A LONG-Established York area travel agent has opened a brand new store in the city centre.

Conexo Travel, which has operated from Haxby for the last 16 years, can also be found now at 12a Gillygate.

Director David Carruthers said that Conexo Travel had been looking for premises in York city centre since the end of the Covid pandemic, after the popular Wallace Arnold store (in Colliergate) closed as a result of the failure of parent coach holiday company Shearings.

Like Colliergate, David said Gillygate was the perfect fit for an independent travel agency as the busy thoroughfare was home to so many other great independent businesses.

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David, who first launched the business in the Raylor Centre, James Street in 2005, said since the end of the pandemic the travelling public had returned to booking their holidays with travel agents.

A survey of holidaymakers by ABTA (post Covid) gave the reasons that ease of booking was their main motivation (44%), followed by having someone to help and support them if something goes wrong.

He said: “At Conexo Travel we recognise these pain points and we are delighted to have seen our business grow very successfully on the back of these client needs.

“York as a city has only a handful of independent travel agencies and Conexo Travel feel that their excellent customer reputation will work for clients who live more centrally.

“Currently most of our clients are from the Haxby and surrounding areas so the move will help to expand our client base substantially.”

The four staff at the new store bring the Conexo total to 11.

David said he could now look back at the challenges of the pandemic with a smile as he recalled how he was the only member of the team working to refund and rebook clients during what was clearly the worst time ever for the travel industry. But he was proud that every person got every penny of their money back.

“This is part of the reason that people have returned to using independent travel agencies like Conexo Travel - we were there when they needed us,” he continued.

But it’s not just peace of mind, Conexo Travel believes it is is an inspirational travel agency to visit.

David added: “Our team has visited so many places and we receive regular training from many different tour operators, as well as the latest offers, upgrades from our great connections with hotels, airlines, cruise lines and travel industry colleagues.

“More importantly, we can share information about places you didn’t know about and with 400 tour operator partners we can assure you there are many to choose from.”