The Manchester Masters Blog

So here it is my second blog… we’re now 6 months in and half way through our Manchester Masters journey (How time flies…did I use that cliché in may last blog?… never mind!).

My second placement was with Expotel Hotel Reservations Ltd, a corporate HBA (Hotel Booking Agent…. get with it!). When I first arrived I was surprised to learn, (and they weren’t shy about telling me), that they are the largest HBA in the UK, booking over 2 million room nights a year and managing big name clients such as Virgin Media. I worked as part of “The Commercial Team” which comprised of the Commercial Director, rates negotiation team and two commercial executives (one for Hotels and one for Travel). I entered the company at roughly the same time as a new marketing manager was hired. This all turned out to contribute toward a very unique and rewarding experience as the new marketing manager was keen for me to become involved in as much as possible.

My main role at Expotel was to keep on top of their newly developed website which went live two days after my arrival. The aim of the site was to increase functionality in terms of the amount of users the site was capable of handling at any one time, but also to give Expotel a platform on which to launch into the highly competitive and extremely value led world of consumer leisure travel. – One of the best experiences I gained from working for Expotel was my visit to World Travel Market 2009. All in all it was a fascinating week in which I learnt the ‘Hard Sell’ of business, met numerous new contacts and had a lot of laughs (especially with our biggest rival Expedia on the stand across from us – see picture of Dave our commercial exec below). Overall my time at the company encapsulated the work hard, play hard philosophy. Everyone within the company had an excellent work ethic and were equally willing to let their hair down and socialize when appropriate… (Anyone who goes on to work for a HBA as part of the scheme or otherwise will realize that a huge perk of the HBA industry is the free hotels).

So bring on 2010! – it’s saddening to think two placements have gone, but exciting to think i’ve got two still to go! – Next up, Creative Spark a Branding and Web Design agency in the city centre… who knows what the next 3 months will bring…

Cheers,

Tom