The Coach Tourism Association annual conference is well known for its top level presentations, one-to-one workshop meetings, and social  networking,  but few delegates ever realised that making a winning bid for a charity auction prize could lead to a new tour programme.

But that’s exactly what happened when Barry Cobb of Johnsons Coach and Bus Travel made the winning £600 bid for a Hovertravel VIP Experience at the CTA’s 2019 event. The offer from Hovertravel included sole use  of a hovercraft, meeting up with the Captain and crew at the Southsea Terminal, a demonstration of how the hovercraft works, and a flight across the Solent to Ryde in the Isle of Wight.

Says Barry: “My initial gut feeling was correct as, when launched we sold the entire 78 seats in a morning, and we quickly built up a wait list that exceeded the maximum pay load”.

With that sort of enthusiastic demand from customers Johnsons and Hovertravel soon sorted out a new group rate and carried over 200 passengers on the Hovercraft VIP excursion by the Summer.

Said Pat Sowerbutts of Hovertravel: “Barry’s enthusiasm was shared by his customers as we have now built up a regular schedule of excursions with Johnsons and we have had the opportunity to introduce our exciting hovercraft flights to hundreds of more passengers thanks to that initial auction. We look forward to continuing with our excellent working relationship with Hovertravel in 2020”.

All the more reason that, if you are a CTA member, you’d better make sure you are registered for the 2020 CTA conference from Feb 23-25 in York.