Shona Thorne: ‘I opened an agency during the recession – people thought I was mad!’

Just a few months later, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano blew its top, and the resultant ash cloud saw flights grounded for a week across Europe in spring 2010, plunging travel into crisis.

“It was a real baptism of fire – those first six months were really challenging,” Thorne recalls. “It was in year two, by the end of 2010, we really started to see the way forward. I kept thinking, ‘it can only get better from here’.”

And it did. Business boomed, helped by enquiries and sales generated via social media, something Thorne Travel has pioneered – particularly with Facebook. The agency also helped other local groups create their own social media accounts, which in turn helped grow Thorne Travel’s customer base.

Thorne said this mixture of business helped the agency thrive. It soon outgrew its original shop, and Thorne managed to find larger premises in Kilwinning in 2014; it was there the idea for Thorne Travel’s now infamous online ad was hatched.

‘Going viral’

“I think we came up with it over a glass of wine,” Thorne explains. “We wanted to do something to celebrate five years in business and our new premises.

"It was meant to be a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun. We wanted to show we were doing thing different. We made the video, and the original plan was just to send it to our customers. Then it went crazy.”

The video, which shows the team power-striding through the town bringing everyone’s holiday wishes to life, went viral and quickly racked up nearly a million views in just a few days, gaining the agency international press coverage.

Thorne Travel was besieged by photographers and journalists. Thorne later revealed she got nearly 20 offers to feature the agency in a documentary or reality show.

“It was very intense for three weeks – the press were following me around,” Thorne says. However, the attention quickly became a burden. "It was horrendous at the start," Thorne continues. "It was putting customers off coming to the shop. Our phone lines and website also crashed."

After about six weeks, the media lost interest, and that’s when business started to take off for Thorne Travel. "We sent a notice to our customers that the press had left – it was just in time for January 2015," Thorne recalls. "It was the start of an outstanding time for the business, and it continued to grow every year until Covid came."

After weathering the pandemic, business picked up strongly in 2022. Thorne expanded to nearby Largs that same year, and to Prestwick last year. “We’ve now got three shops and 24 staff – all the shops are doing really well," says Thorne, proudly. "Prestwick has been outstanding; sales are almost 200% higher than we’d anticipated. We’re extremely pleased."

Award-winning

Thorne Travel has the distinction of being one of the most decorated agencies in the near 10-year history of Top 50 Travel Agencies by TTG after being named Scotland’s top agency five times and the UK and Ireland’s top agency in 2018.

Thorne herself was awarded the TTG Top 50 Contribution to Travel Award in 2024, and the agency is once again shortlisted for top agency in Scotland in 2025.

“It’s massive to be part of the Top 50 as a small agency that’s going up against some big competitors in Scotland,” says Thorne. “People see you’re being recognised for doing really well.

"It’s definitely something clients notice. Since being nominated again, we’ve had lots of congratulations, including bottles of wine and flowers. They seem so pleased we’re getting this kind of recognition.”

So what does the future hold for Thorne Travel? Thorne believes growth will likely be fuelled by an increase in online and digital sales rather than further bricks-and-mortar expansion. To this end, the agency recently increased its digital team to five.

“It’s all about different trends – we’re investing heavily to develop that side of things,” Thorne explains. “Most bookings still come through Facebook, but we have engagement on Instagram and Pinterest, so we can see other platforms taking off for us.”

Another development will see Thorne Travel start to use videos produced by staff on trips to destinations. These will be rolled out via YouTube from January.

“I’m very optimistic – we’ve not stopped growing since Covid,” Thorne enthuses. “There are challenges coming up, the Budget, but that’s not stopped us recruiting. We’ve on taken on four members of staff since October.

"You just have to keep finding ways to give value to your customers.”