An Instagram message from Olive Lounge Travel to Race Across the World series 4 contenders Betty and James Mukherjee has led to a collaboration that’s boosted the Yorkshire agency’s profile.
The sister and brother duo came third in the show that aired earlier this year, but won the hearts of viewers as they faced dramatic events throughout the 50-day 15,000km race from Japan to Indonesia – including James getting his cash stolen in Cambodia and Betty leaving their passports on a bus in Malaysia.
Viewers also found out Social Media and Events Manager Betty was diagnosed with MRKH (Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser) Syndrome, having no uterus or womb and only one kidney. Sales Consultant James admitted: “It’s only up until now I realise how much it does actually affect her.”
Fans took to social media to say they were left in tears at the touching moment the siblings’ accompanying cameraman went over to embrace James when he asked: “Can somebody just hug me please?”
After the show was aired, Joanne Edwards and Gillian Polyhos, co-founders of Olive Lounge Travel in Cross Hills, between Keighley and Skipton, contacted Betty via Instagram to ask if the pair would take part in an evening event where they could meet guests and answer questions.
Betty and James with the Olive Lounge Travel team at the Let’s Travel the World with Betty and James event and in Kos
Gillan said: “We didn’t know them beforehand, although Betty had recently moved to Silsden which is our home town.”
The agency sold tickets on Eventbrite at £20 per head including a welcome drink and Far East-inspired meal. The event, called Let’s Travel the World with Betty and James, took place last week with 88 guests and raised £1,276,000 for playground equipment at Hai Pin School in Ipoh, Malaysia. The money was raised through an auction of prizes donated from trade suppliers including JTA, easyJet, Leeds Bradford Airport, Premier Holidays, Red Sea Holidays, Travelpack, Wendy Wu, APT, Contiki, Palladium Hotels and The Travel Network Group.
Gillian said: “The school is very close to Betty and James’ hearts. Having lost their passports in Malaysia, a lovely teacher at the school took them into their home during their traumatic experience and the pair went along to meet the pupils.”
The weekend before, Joanne and Gillian took Betty and James on a trip to Kos and are hoping to do further collaborations after the siblings raised Olive Lounge Travel’s online profile by mentioning the agency on their Instagram accounts, which have a total of 55,000 followers.
Gillian added: “We saw the fam trip with Betty and James as being a great opportunity for PR generally and to increase our profile amongst a particular demographic, ie the 18-30 market, with the amount of followers they have.
“They both referenced us on their Instagram accounts and it was great publicity for Olive Lounge Travel. We monitor our Instagram account interactions and in the last 30 days including the event and the trip we’ve had 95,000 views, which is a great result.
“Our profile visits have gone up by 293%, profile activity up 294% on Instagram and new followers on Facebook 184% up. The reel we posted from Kos has a watch time of over 11 hours and the clip was only 59 seconds long.”
The agency has paid for the collaboration but hasn’t said how much.
“We’ve had a number of new enquiries on the back of the event and fam trips, and also increased followers on both our Facebook and Instagram social media channels. Whilst the trip was offered as a ‘paid-for’ activity for Betty and James, we feel the investment has more than paid off and we will monitor their profiles as travel-related influencers and if suitable opportunities arise in the future we agreed to look at collaborating again”, said Gillian.
“Whilst on the trip, Betty and James said they’d love to work with Olive Lounge Travel, and were genuinely interested in doing further partnerships going forward.”
If you loved Race Across the World, a new series of Celebrity Race Across the World started this week on BBC1 and iPlayer.
Top picture credit: BBC
The post Independent agency gets boost from Race Across the World’s Betty and James appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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The sister and brother duo came third in the show that aired earlier this year, but won the hearts of viewers as they faced dramatic events throughout the 50-day 15,000km race from Japan to Indonesia – including James getting his cash stolen in Cambodia and Betty leaving their passports on a bus in Malaysia.
Viewers also found out Social Media and Events Manager Betty was diagnosed with MRKH (Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser) Syndrome, having no uterus or womb and only one kidney. Sales Consultant James admitted: “It’s only up until now I realise how much it does actually affect her.”
Fans took to social media to say they were left in tears at the touching moment the siblings’ accompanying cameraman went over to embrace James when he asked: “Can somebody just hug me please?”
After the show was aired, Joanne Edwards and Gillian Polyhos, co-founders of Olive Lounge Travel in Cross Hills, between Keighley and Skipton, contacted Betty via Instagram to ask if the pair would take part in an evening event where they could meet guests and answer questions.
Betty and James with the Olive Lounge Travel team at the Let’s Travel the World with Betty and James event and in Kos
Gillan said: “We didn’t know them beforehand, although Betty had recently moved to Silsden which is our home town.”
The agency sold tickets on Eventbrite at £20 per head including a welcome drink and Far East-inspired meal. The event, called Let’s Travel the World with Betty and James, took place last week with 88 guests and raised £1,276,000 for playground equipment at Hai Pin School in Ipoh, Malaysia. The money was raised through an auction of prizes donated from trade suppliers including JTA, easyJet, Leeds Bradford Airport, Premier Holidays, Red Sea Holidays, Travelpack, Wendy Wu, APT, Contiki, Palladium Hotels and The Travel Network Group.
Gillian said: “The school is very close to Betty and James’ hearts. Having lost their passports in Malaysia, a lovely teacher at the school took them into their home during their traumatic experience and the pair went along to meet the pupils.”
The weekend before, Joanne and Gillian took Betty and James on a trip to Kos and are hoping to do further collaborations after the siblings raised Olive Lounge Travel’s online profile by mentioning the agency on their Instagram accounts, which have a total of 55,000 followers.
Gillian added: “We saw the fam trip with Betty and James as being a great opportunity for PR generally and to increase our profile amongst a particular demographic, ie the 18-30 market, with the amount of followers they have.
“They both referenced us on their Instagram accounts and it was great publicity for Olive Lounge Travel. We monitor our Instagram account interactions and in the last 30 days including the event and the trip we’ve had 95,000 views, which is a great result.
“Our profile visits have gone up by 293%, profile activity up 294% on Instagram and new followers on Facebook 184% up. The reel we posted from Kos has a watch time of over 11 hours and the clip was only 59 seconds long.”
The agency has paid for the collaboration but hasn’t said how much.
“We’ve had a number of new enquiries on the back of the event and fam trips, and also increased followers on both our Facebook and Instagram social media channels. Whilst the trip was offered as a ‘paid-for’ activity for Betty and James, we feel the investment has more than paid off and we will monitor their profiles as travel-related influencers and if suitable opportunities arise in the future we agreed to look at collaborating again”, said Gillian.
“Whilst on the trip, Betty and James said they’d love to work with Olive Lounge Travel, and were genuinely interested in doing further partnerships going forward.”
If you loved Race Across the World, a new series of Celebrity Race Across the World started this week on BBC1 and iPlayer.
Top picture credit: BBC
The post Independent agency gets boost from Race Across the World’s Betty and James appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
