Check your diary, active enquiries and bookings through to your first day back. Look for customers travelling, payment deadlines, promised replies and unanswered supplier questions. Include anything a colleague might need to handle unexpectedly, such as a customer already away. You do not need to copy every customer record. Give each item a booking or enquiry reference so it is easy to find.

Use the examples below: current status, next action, owner, deadline and where the checked instructions are held. ‘Waiting for supplier’ needs a follow-up date. Mark anything unconfirmed clearly. Link to the existing record or document instead of copying sensitive information into another file. Keep only what the cover person needs; do not add passport copies or card details to the handover.

Walk through the list together. Ask your colleague to open the records using their own authorised access and explain their first action. Agree who covers them if they become unavailable. Show where the current supplier emergency instructions are held and check the numbers and operating hours against the latest booking documents. Ask for a clear ‘I’ve accepted these actions’, then record it. If you work alone, arrange suitable authorised cover before promising customers someone will help.

For a Travelify booking, open the order together and check the individual products as well as the overall status.

Introduce the cover person where a customer expects a reply during your absence. Give the real contact route and hours, and make sure someone will monitor it. Update your out-of-office message to match. For customers travelling, point to the checked urgent-contact instructions in their booking documents. Do not promise round-the-clock help unless it is arranged. Before leaving, check that nothing new has arrived that changes the handover.