When attending an event, have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes to make the event possible? From the venue find, delegate management, travel logistics, AV and production – to name just a few. There’s a lot to cover before the day itself.
Here at BeSure, we are lucky enough to work with an array of wonderfully talented professionals (that we like to think of as our extended BeSure dream team) to help us to execute and deliver flawless events.
Kicking off our new supplier spotlight series. We caught up with Sam, General Manager and Louise, Groups and Events Specialist from Star Travel UK to get the low down on all things travel, trends and how they can help agencies like BeSure.
A bit about Star Travel UK...
Star Travel UK was established in the late 80’s specialising in Italian destinations, before expanding to Latin America. In 2023, their services have now expanded across the globe, helping with client’s travel needs in destinations all over the world.
The company is split into two divisions, direct sales and corporate. Across both divisions, their work covers individual bookings, event agencies, event groups, tour operators, package deals and more.
So, what are the advantages for us as an agency to work alongside you for an event?
When an agency works with Star Travel UK for their flights and ticketing it means they will be fully ATOL and IATA protected. We have built strong working relationships with airlines and ground service suppliers and have software to look at flight schedules and logistics that agencies wouldn’t have access to. Sometimes we can hold flights for longer and help with enhancements such as upgrades. We have a lot of repeat clients and pride ourselves on great customer service, something that is lost when booking flights directly.
What are the key things you look at when we send through a flight analysis brief?
We’d look at the client priorities, for instance, if the dates and destinations are fixed or flexible, flying times, direct or connecting flights. We then look at the major airport hubs that are closest to the client’s offices and analyse all the different airlines against the key factors such as budget, flying times and if they are direct carriers to that destination.
What do you come up against a lot when working on briefs for a client?
We get issues such as splitting flights for passengers or needing to make changes over the 20% limit that we are given by an airline. Or for instance, the level of upgrades a group might want in one booking. Any schedule changes that arise due to factors out of our control.
Our clients have now started booking more overseas travel again for their larger scale conferences, what destinations have been cropping up a lot for you?
We’ve had a busy year with client’s travelling further afield again. It does depend on the trip to what destinations our groups book, but we’ve seen a lot of BA groups travelling to areas such as Geneva, South of France, Athens, Lisbon, Toulouse and Morocco.
Does the accessibility for certain countries change in different seasons? Are there any that are considered more year-round destinations?
Yes, there are lots of destinations that have seasonal routes. For instance, ski destinations in winter will have more flights coming in each day than in other months. Destinations like Greece have more of a summer season, with very limited flights to many of its islands in the winter months.
We’ve found that destinations such as Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome, Istanbul and the Middle East are our all-year-round popular destinations.
We can only see routes 11 months in advance but sometimes routes also change for other reasons such as costs. For example, BA changed their flights to Gibraltar as it wasn’t cost effective for them anymore.
And just one for fun! What are your favourite holiday destinations?
Sam – we love New York, it’s a great city and we have been a lot as a family. A really special place for us is a beach called Mwnt beach in Southwest Wales and we go as a family every year.
Louise – I did a lot of travelling when I was younger and now, we like to spend our time around North Yorkshire, Whitby and the East Coast. We also go to Spain every year as a family. I also love European culture, especially Italy, the food and the Italian way, I'd love to go to Sicily one day.
For information on Star Travel UK visit their website here.
To read more about our fave destinations, visit our blog here.
BeSure Events Ltd is an agency made up of great minds, who are all experts in creating memorable experiences, both virtually and in person.
