- First new store the company has opened for two years
- Sign of confidence in retail as demand for travel takes off
DEMAND for overseas holidays has prompted worldwide travel company Kuoni to open a new shop in the centre of Aberdeen, which is due to open on 8 April 2022.
The new store will be located at 14, Back Wynd and will be staffed by a team of well-travelled experts, managed by Chris.Winpenny-Cushine.
After two years of disrupted travel plans, many people in the city and surrounding areas are desperate to enjoy trips overseas again with places like the Maldives, Mauritius, Bali, Africa and Italy in demand.
Kuoni originally came to Aberdeen in 2013 when it opened within the city’s John Lewis store, but closed a year ago when John Lewis & Partners announced shop closures alongside its own business review.
Over the past two years Kuoni has won praise from consumer groups and the national media for its flexible approach to cancellations and re-bookings during the pandemic, being awarded Which? Recommended Provider status.
The company, which has been in the UK market for more than 50 years, is famous for premium worldwide holidays and special occasion trips, including honeymoons, which make up around 25 per cent of all bookings.
Kuoni Aberdeen manager Chris said: “It’s great to be opening our store in Aberdeen again. It’s been a year since we closed our store within John Lewis so for the past year the Aberdeen team has been working from home with our virtual call centre. We’ve continued to use our travel expertise to reshape and plan travel for our customers, so we’ve stayed with the business throughout. We are a trusted brand and have always had very loyal customers so felt confident that opening our own store would be a great opportunity just as travel is taking off again.”
“It will be amazing to have our regular customers and new customers back in-store planning their next holiday. We can’t wait to open the doors and welcome everyone back.”
A team of two will be ready to welcome customers through the door made up of Chris and Ariana Feroz, with a third member of the team being recruited. Between them they’ve visited more than 20 destinations and they are all focused on planning bespoke holidays for clients with a strong emphasis on advice and service from the planning stage through to returning home.
This will be Kuoni’s 31st shop in the UK and the company has signalled that it will continue to look at new store locations in the year ahead.
