A TRAVEL AGENCY from Colwyn Bay opened its second store in Prestatyn yesterday (June 6).
Snowdonia Travel, which already has a store on Sea View Road in Colwyn Bay, celebrated opening another store on Prestatyn’s High Street.
The business is owned by Darren Owen, who started the agency after being made redundant by Thomas Cook in 2019 after 28 years at the company.
The redundancy left him “devastated” after working for them for so long, but also spurred him on to start his own business.
Surviving the “extremely tough” and “worrying” Covid-19 lockdown, the business’ success has exceeded “anything he could have dreamed of”.
In a post on social media, Mr Owen said: “Five years ago I was made redundant by Thomas Cook after working for them for 28 years - at the time I was completely devastated after working for the company for so long.
“I decided to use my redundancy after a lot of encouragement from family and friends to open my first store in Colwyn Bay, in the town where I started my travel career at the age of 16.
“Six months after opening Covid happened and the whole country went into lockdown and suddenly nobody was allowed to go on holiday.
“This was an extremely tough and worrying time with long hours working from home, amending and cancelling people's holiday but not earning any money as I wasn't allowed to furlough myself, but thankfully I was able to furlough the team.
“Once lockdown came to an end and people were able to travel again it was a great feeling.
“People who hadn't used a travel agent in years started booking with us due to the restrictions and were surprised that we were the same price as online or cheaper.
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“Since lockdown the sales in Colwyn Bay have exceeded anything I could have dreamed of.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to every one of you that has chosen to book your holiday with me and my team and allow me to carry on doing the job I love.
“Without your support it would never have been possible to expand the business and open a second store.”
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