Meet the woman who knows just how to help you plan the holiday of a lifetime

Then Jenny Westwood is the woman to ask. Her job as a travel consultant has taken her around the world. Jenny has more than 35 years of experience and plans tailor-made trips for individuals, couples, families, groups and business clients.

Her job is to turn dreams into reality while taking care of every detail so that all they have to worry about is packing their bags.

“They tell me where they want to go and I build an itinerary for them. I research the flight options, where they can stay, what they can look at, everything to do with it.

“I then go back to the client with the itinerary and when they are happy, I book everything,” says Jenny, who lives in Shrewsbury.

Her career in the travel industry began in 1983 at the age of 16 and she has worked for a number of travel agencies over the years.

“It’s one of those businesses that’s very hard to leave because you become so passionate about travel and building a nice itinerary for people.

“A lot of travel agents leave but end up coming back because it’s a lovely business to be in because generally everybody you are dealing with is happy,” she tells Weekend.

In 2014, Jenny joined Spear Travels, based at their branch in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.

During the 2020 Covid lockdown, Jenny started working from home and is now a home-based Spear Travels Associate.

“Over the years, I’ve built up lot of clients that book directly with me so that gave me the confidence to work from home.

“I’m self-employed but have the backing of Spear Travels which has 11 offices and eight other home workers.”

Jenny says one of the benefits of working remotely is that she can be available to speak to and meet clients outside of normal office opening hours, making it easier for people who work full-time during the day.

“Clients can come to my house or I can come to them. I can do evenings or weekends, there are no restrictions.

“I can offer more flexibility for people. It suits me, it’s a flexible job and it works really well,” she tells Weekend.

Getting to know her clients and being able to offer very personalised recommendations are among the highlights of the job.

“My clients have become more like friends over the years. I’m very passionate about what I do and they appreciate that. They know that I’ll go the extra mile for them,” explains Jenny.

Hearing about their adventures when they return is the ultimate job satisfaction – although sometimes they can’t wait until they get home to tell her how much they are enjoying their holiday.

“A lot of clients will WhatsApp me while they are away. I feel part of their trip so it’s really lovely,” says Jenny.

Travellers can also be assured that she is always on standby if any issues happen to arise.

“They can contact me and I can talk to the right people and sort it out,” she explains.

Booking a package holiday through a travel company, such as Spear Travels, which works closely with a number of different tour operators, also offers financial protection, says Jenny.

“During lockdown, there was an issue with people booking flights directly with airlines and booked their hotels separately.

“If their flight was cancelled, they couldn’t get a refund for the hotel because it hadn’t been booked as part of a package. With a package holiday, if one element falls through, the whole package is refundable.”

When she’s not planning other people’s holidays, Jenny loves travelling and keeping up-to-date on the newest hotels and attractions.

“The tour operators we work with organise familiarisation trips to some incredible places so you can see the hotels. I’ve been to places like Dubai and the Maldives, it’s a really nice part of the job,” says Jenny.

She says clients often get travel inspiration from television programmes such as ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream, which was filmed on Greek island of Corfu.

“A lot of people wanted to go to Sicily because the second series of The White Lotus is set there. Jane McDonald’s travel programmes are also very popular. People see these incredible places that look fantastic and they want to go there. I did a Japan booking on the back of one of her programmes,” explains Jenny.

Among the itineraries she has planned for this year are trips for rugby fans attending the Hong Kong Sevens and football supporters travelling to Germany for Euro 2024.

“It’s a very rewarding job,” says Jenny. “I just love it when a client gives me a holiday idea and I make it a reality. People work so hard so a holiday is a massive thing for them. It’s so important to get it right when they have saved up their hard-earned money and want to get away stress-free. I make sure they can just pack their bags and everything is sorted for them,” she adds.

For travel advice, call Jenny on 07712 351819 or email jenny.westwood@speartravels.net