By Travel Gossip Reporters
Snowdonia Travel boss Darren Owen has heaped praised on partner group Brilliant Travel for helping his business through the COVID pandemic – and bouncing back to launch his second store.
Former Thomas Cook manager Darren used his redundancy payout in 2019 to start his own agency in Colwyn Bay. Last week saw him double up, with the opening of a second outlet 15 miles along the north Wales coast in Prestatyn.
“It’s been an incredible journey of ups and downs since I launched the business back in 2019,” said Darren. “We could have never predicted what would happen with Covid but we had phenomenal encouragement from the local community. Since travel returned, the Colwyn Bay store exceeded every expectation I had – so it made sense to start looking at second location.
“The support from Linda and the team at Brilliant Travel was amazing – particularly during the pandemic. Helping us navigate the complexities of what government assistance was available to us meant that we were able to emerge from COVID in a really strong position.”
Darren’s success has been built on the experience of his staff and that looks likely to continue with the latest opening. He worked at Thomas Cook for 33 years, and the new team of six have a combined 130 years of travel know-how between them.
Linda Pyle, Director of Barrhead-owned Brilliant Travel, said: “It’s always great to see our members succeed and grow – but Darren’s journey has been even more special given how quickly he’s been able to accelerate the business despite Covid shutting down the world just six months after opening.
“His loyalty to his customers and community – as well as his breadth of knowledge – has stood him in great stead as locals have flocked to him and his team to book their holidays.
“We wish him the best of luck for the new store and can’t wait to see how the business progresses from here.”