30 Under 30: Meet Lisa Wheway
Lisa Wheway, UK and Europe senior sales manager for Unique Caribbean Holidays, the UK tour operator for Sandals and Beaches Resorts, talks to Abra Dunsby about taking hurdles in her stride
Growing up in a family of managers and managing directors, Lisa Wheway, 29, says it was inevitable that she too would become a manager – though to achieve this just after celebrating her 21st birthday was no mean feat.
After studying travel and tourism at East Surrey College, Wheway joined Thomas Cook as an apprentice, moving up the ranks to become one of the company’s youngest managers after working less than a year as a travel consultant.
Now UK and Europe senior sales manager at Unique Caribbean Holidays Limited (UCHL), the UK tour operator for Sandals and Beaches Resorts, Wheway has climbed the ladder quickly once more, with her first promotion coming into force just six months after joining the company.
Of working at UCHL, she says: “I’m happy now I’ve found out where I fit. It’s such a great team and company, I’m very lucky to be where I am.”
TEAM EFFORT
Since the pandemic, Wheway has had “many balls to juggle”. She explains: “When Covid hit, we had to uproot the whole call centre team, who are quite young and had never worked from home before. It was quite a challenge – changing my management style, how I kept in contact with them and making sure they were OK.
“Plus there was the added stress of asking others in the business for help because we were just so busy with the amount of bookings and rebookings.”
Yet problems are something Wheway takes in her stride. “There were challenges even before Covid came along,” she says. “I got married in July 2019 and was on honeymoon during the collapse of Thomas Cook. I felt horrendous – I just wanted to muck in and help the team, but they did a phenomenal job. We also had to deal with BA strikes, resort closures in the Caribbean and reduction of flight schedules.”
CARIBBEAN DREAM
Despite the peaks and troughs, Wheway’s passion for the Caribbean and Sandals remains strong. “The Caribbean sells itself, and to work for such an innovative company – who else would put a fire pit in a swimming pool or make an overwater chapel to get married in? – we don’t need to do a hard sell, and you know the customer is going to have an amazing time.”
Business is looking up too. “We’ve put 2023 on sale because people are booking in advance – 2022 is absolutely snowed and 2023 is getting there.
“We’ve got lots of wedding bookings from people who have been saving and want to get married in style in the Caribbean too.”
On her hopes for travel’s restart, Wheway says: “I hope people aren’t going to be worried about travelling and will take that leap of faith to get on a plane – they deserve a holiday of their dreams.”
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