TravelMole Time Traveller: UK editor-in-chief Bev Fearis
TravelMole UK editor-in-chief Bev Fearis is this week's Time Traveller, sponsored by HarpWallen
What was your first job in travel?
I joined Travel Weekly as hotels and business travel reporter in 1995. Before then I had worked on various local and regional newspapers. It was tough learning about a whole new industry and I was so nervous before my first face-to-face interview. It was with Andrew Coppell, the then chief executive of Queens Moat Houses, which was just coming out of a difficult financial spell. A few weeks later I was invited on my first trip, a Kuonifam trip to the Seychelles. That’s when I knew this was the life for me!
What was the high point of your career?
Like most journalists, I would have to say the highs are every time you get an exclusive story. In today’s fast-paced online media world, this means getting a story out first. Every morning it’s a race. You win some, you lose some, but it’s great when you win. Meeting Bruce Willis on a trip to the Turks and Caicos was also up there.
What was the low point?
This is an easy one. It was at the GTMC Conference in Dubai in 1996. One afternoon we all had to take part in a Beach Olympics. In the final relay swimming race I emerged from the sea, in front of the entire membership of the Guild, without realising that my swimsuit had slipped down to my waist. I was absolutely mortified – and they never let me forget it.
What's your biggest regret?
Wearing that swimsuit.
What would you be doing now if you weren't in travel?
When I started my journalism career I had dreamed of being a hard-nosed TV news reporter, so maybe if I hadn’t been lured by the glamour of the travel industry I would have been the next Kate Adie.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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