Joanne Ioannou - Travel Counsellors

It's Nice To Meet You

I am your personal Travel Counsellor and I have worked in travel for over 20 years. I have recently expanded my business by taking over Javelin World Travel, a company I used to work for whose owner has now retired.

I have extensive knowledge of the travel industry which I can use to find the best possible match for all your holiday needs. I have travelled to many places including Australia, Canada, South Africa, Seychelles, Fiji and The Azores. I am also a St Lucia and South Africa Specialist and a travel contributor to BBC Radio Solent.

Thinking of a cruise? I can help find the perfect cruise ship to suit you, through personal experience and numerous ship visits.

I pride myself in offering a bespoke travel service, looking after my clients needs from the first phone call until after they return home. I care about you and your holiday.

So whatever type of holiday you are thinking of, be it a cruise, family holiday, ski, wedding, honeymoon, short break, flight only or a tailor-made worldwide itinerary, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for visiting my page, and I look forward to turning your travel dreams into reality.

Contact Me

Whatever your holiday needs I'm here to help you, so please either fill in and send the form below or simply give me a call and I can get things started for you:-

My customer stories

My wife and I were referred to Jo through a colleague I worked with who used Jo to plan her honeymoon. We did a 3 week trip to multiple cities in America and then Jamaica. We couldn't of planned the trip by ourselves, let alone have it go as smoothly and be as excellent value as what it was through Jo. Jo not only spent time with us to plan the trip, she booked all the flights, hotels, activities, and car hire. Jo was also on hand post payment for any questions we had, irrelevant of what they were, her service didn't stop after the money was paid. Jo's knowledge and passion for travelling is very obvious from the moment you speak with her, if you want to go anywhere in the world for any type of trip I can't recommend Jo enough! I have introduce Jo to my parents who are travelling Australia for xmas 2019 and South Africa in 2020. I will be using Jo in the future for certain for future trips, excellent service!!

I thought I would find this task easy to do, but after returning from Canada, I was blown away with the whole experience. Joanne from start to finish was able to achieve all my dreams to come true under one umbrella of travel. Her dedication and caring personality took on board all the requirements and much more to make this trip a memory that had to be fulfilled this year. For personal reasons to myself she was able to be with me as my backbone as I had no stress to deal with and I for one so much wanted this occasion to happen. The personal touches, the surprises, even down to having travel time, beach time and chill down time was all organised by Joanne (I would not have done this myself). We covered 5 different venues and drove 880 miles, enjoying the scenery off the beaten track. I did not have to organise anything. Every aspect - where to eat, what to visit, booklets, maps. The anniversary day was so special visit to two vineyards with tasting of local wines with a lunch thrown in and a tour guide, any snags I might have had, Joanne was there and social media came in so handy. I felt as if I had packed her in my luggage! I have returned home feeling I can now feel proud that after 25 years of waiting this last issue on my list has been undertaken and I can now move on with my life and this is all down to Joanne who made it happen for me. I would again use her service, how she manages to personalise the holiday to the clients request is outstanding and more and I wish I could put into words how emotional this has been, Joanne thank you so much, without you I probably would have delayed the holiday as in my eyes I didn't know where to start.

We contacted Joanna after a friend recommended her. We wanted to do a special 25th anniversary trip to either Australia or Canada and couldn't decide which. Joanna arrived at our house with ideas but didn't overwhelm us. She helped us decide through her good knowledge of both places and from chatting with us generally. We told her our budget and she then left us to decide in more detail over the next week or so. She then returned to sort the holiday out in more detail. We were also sent an email attachment with links to lots of places to visit and potentially book. A couple of weeks prior to the holiday she came back to our house with the prepared itinerary in a special booklet which had all tickets and paperwork in chronological order. We just had to read it all and make sure we were happy. This was a total of 7 hotels, a train schedule, car hire and 3 flights. It was so nice not to have to worry about all the fiddly paperwork, multiple bookings and phone calls - it was all sorted by Joanne and the price was set and didn't change. She also arranged - for an extra fee - extra leg room on the two long haul flights which were worth every penny. At no point did we have any problems with any of the bookings. We arrived at our first hotel with a note from Joanne welcoming us to Canada. She also organised a surprise bottle of anniversary wine in one of our hotels and wrote a lovely card to welcome us home on our return. We asked a couple of questions via email whilst we were away and they were answered very promptly. Whilst she was away we were sent an email to explain that another counsellor would be covering all her clients. She phoned us to have a general chat about how the holiday had gone on the day she returned from her own holiday. Joanne comes across as a cheerful, down to earth person who managed our whole holiday excellently. We would highly recommend her and would certainly use her again to organise a holiday.

I recently used Joanne to book a family holiday to Eurodisney. The service I received from Joanne was exceptional. Joanne was there every step of the way and couldn't do enough to ensure my family and I had the best holiday, stress free. I would have no hesitation in using her again and would thoroughly recommend her to all my friends! Thank you Joanne.

Thank you so much Joanne for booking our brilliant family holiday to Greece for us. Everything ran so smoothly and was set out and planned so well it took all the worry off us. All the little extra touches, even down to a postcard on our return from you, really made a difference. Thank you again - I will definitely be recommending you! x

Each holiday, or indeed flights only, we have arranged via Joanne has been handled brilliantly. She reflects the very epitome of Customer Care and nothing is too much trouble for this extremely amiable and professional lady. From start to finish our arrangements are handled seamlessly, she keeps in regular contact, together with producing all the relevant documentation on schedule. I don't look anywhere else for my holiday arrangements as Joanne deals with absolutely everything, and finds extremely competitive deals.

My Handpicked Offers

With independent access to thousands of travel suppliers around the world, I've got an eye for added value. Take a look through my latest selections below. But even if nothing particularly catches your eye - don't worry! Let's chat and I'll take the hassle away from tailoring a perfectly personalised holiday just for you.

Contact me on 02380986590

Mauritius - All

from £3130

Departing07/11/2019

from£3130

Mexico

from £1485

Seychelles - All

from £1999

Argentina

from £7845

View my offers

My Travel Blogs

I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.

Family Cruising is Fun for Everyone!

04 July 2019

When planning your next family holiday has a cruise crossed your mind over maybe and all-inclusive resort and you have dismissed for the following reasons: Too many people in one place I will be bored Too many old people The ships are too big Think again. Compared to a land-based holiday, cruises are fantastic value for money. You can choose your actual room, you have top entertainment including Broadway shows, comedians, live singers or a quiet bar. Food is second to none! Many ships have celebrity chefs inspiring their menus and are compared to Michelin starred restaurants. There are so many choices on board from...

Expedition Cruising – What is an Expedition Cruise?

31 May 2019

You may have heard this description quite a lot lately as this type of trip is becoming more and more popular, but what is it. This is a trip like no other, there is no dressing up, no west end style shows and generally Expedition Ships carry a small amount of people. What you will find are a full complement of lecturers and expedition leaders whose expertise will range from photography to marine biology, birdlife to marine life, from climate change to geology. They are passionate and love to share this passion with you. The ships carry Zodiacs otherwise known as RIBS,...

MSC Bellissima

22 March 2019

I was very lucky to be invited to the launch of this stunning ship. I arrived early and boarded straight away quickly and easily and made my way to my deluxe balcony cabin. This ship definitely has the wow factor starting with the Swarovski Crystal staircases which link decks 6 and 7. Each stair costs €3000! I then proceeded to the Market Place Buffet where you are spoilt for choice. This place is open 20 hours a day so no matter what the time there is always something to eat. There are 10 restaurants to choose from which includes 5...

Winter Sun in Lanzarote

25 February 2019

I have just returned from a 4-night break in Lanzarote. We stayed at the Costa Calero 4* Hotel on their Prestige All Inclusive. I have to say the weather was wonderful, clear blue skies and a temperature of 22-23 degrees each day, although once the sun went down you needed a jacket, it was bliss! We flew Easyjet from Gatwick and we were in our hotel room within 30 mins of the flight landing, not bad! The hotel Costa Calero is in Puerto Calero about 10 minutes from Puerto del Carmen. There is a small marina with a few shops, bars...

Disneyworld VIP Trip

15 March 2016

Well what a fantastic time we had! We checked in to Disney's Grand Floridian & Spa Resort which is wonderful. It connects to Magic Kingdom by monorail or boat, we tried both. The first day we spent at Epcot with our VIP park guides. These guys are a fountain of knowledge and tell you all sorts of history and anecdotes about the parks. You also have fast pass access to all the rides which saves an enormous amount of time. We spent day two at Blizzard Beach water park. I tried the crazy golf which was great fun and is...

Disneyland Paris

30 July 2015

I have just returned from wonderful trip to Disneyland Paris. We stayed at the New York Hotel on a Half Board Plus Basis for 3 nights and travelled by Eurostar. The hotel is in an excellent position although I would say the décor could do with refreshing! However the staff were very friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend paying for the half board plus as this includes nearly all the restaurants, the most important being Café Mickey, this was a highlight of our trip for the children as the characters come to the tables during the meal and the...