TravelGate an independent travel agency located in the centre of Harrogate, has opened its doors following England’s second lockdown in-spite the challenges it has faced since March in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the Albert Street company is urging people to remember their local travel businesses when the world opens up for travel in 2021.
As a result of the Covid-19 crisis, the travel industry found itself in a unique position, with companies like TravelGate having to deal with a devastating reduction in revenues alongside the huge undertaking of managing customer cancellations, trip postponements and refunds.
People within the travel industry have also had to navigate ever-changing rules and regulations with ‘travel corridors’ opening and closing on a weekly basis. The announcement of the second lockdown and travel ban was another blow for TravelGate but now Melanie O’Boyle from TravelGate thinks things could be looking up.
Melanie O’Boyle from TravelGate said:
We’ve always prided ourselves on being able to advise the best places to visit, the best time of year and what travel documents, inoculations or currency might be required. We’re experts at what we do and we’re passionate about holidays!
Who would have thought that by the end of 2020, we’d need to add to that an understanding of which destination you’d be allowed to go to, what forms you’d need to show, what tests you’d need to have done and how long you’d need to quarantine on entry or on return? Our customers have understood and benefited from using us to assist them in planning their holidays and trips and in these uncertain times having an expert by your side every step of the way is becoming ever more important.
We are starting to see some positive shoots of recovery. The news of a vaccination on the horizon is helping people feel more confident about future travel, the removal of the travel ban and the re-implementation of travel corridors means that those people who want to travel can do so. We’re hopeful that we will start to see our customers again soon and to get back to what we love to do – help them to find their long-awaited perfect holiday.
TravelGate is a family run independent business and has been operating in Harrogate for 5 years and together they have over 20 years of experience in the travel industry.
Hi TravelGate, I’d like to arrange an exotic walk to Starbeck (or maybe even Knaresborough if I’m feeling really adventurous) but I think that’s about the limit of what I’ll be able to do legally for the next few months.