Better times ahead

Guest Blog by Neil Gannon, our Inside Sales Account Manager

The first morning of our UK lockdown in March 2020 was quite a surreal experience. I remember waking up and being used to the sounds of cars ploughing past, horns blaring and the innocent chatter of people going about their everyday lives, but suddenly being faced with this vacuum of silence. Just the gentle sounds of birds chirping away, unaware of what was going on in the world they lived in.

Working in the travel industry, my mind quickly turned to the people who I helped in my everyday life get from point A to point B. Travel has always been an integral part of so many people’s lives, whether it be for that sunny getaway, for enriching their minds on a field trip, for that important meeting to close a deal, or even to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Now it was being shut away – the travel door being locked and the key thrown away. I worried for those people, and I also worried for myself. Without the airports being busy, without hotels being packed full of tourists, without trains and the metro system being used, my role and a lot of other people’s roles within the travel industry may be left as desolate as the streets would end up being.

My worst fears were realised – I was left surplus to requirements. The career that I’d longed for, that I’d wanted for so long in travel, was over. Many other talented, skilled workers were in the same boat; their unique skillset and knowledge of travel systems were being cast aside due to this terrible pandemic.

Time flies, and this morning I woke up with a spring in my step – my first morning working at Diversity Travel, back within the sector that I love. It has been a long 18 months, but what it’s shown me is that the human race and its curiosity to travel is resilient. I was met with new fellow workers who shared the same joy for helping other people. For so many of us, it has been a long, arduous time, but there is a huge beacon of light at the end of the tunnel. The world is slowly opening again thanks to the wonders of modern science and the willpower of people to get back to normal.

There is a long way to go yet, but the steps have already started, and I’m just delighted more than anything to be back involved in the environment that I enjoy.