2019 will see Mark Wye celebrating 10 years since he took over Lesmon Travel, a Frome-based coach holiday company offering door-to-door tours, that had been set up and run for over 20 years by his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Les and Mon Price.
Mark said, “I really cannot believe that it is 10 years already, the time has flown by. I cannot think of a better way to earn a living. Where else to do you get to travel all over the country, and Europe, and to meet some fantastic people, many of who have become great friends as well?
“We launched our 2019 brochure back in September, and the response has been the best we have ever had, with several of the tours already sold out. We will be visiting a few new places in the coming year, including a Gourmet Weekend over the May Bank Holiday which will visit Melton Mowbray, home of the best pork pies and the Artisan Cheese Fair, and the Harrogate Autumn Flower show. For the first time, we are running a tour to some of the best UK Christmas markets, in addition to our usual Continental Christmas markets.
“Heritage train rides are always popular, and we have four tours that include a steam train journey – the West Somerset railway at Easter, a tour to Scotland in May which includes the world-famous Jacobite railway and summer tours which include the Dartmouth Steam Railway and the Isle of Wight steam trains.
“Slightly further afield, there are tours to the North Coast of Southern Ireland, Disneyland Paris, Bruges & Brussels Christmas Markets and a 10-day tour to one of the best kept secrets of the Adriatic, the island of Krk in Croatia.
“There are also a few of the favourites again such as Mother’s Day in Torquay including the Lost Gardens of Heligan, a visit to Norfolk in the summer including two boat rides on the Broads, Turkey and Tinsel in Bournemouth and even a House Party in Blackpool booked for early 2020!
“After 23 years of working for someone else, becoming self-employed was a major change in my life, but it was a challenge that I relished, and I soon found that many of the skills I had learnt in retailing were things I could use to run and develop the business. Financial controls, delivering the best customer service and planning for the next year were all things that I had done daily. When it is all done for your own business, it becomes more of a pleasure than a chore.
“The coaches we use for our holidays are typically only a year or two old and have all the features you would expect from such modern vehicles, such as climate control, a toilet and tea and coffee facilities. We don’t have any overnight travel, make regular stops on the journeys and the courier on each tour is there to make sure you get to enjoy your holiday in full, from the first day to the last,
“We believe in making your holiday that extra bit special by providing a very personal level of service and, we like to think, a unique holiday experience, from our complimentary door-to-door pick up service, right through to our fully included excursions on all tours. We have a relatively small catchment area, so our pick-ups for each tour generally take around an hour from start to finish, something many other companies simply cannot deliver.
“To check availability for the rest of 2018 and the 2019 tours, to make a booking, for a copy of the full brochure or for more details on any of the tours please give us a call on 01373 472289 or visit our website at www.lesmontravel .co.uk”.
