Ally Case has to be one of the most-travelled people in Dorset.

The world really has been her oyster as she’s explored far and distant lands.

Over the last decade as a Travel Counsellor she’s also been responsible for arranging the holiday plans for hundreds of clients.

And now she’s celebrating her own personal milestone after being named as a Gold Travel Counsellor.

It means she has grown her travel business, which sits under the Travel Counsellors umbrella, to a turnover of more than £1 million in the past year.

Around ten per cent of Travel Counsellors 1,900 franchisees across six countries achieve the accolade.

Ally, who lives in Southbourne, said: “It’s quite a feat post-Covid and after the last two and a half years.

“I was near ‘Gold’ before the pandemic and then everything went flat.

“I feel very proud but I absolutely love what I do.”

Ally, who is married to Martin, a Custody Sergeant with Dorset Police, fell in love with the travel industry 35+ years ago.

After leaving college and initially working in an office – “it was so boring” – she saw an advert for cabin crew, eventually joining Dan-Air.

But, said Ally: “While it was enjoyable I preferred to have my feet on the ground.”

After ten years with Travelbag, latterly as a Sales Manager, she joined Going Places as Manager of its Salisbury branch, tasked with increasing revenue to £2 million.

It was the late 1990s, and Ally achieved the target, but her love affair with travel was fading.

She said: “I didn’t like working in retail.

“You’re an order taker but it wasn’t what I was used to as I like to tailor-make holidays.

“I left travel altogether because, for me, the personal service had gone out of it.

“You had targets and it wasn’t about selling your customers what they wanted, it was selling your customers what you got told to sell them.”

After retraining as a sports massage therapist and opening Blandford Health and Beauty with her in-laws, Ally left the UK to travel in Australia where she also passed a business degree.

In 2010 Ally, who was now back in the UK, founded her own travel business, A Reason To Travel, before deciding to join Travel Counsellors two years later.

A decade on and her first client, now aged 86, is still with her.

Her database has swelled so some 1,200 people, many of whom have had their holidays arranged by Ally.

She said: “I offer a very personal, bespoke service.

“I’m totally independent.

“I can promote whatever I want to but I tend to do a lot of tailor-made travel.

“I’m self-employed but have the buying power of head office.

“We work with ground handlers in different countries and cut out the middleman so we’re like tour operators in our own right but with 100 per cent financial protection.

“I’ll ask you questions such as ‘What do you like to do? What sort of standard are you looking for? Can you walk? Do you want adventure?

“I can be dealing with anything from a lodge in Cornwall to an around the world cruise.

“It’s a lovely industry to work in.

“Everywhere you go you can talk about travel and holidays.

“Most people are happy to go away and happy when they come back.

“Very rarely do you get a disgruntled customer if you’ve done it right.”

Ally is assisted by her daughter, Danielle, 21, who looks after the admin and is currently studying for an Open University degree.

Apart from her family, she credits two people with helping her to achieve Gold status.

Life coach Becki Houlston, pictured left – profiled in Dorset Biz News earlier this year – has been “just amazing” while Paul Dawe, Owner of CMP (UK) Ltd, has been a constant friend and mentor.

Ally, 55, said: “If I want to pick up a phone and rant or rave or just get some advice, I’ll ask Paul.

“We met through networking. He’s really grounded and has built his business up from scratch.

“Becki has helped me so much. She’s just amazing.

“Like a lot of people, the last three years have made me grateful for what I’ve got.

“I count myself very lucky to do a job I absolutely love.”

• travelcounsellors.co.uk/ally.case/