As a holiday rep, the day after holidaymakers land is the Rep’s Welcome Meeting. On the surface, it was about bringing all the customers together to welcome and connect them…but in reality, it’s about upselling them on all sorts of extras to make more commission. A girl’s got to eat!

Welcome Meeting Day was madness. Three reps each careened to their five hotels, vying for the attention of just-landed holidaymakers to sell them on boat tours. It was exhausting, and it wasn’t working, so we came up with a plan.

We borrowed a large coach, and together we picked up our people and gave them a guided tour of Marmaris on the way to the stunning Netsel Marina. We offloaded them into Pineapple, a breezy seafront restaurant. Instead of a meeting, we were officially welcoming them to Turkiye.

We’d welcome our customers at the restaurant by sprinkling their hands with kolonya. This sweet-scented liquid combines traditional scents – usually based on lemon or citrus – with a high ethanol content. It’s a cleansing, refreshing welcome, traditionally used when entering Turkish homes, restaurants, and religious ceremonies. It’s a beautiful tradition, and it immediately set the tone.

With our guests smelling great, sipping, snacking and enjoying the view, we set to work. Instead of listing the trips we could offer, we gave them an introduction to remember!

The key to accessing Turkiye’s authentic experiences is the Dolmus minibus taxi, so naturally Dolmus training was essential.
Us three reps did a Dolmus sketch, squatting on invisible seats, and grabbing guests to join us on the ride. Soon they were passing Turkish Lire up to the front of the “taxi” to pay, nodding to the chickens riding alongside them, and signalling to the driver when they wanted to get off, thighs and cheeks aching from the silliness.
They loved it, we loved it, and our manager loved how much we were able to sell to the happy, engaged customers.

By connecting them to each other, to the new country they had landed in, to shared experiences and to humour, we created a space where they had taken the first step into Turkiye safely, and where they were ready and raring to take the next steps towards adventure.