30 Under 30: Introducing ‘Ray of Sunshine’ Scott McCabe
Following in family footsteps, Oasis Travel’s project director is determined to honour his mother’s legacy in Northern Ireland
Entering the successful Northern Irish travel agency business founded by his mother, Sandra Corkin, in 1984, there was a weight of expectation on Scott McCabe’s shoulders. What’s more, his integration into Oasis Travel was speeded up by the passing of its financial director, his uncle Gary Corkin, in March 2020, when McCabe took over some of his responsibilities.
From childhood, it had been almost inevitable he would end up working full-time with Oasis.
“As a kid I spent lots of time in the office, stamping brochures and talking to clients about holidays. Then when I started uni, I began helping out more with the business to gain experience. But when Gary died, I switched from being the placement student to doing things outside my comfort zone,” he says.
Taking on this more active role just as Covid hit was like a baptism of fire.
“We were focused on safeguarding our customers and chasing refunds, and we were working so hard with very little return,” he recalls of those challenging months when there was real uncertainty in the business.
Come the summer of 2020, McCabe channelled his energy into doing something more positive, documenting a three-week European tour he took with a friend, covering places such as Dubrovnik, Milan and Berlin.
“I wanted to show customers what it was like to travel that summer and how to do it safely,” he explains.
By showcasing his experiences in customer communications and through social media, his plan worked and helped to kick-start bookings for Oasis Travel again. McCabe then took the customer hand-holding a step further, by setting up a Covid-documentation helpline to give customers concierge-style advice on travelling in the new reality.
“We visited customers’ homes to deliver tests, upload vaccine certificates and talk them through passenger locator forms,” he says.
He also came up with ideas to improve staff morale, and this positivity and proactivity during Covid earned McCabe Visit Florida’s Ray of Sunshine award at the TTG Top 50 ceremony in 2022.
MOVING INTO STRATEGY
Now that the firefighting of the pandemic is over, as project director McCabe can turn his attention to developing strategic activities to help grow Oasis Travel. These include assisting with the refurbishment of a store in the east of Belfast and developing the use of virtual reality tools within the sales process. After a successful partnership with Celebrity Cruises, McCabe sees real potential in using virtual reality to help customers make more informed holiday decisions.
“When we unveiled the technology to our customers, it coincided with the launch of Celebrity Edge, and we [Oasis Travel] achieved the highest sales for Edge in the UK over a three-day period.”
He’s also on a mission to help persuade young job seekers about the benefits of a career in travel, partnering with a local college to build a training programme and apprentice scheme at Oasis Travel.
“I’ve done presentations to give young people an insight into the industry. There’s a perception it’s just sales, but there’s so much more to travel than that, and opportunities exist for lots of different skills and capabilities. If you’re a people person, there’s no better industry to work in,” he says.
With passion for travel clearly in his blood, and working in a family business, he’s determined to be judged on his own merits.
“There’s a perception that with a family business, the son or daughter hasn’t earned anything. It’s my duty to prove I have a right to be there and add value. I want to continue the company’s legacy and honour all of the work that has been done to date.”
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