Seller of the week: Turquoise Holidays

Turquoise Holidays
turquoiseholidays.co.uk

Score: 92%

Mystery Shopper said: The company appeared near the top of the searches and it said it specialised in luxury holidays. The site was very well laid out with a selection of attractive pictures and clearly displayed contact details. The consultant was very thorough and put me through to a Caribbean specialist who greeted me enthusiastically and said they had visited St Lucia in December. I was asked a number of questions including what sort of hotel I wanted, my budget and whether I’d consider a two-centre holiday. I was confident that the consultant had excellent knowledge about the location and they discussed the pros and cons of visiting the island. The consultant said they would get back in touch via email, which they did two days later. The agent offered a package for £9,450, staying at Boucan by Hotel Chocolat and Sugar Beach. I felt that my needs had been considered and I was confident that the consultant had suggested a great honeymoon.

• Build up first-hand knowledge of the islands and ensure you know why each is unique.
• On a honeymoon, it’s the details that count. We negotiate honeymoon extras with all our hotels to make sure all our couples have the most amazing time and feel like royalty.
• If time permits, suggest travelling to more than one island to get the most out of the Caribbean. Active honeymooners can make chocolate in Saint Lucia, hike in Jamaica, learn to sail in the British Virgin Islands, scuba dive in Turks & Caicos… The list goes on.
• Recommend going local for fantastic food and drink. It’s not always about fancy restaurants and expensive cocktails – nothing beats a rum punch on the beach at sunset.
• Daily direct flights from the UK make access to the Caribbean easy for honeymoon couples looking to jet off after the wedding. We always recommend that couples look at upgrading their ticket for one leg of the journey to start or end their honeymoon in style.

TTG has teamed up with React Surveys to simulate a realistic booking process each week – that means a mystery shopper looking for the best deal from agents and operators on the high street, online, on TV or in newspapers. The Mystery Shopper research is carried out on behalf of TTG by React Surveys,and no further details or information can be disclosed. Researchers take into consideration first impression, sales process, product and budget match and extras offered before giving an unbiased opinion of which channel/company they would have booked with on that occasion. We do not claim that the winner is the best in an area or specialist sector, as we may report on competing travel firms in the future. Please note that the aim of Mystery Shopper is not to criticise individual agents or companies, but to promote good sales technique for the benefit of all in the travel trade.