Glad to be back: Barrhead Travel opens its doors to Newton Mearns customers

And store manager Debbie Ballantyne said she and her team were optimistic for the future as they are beginning to see a rise in bookings for later in the year and into 2021 – with Turkey, Greece and Dubai among the favourites.

While customer and employee welfare remain a key focus, Barrhead Travel is offering in-store appointments in Newton Mearns, as well as a virtual appointment service to help connect with everyone looking for holiday support.

The face-to-face and virtual video appointments complement their online and telephone offering.

Debbie said: “It has been wonderful to be back in store. It really is great to see not only my team but our lovely clients as well who we have missed during lockdown. The past few weeks have been extremely busy as we are working very hard to assist everyone with completing refunds from affected bookings and rebooking any holidays which have had to be cancelled.

“Many of our clients are keen to get rebooked for later on this year and there is a high demand to secure 2021 holidays right now so they can have something to look forward to with their family.

“We have loved being back and helping them make these plans and cannot thank our customers enough for the support and understanding they have shown our team – their encouraging words have meant a lot during this difficult time.”

Local customers have shared their thanks with the Newton Mearns team for saving the day for their family holidays.

Mr and Mrs Millen, who were due to embark on a river cruise in Egypt just after lockdown was announced, said it was great to chat face-to-face with the team, commenting: “Having had to postpone our holiday which we were due to go on just as lockdown started, we were so glad when Barrhead Travel reopened the Mearns branch.

“All our questions and concerns have been dealt with promptly and professionally in a safe environment. The measures that have been taken in store are great, from making appointments to the safety of customers.”

Barrhead Travel closed all stores on March 23 and continued to work with a reduced team to help over 40,000 customers whose holidays had been cancelled.

President Jacqueline Dobson, who is also an East Renfrewshire resident, said it had been a challenging time for the business, the community and the entire industry.

“These last few months have been one of the most challenging that our industry has experienced but we are weathering the storm. I am so proud of all of our employees who have worked incredibly hard to support our customers,” she said.

“It’s not been easy and we are very grateful to all of our customers who have been very understanding as we worked to make contact with tens of thousands of people.

“While travel may not quite yet be back to normal, we’re looking forward to being able to support all of our customers and help make their future holiday dreams come true for later this year, 2021 and beyond.”