Five agents from Midcounties Co-operative?s The Personal Travel Agents at Co-operative Travel and Co-operative Travel divisions enjoyed a five-day fam trip to Jamaica, courtesy The Travel Foundation and Sandals Resorts? UK tour operator, Unique Caribbean Holidays.
The agents selected to attend the fam, which took place from September 19 to 24, were those who had generated the highest volume of customer donations to The Travel Foundation in the past 12 months.
Unlike the typical hotel-focused fam, the itinerary took agents on thrilling adventures into ?the real Jamaica?, allowed them to see and experience some of The Travel Foundation and the Sandals Foundation initiatives on the island and featured sustainability-focused workshops run by the two foundations.
The agents enjoyed a ?See & Snorkel? experience at the Whitehouse Marine Sanctuary which is funded by the Sandals Foundation, a visit to the Appleton Estate visitor attraction (courtesy of the Jamaica Tourist Board) a Montego Bay city tour, a visit to the Harbour Street Craft Market and a tour of the Rastafari Indigenous Village.
The group, which included Sheena Whittle - Head of The Personal Travel Agents at Co-operative Travel, Neil Read - Business Development Manager for Sandals Resorts and Graeme Jackson ? Head of Partnerships for The Travel Foundation, plus the five agents, stayed at the Sandals South Coast and Sandals Montego Bay resorts and visited Sandals Negril Beach Resort and Spa, Beaches Negril Beach Resort and Spa, Grand Pineapple Negril and Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort and Private Island.
Sheena Whittle said: ?The aim of the fam was to expand the agents? knowledge and experience in a way that will help them to educate customers to appreciate the impact that they can have on sustaining our world for everyone to enjoy in the future.
?To see first-hand some of the amazing projects was so valuable. We snorkelled over the nursey coral reefs and saw the impact that the newly cultured coral can have, met stallholders at the Harbour Street Craft Market who had undergone Travel Foundation ?Warm Welcome? training, and also visited the Rastafari Indigenous Village, with the Travel Foundation, where we talked to the community about how they have created a sustainable way of living and how they educate others about their lifestyle and values. We all felt incredibly privileged to be experiencing these projects first-hand ? it was truly inspiring.
?The trip was a huge success and will not only help the agents sell more Jamaica and Sandals Resorts holidays in the future but will also give them the confidence to encourage their customers to follow in their footsteps and really explore the island.?
