The 80s sports star
While most client requests are for a product or service, Travel Counsellor Abi Prescott – who has more than 40 years of travel industry experience – found herself playing detective for one particular wish. Abi was working on a luxury family holiday enquiry to Antigua when the customer’s partner approached her with an unusual task.
They asked her if she could track down West Indies cricket hero Sir Andy Roberts, who was once a close friend of their partner’s. However, they lost touch after Roberts retired to Antigua, and hadn’t seen each other since the 1980s.
Determined to reconnect the long lost friends, Abi embarked on a mission to get in touch with the bowler. Once she made contact with Roberts, she asked him if he would be willing to surprise her client when he arrived in Antigua, ensuring a highly emotional reunion between the two men.
The £3 million submarine yacht
With superyacht charters often runnings to hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, it’s little wonder these bookings come with some stiff demands.
One luxury advisor, who did not wish to be named, revealed to TTG how he organised a £3 million booking to the Arctic, which included a litany of pricey requests, including an “icebreaking superyacht with a submarine and a helicopter”.
The client also asked for a top-notch camera, certain newspapers and their favourite foods to be flown in privately for the 10-day trip.
The last-minute proposal
Sometimes, it’s not the client’s request itself that’s extreme, but the notice given to fulfil it. Karen Thornton swung into action when a client asked her to plan a proposal in Dubai – just 11 days before their departure.
Having worked as a travel consultant for more than 30 years, Thornton – another Travel Counsellor – flipped open her little black book of contacts to help arrange the surprise.
It wasn’t long before she’d secured a party supplier to deliver some "Will You Marry Me?" balloons to the hotel reception, who then decorated the couple’s suite with flowers and champagne while they were out at dinner.
Thornton said that despite a lot of “to-ing and fro-ing” in the lead up to the big day, the proposal went perfectly with the client’s girlfriend enthusiastically accepting.
The impromptu dog-sitter
Daniel Henry Adams, who is also a Travel Counsellor, volunteered to take care of a customer’s dog while they were abroad – for two whole weeks. The Fulham-based agent had no second thoughts about stepping in, with dog-sitting costing up to £80 a night in London.
“When a client nearly has to cancel a holiday because a dog-sitter let them down, what was I to do?” said Adams after receiving a panicked call. “I know them fairly well," Adams continued. "They really needed to get away as they’d had a difficult year – I really felt for them.”
Adams added the last-minute arrangement worked out so well, he has since offered to host the client’s Jack Russell again during their upcoming holiday to Japan after it got on well with his own dog. “He’s very handsome, but is easily distracted and sleeps a lot on the job!”
The special delivery
Finally, there’s the story of the client who asked their agent to deliver a specific brand of baby formula from the UK to their suite in the Maldives.
The agent, who also did not wish to be named, explained the hadn’t taken any formula with them on the holiday having planned to rely on breastfeeding for the week-long trip.
Despite the hotel offering to source a generic brand, the client was determined to get hold of the one she uses back home. “They didn’t even think it was that unusual a request” the agent told TTG.
