you

Our theme in May is all about mothers - if you receive our monthly wallpapers, you will have received images related to some of the greatest matriarchs of European history. 

In my blog post this month, I wanted to talk about a more personal matter related to being a mother. Both Kate, my fellow co-founder, and I are mothers, and setting up a company, as many of you will know, is very much like having a baby. In the early days, there are the sleepless nights (what have we done??!), the constant calls for attention from Baby Business (set up my website NOW!), and the very many teething troubles (best forgotten actually...).

Then come the toddler stages - the business that realises it can walk but that, every now and again, falls flat on its behind as it tries to reach something that it is just not yet ready for.

Our business is now rapidly approaching the age of eight years old - no longer a young baby, but not quite yet a stroppy teenager, thank goodness!

One thing I have realised, however, is that, unlike with real children, as the "parent" of a business you can do the following things that you can NEVER do with a child, even though you might try...:

1) You can set its culture, a motto to guide it and choose to have it support the things that are important to you

2) You can choose your business's "friends" (ie clients, suppliers and staff) in a way that we can't with our real children (although we may occasionally try!)

3) You can choose what it focuses on and if you think something will be a "bad influence", you can do your best to avoid it!

At the same time, a business does have a life of its own - for example, all the people that have worked with us and travelled with us have their own impressions of our "child". As our baby grows, we will do our best to guide it in the direction we think it should take but, ultimately, it will also make its own path in the world.....

Normally on Mother's Day, you get a gift from your child. To be fair, we all get gifts from our children every day, even those children that are our businesses. 

However, in honour of mums around the world, and in honour of the parents of businesses who work just as hard, here is a gift for you. As we would tell our kids in the school playground, standing up to the bigger kids is sometimes hard.

Our Top 9 Tips for selling against the Big Boys is for you if:

You feel like you are always competing against the large, budget companies in group travel You constantly get asked to cut your prices to match someone else's You feel as though price is the number one motivation for group leaders  Just complete the form below to get your copy right now.

Posted by Adele Youngs

22 April 2016

Nervous groups and the Ireland paradox

Have you planned your next vacation yet? Now that Easter is over, summer is just around the corner in Europe and I must have been asked three times in the last week where I am going on holiday.

This year, we took a decision to try somewhere completely new to us - Estonia. This is an area I've never been to before and I am really looking forward to it: somewhere off the beaten track, a little different and (hopefully!) a bit quieter than some of the major European destinations can be!

This got me thinking. As we are fairly unique as a receptive operator in the fact that we offer tours across the whole of Europe and not just one or two countries, we see some very interesting trends. Have you had a group go to Ireland this year? The chances are that you have. You and everyone else, it seems! Ireland is one of our favourite destinations, but this year it has gone crazy. For the first time, we are seeing hotels reaching saturation levels.

So, all the groups that have been to Ireland this year will soon be coming home and looking for their next adventure somewhere safe, cost-effective and culturally rich - just like Ireland.

There are also groups that are looking to travel to Europe but are nervous about travelling to large cities, for reasons we can all understand.

So, what destinations will you suggest to the returning groups? Where may nervous groups feel a little more comfortable about travelling to?

Our list below outlines our top five countries that offer stunning destinations for groups whilst being a little quieter and perhaps a bit different.

1) Portugal - often shoehorned into an itinerary with Spain, Portugal itself offers amazing scenery, culturally-rich towns and cities (such as Lisbon and Sintra), great performance locations and fabulous prices. Wine and culinary tours are a great way to explore this country for adult groups, whilst student groups can learn about Portugal maritime history and exploration of the Americas from cities like Lisbon and Porto.

	Lisbon, Portugal's beautiful capital city
	The wine region of the Douro

2) Croatia - perhaps not so quiet as it used to be, Croatia is still a relatively new destination for many. Its stunning scenery is its main draw, along with incredible historic towns like Dubrovnik (as featured in Game of Thrones) and Pula, with its spectacular Roman ruins.

	Dubrovnik - one of Croatia's most stunning towns
	The Plitvice Lakes National Park in central Croatia
	No, not Rome, but Pula!

3) Switzerland - perhaps best known for its mountains and (in our office, at least) its chocolate, we've seen Switzerland become increasingly popular. Its picture-perfect towns offer huge amounts of history, and its churches offer some of the best musical performance locations in Europe.

	Bern - the Swiss capital, dates back to the 12th century
	Lucerne - located on Lake Lucerne amidst snow-capped mountains...

4) Denmark - literally the bridge between northern Europe and Scandinavia, Denmark has a wealth of history and stunning locations. Perhaps its most famous son is Hans Christian Andersen, and the iconic statue of the Little Mermaid is one of the most visited attractions in Copenhagen. However, there is much more than just fairy tales in this friendly country!

	Copenhagen - the Danish capital and home to its royal palaces
	Egeskov Castle - Europe's best preserved Renaissance moated castle

 5) Hungary - this Eastern European country has increased in popularity recently, in part due to the rise of the river cruise. The districts of Buda and Pest make up Hungary's capital city, and highlights include the Old Town, the Fisherman's Bastion and the 13th Century Matthias Church. 

	Budapest and the Danube
	The Hungarian Parliament building, Budapest

As for Estonia, I'll let you know when I get back!