Jennifer Lonergan, founder and director, The Luxury Traveller

I got into travel… because my own personal lifestyle and preferences meant I had enjoyed varied holidays for most of my adult life, some more luxurious than others.

My friends and family would frequently ask for my advice and recommendations on where I’d been, what I was planning and what I was booking next.

I started The Luxury Traveller… in 2018, initially as part of a home-working franchise. I then moved onto Abta/Atol-bonded consortia, which better suited my business goals, growth and career development.

The confidence that came from making that move meant I was then able to focus deeply on developing The Luxury Traveller as a brand with existing clients and new customers as well as strengthening relationships within the trade.

This included advertising, implementing a social media strategy and hosting client appreciation events.

I have grown the business… very organically and with no prior travel industry experience. I have built the business from scratch.

I have learnt so much over the past few years, building special relationships with tour operators and gaining clients predominantly through recommendations and word of mouth. I achieved the biggest growth as we came out of the pandemic.

I gained a lot of new clients through personal recommendations and these clients have become extremely loyal repeat customers ever since.

The area of the business growing the most is… luxury, tailor-made travel with special requests. The quality and value of bookings has increased and my clients are putting more trust in me to recommend new and exciting destinations.

I am continuing to build strong relationships. This year I was trusted to organise a wedding vow renewal in Thailand.

I have also been asked to arrange a wedding proposal for a repeat client in the south of France and they want me to organise and oversee every detail to make sure everything is perfect.

The suppliers I have the strongest relationships with include… Carrier, Pure Luxury and Caribtours.

My proudest career achievement is… winning Luxury Seller of the Year at the Aspire Awards, two years in a row! I am extremely proud and it’s certainly a career high. I also recently won Luxury Travel Designer of the Year – United Kingdom at Carrier’s annual awards.

My biggest travel bugbear is... Airlines charging to reserve seats – especially business-class travellers. Airlines in general can cause a lot of disruption, but seats are a particular bugbear.