WESTERN BUREAU:
SEVERAL EMPLOYEES of Leisure for Pleasure Holidays and Tours (LPH) basked in the honour of their company claiming the Top Producing Local Travel Agency Award for 2022 during Sunday’s Palladium Escape Weekend Travel Partners Event, held at the Grand Palladium Resort in Lucea, Hanover.
LPH Tours, which has been in operation since 1999 and which is the tour operator in Jamaica for the Marella Cruises line, came out ahead of fellow travel agencies Expression Travel and 7th Heaven to claim the prize during Sunday’s award ceremony, which was the climactic event for the Palladium Hotel Group’s three-day Palladium Escape Weekend that began on December 16.
Judith James-Watt, LPH Tours’ managing director, was beaming with pride over the company’s copping of Sunday’s award, following up on its previous claiming of the award in 2021.
“It feels great to once again win the Top Producer Local Travel Agency Award from the Grand Palladium. This shows that dedication, hard work, team effort, striving to give quality service at all times, and having loyal clients are some of the keys to success,” said James-Watt.
“You have to be passionate about your products and services, think outside the box, be creative, and try to provide excellent service at all times. You must keep abreast of happenings in the industry and know about your competition,” James-Watt added. “Additionally, you must always seek to improve your knowledge about your products and the industry.”
Sunday’s award is LPH Tours’ latest achievement to be added to the many honours the travel agency has claimed over the years, to include its copping the 2004 Royal Caribbean Cruise Award as the third highest producer in cruise sales in Jamaica; the 2013-2014 award as the number one producer with Cuba Cruise Sales from Jamaica; and the 2015 award for the number one top producer for Iberostar Rose Hall Beach and Spa Resort.
Merricka Dyer-Cunningham, the country sales manager for Grand Palladium Jamaica and Lady Hamilton Resort and Spa, showered praises on LPH Tours for its keen attention to detail which helped it to claim the award.
“What I do appreciate with this company is that their owner and managing director takes the time to learn about Grand Palladium, to badger me to ensure that I provide them with the best rates and packages. But it is all in an effort to sell this property to her clients, and Grand Palladium appreciates you because not only are you the top producing in the local market, you have literally taken almost 60 per cent of the entire production for the local market, and that is impressive,” said Dyer-Cunningham.
