Travelmole Time Traveller: Advantage’s Colin O’Neill
Then……and now
In this week's Time Traveller, sponsored by Harp Wallen, Colin O'Neill, Advantage Travel Centres sales and marketing director, takes a trip down memory lane…
What was your first job in travel?
I started my career in the tobacco industry with Rothmans International but entered the travel industry in the early 1980’s as national field sales manager with Sealink British Ferries, later to become Stena Line. Rothmans was a great company to work for, particularly in the area of staff training and development, but selling travel products is much easier and more enjoyable than cigarettes.
What was the high point of your career?
Given that I still have a number of career years to go, the highest point in my career to date is probably what we (not I) have achieved at Advantage Travel Centres. Over the last few years in particular we have continued to grow membership and improve our offering, which is rewarding in itself. However, we have also continued to grow our standing in the industry, which is very important to me as an individual.
What was the low point?
Undoubtedly the low point was a couple of years ago when we made a number of redundancies in the central sales team. Whilst it was clearly the right decision from a business perspective, they were great people and I felt real compassion.
What's your biggest regret?
Twenty years ago I was given the chance to invest in an individual who was good at inventing products. For an investment of £15,000 I was offered a 5% stake in his business. At the time I declined the offer and, as we all know, James Dyson has gone on to be a very successful businessman.
True story? No, not a word of it, but I don’t really have any regrets.
What would you be doing now if you weren't in travel?
Apart from the schoolboy dream of becoming a fighter pilot, I would have probably gone back into the fast moving consumer goods sector. Prior to joining Thomson Holidays (where I was general sales manager), I had the opportunity to join a well-known fizzy drinks company but decided to remain in travel – I'm glad I did.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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