Gef’s 30 Under 30 Winners: Q&A with Bethany Cooper

Ten categories. Thirty young visionaries making their mark on the Isle of Man. Introducing the all-new #Gef30Under30 winners: the next generation of our island’s leaders.

Whether it’s managing a young team in business or leading one to victory out on the court, the Jacksons Leadership winners all know how to command a room.

What is your name and age?

Bethany Cooper, age 23.

Job title or role in the community?

Manager at Perfect Getaways Isle of Man.

How did you start your career or role in the community?

I started in travel when I was just 16 and instantly fell in love. In 2018 I won ‘Young Travel Agent of the Year’ out of UK, Ireland and IOM. I was also a finalist in the Isle of Man Newspaper’s Award for Excellence ‘ Young Achiever of the Year’. I was lucky enough to travel a lot with work visiting many different countries which gave me so much knowledge. In 2020 I was promoted to Assistant Manager and after doing this role for a short period of time, I had a lightbulb moment one day and thought I would love to have my own shop and manage my own team exactly how I would want to be treated. From there, I started researching various different agencies I could look to join and came across a franchise called Perfect Getaways, I loved their structure and everything they believed in so I reached out to them and told them exactly what I wanted to do, I wanted to open up a travel agency in the Isle of Man. At first, they declined and advised they weren’t looking to expand to the island however they agreed to meet me for a chat. After meeting them in the UK for an interview, I managed to convince them to branch out to the Isle of Man and 4 weeks later I started the journey of finding a premises and staff. This was in November 2021 and come January 2022 we opened our shop in Finch Road and now have 4 staff members.

In one sentence, summarise your journey so far as a young and successful person under 30.

Challenging, exciting and rewarding. It’s such a mixed bag of feelings however the rewards make it all worthwhile and no two days are the same.

Tell us about your business/industry, is there something interesting about it that most people wouldn’t expect?

We are an independent travel agency based in the heart of Douglas. In store, we offer our getaway bar serving hot and cold drinks along with our children’s corner with a sweet shop, activities and colouring table. We also have our famous arcade machine which is popular with the dads! This means people can come in and relax knowing the children won’t be bored whilst they are securing happy memories and creates a great relaxing environment. Alongside selling fantastic holidays we are also big supporters of the local community and try to do as much as we can for our island. Last year we made a pledge to donate £10 per booking to Isle Listen during the month of May which resulted in £720 being donated. We also arranged a Christmas gift appeal and managed to donate over 50 sacks of presents to local families.

What changes do you hope to see in your sector or community in the coming years?

As an industry, we are working really hard to reduce our impact on the environment. It’s a no-brainer that travelling isn?t great for the environment. However, we are all taking steps to help us reduce our carbon footprint. For example, more and more hotel chains are aiming to be sustainable by reducing single-waste plastic. Aviation fuels are becoming carbon negative, a cruise line has launched the world’s first battery hybrid powered cruise ship and finally, tourists are committing to protect the places they explore. We as a travel agency will not sell any animal cruelty excursions such as Seaworld, Discovery Cove, and unethical elephant experiences. All our excursions are 100% ethical.

What does being a Gef 30 Under 30 winner mean to you?

It means the world to me, its so nice to be recognised as it’s so easy for young people to not actually realise how well they have done. A lot of people don’t realise the ‘behind the scenes’ of my career – the day-to-day job of being a travel agent is very different to what people may expect. Selling holidays is the easy part, it’s what we are trained to do, it’s all the admin, flight cancellations, being on hand 24/7 for our customers which is the more difficult part and to be recognised as a 30 under 30 winner is just phenomenal and I am looking forward to the future.