With a wanderlust instilled by her dad, footballer’s wife Jennifer Lonergan has turned her love of seeing the world into an award-winning business that is helping other people experience luxury holidays around the globe.
When it comes to living the dream, Jennifer Lonergan is well on her way. The 40-year-old mum of two girls is happily married to a high-flying footballer. But what’s different about this footballer’s wife is the drive and ambition which has seen a girl from Preston become a world traveller and business success thanks to her company, The Luxury Traveller.
Jennifer, who has been with former Everton goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan since they were 17, stumbled across the job she was meant to have. Now, she is the go-to for footballers and high-profile clientele across the country when it comes to planning a trip that will make lasting memories, as she revealed to Lancashire Life.
And it is not just far-flung destinations Jennifer has an eye for. When it comes to holidays in Lancashire, she has warm words for the luxe Everything Retreat, Mellor in the Ribble Valley, where she stayed in a South Africa-themed pod.
‘It’s beautiful. It has 30 beautiful luxury wooden pods and there’s a bar and they host events,’ she says. ‘Andrew booked it as a surprise for my birthday so, if we ever have a weekend we want to be local, we love to head there. It’s somewhere I recommend to clients as well. But I can think of so many places in Lancashire that are absolutely gorgeous.’
It all started with a travel bug - and Jen’s came from her dad.
‘My dad is obsessed with travelling. He never believes in going to the same place twice - that’s 100 per cent where I’ve got this passion from,’ says Jennifer. ‘He was a policeman and he worked overtime to save up to make sure we could go on family holidays.’
Thankfully, Jennifer’s partner is as into travel as she is, and they often enjoy getaways together. But it became more than a hobby in 2017, when she launched Luxury Traveller.
‘I’d had my second daughter and my husband got a move to London. I like to be busy, and I like a challenge,’ she says. ‘Travel has always been something I am passionate about. When it was just me and Andrew, and then we started a family, I always wanted to go to different places.’
Jennifer’s family is at the centre of everything, and she and Andrew, who has recently moved to Wigan Athletic as a player-coach, have worked hard to make a happy home for Millie, 17, and Grace, nine. Millie was born with phenylketonuria, a rare metabolic condition which meant Jennifer was a stay-at-home mum to monitor her diet to manage the issue. Now, almost 18, Jennifer says Millie’s independence means she can travel more.
Before the business, when Andrew - who also had a spell at Bolton Wanderers - told his footballing colleagues about places they had been, Jennifer became a natural influencer, recommending good places to stay, where to eat and spend days. But she still seems slightly surprised that that is all it took.
‘It kind of organically happened,’ she says. ‘It wasn’t something I thought, “I want to be a business owner or travel company”.’
Read more fantastic interviews inside the latest edition of Lancashire Life
After its launch in 2017, Jennifer’s phone was ringing off the hook, as luxury brands and tour operators became aware of her company and its potential.
‘I am inundated with offers for trips and so on,’ she says. ‘I have a full-time colleague, Celia, who I’ve known since we were four, who I brought into the company in January 2020 just prior to Covid, which was obviously a difficult time, but I am proud of how we dealt with the challenges.’
Jennifer’s positivity comes from, she says, a difficult loss when she was younger.
‘I lost my brother 11 years ago, he was only 34 at the time,’ she says. ‘Losing somebody you’re so close to really changes your perspective on life and what’s important. When challenges and difficulties come up, I feel like I can handle things slightly better.’
The service which Jennifer offers is a top-tier travel agency above and beyond.
‘My business is based on personal recommendations and being able to speak from experience, having seen hotels, stayed in them, ate in them, slept in them, used the facilities,’ she says. ‘We have a lovely repeat client base, we can get to know the clients over a number of years and recommend places.
‘We host client appreciation events annually in London and in the north-west because it’s so important to thank our clients. We invite luxury hotel brands to the evening and hold prize giveaways, like free nights at hotels.
‘When we organise holidays, we always gift destination-appropriate and age-appropriate gifts. For a family that went to Thailand, we bought a food platter for elephants and sponsored two elephants in the children’s names. For a honeymoon in South Africa, we sent binoculars. We go that extra mile for clients and make the experience really special. It’s a personal service from start to finish.’
Jennifer has won several awards for her efforts including Luxury Travel Designer of the Year at the Carrier A-List Awards and Luxury Seller of the Year at the Aspire Awards and supports various local charities including the Preston-based Mary O Gara Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing awareness around mental health and suicide prevention for young people.
Since the end of the pandemic, it’s been back to business. Fortunately, when people were finally able to travel after lockdown, the business ‘really boomed’.
Jennifer says: ‘My client base was initially predominantly footballer-based, but since then we have different types of clients that travel all year around. Clients within football can only travel at specific times of the year, whether that’s an international break or when the season finishes or, like in 2022, when there was the World Cup they had a winter break.’
When it comes to Jennifer’s own favourite destination, there’s no hesitation.
‘South Africa is so special. I treated my dad for his 75th birthday and took him there, because one year we went to South Africa and then Australia and then Singapore and then Bali with my parents for their wedding anniversary,’ she says.
‘He always wanted to go back, and it was incredible. From Cape Town to the Winelands, then we went on safari which was absolutely beautiful.’
Her advice for other travellers is simple: book through a travel agent: ‘Not to plug my business, but I would highly recommend speaking to a person and getting advice from a travel agent as opposed to an online booking platform.
‘When things go wrong - like a transfer might not turn up on time or might be in a different location - if you book things through a travel agent, you are protected.’
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