Skill up on all you need to know with bite sized travel news designed specifically to help you, the Travel Agent, be your best.
1. WIN a 2-night Mystery Flight Package
Brand USA Australia, in partnership with Alamo Rent A Car, has added a new specialist badge for Alamo on its official training site, the USA Discovery Program.
Agents can learn about the wide range of vehicle classes offered by Alamo, its rental locations across the USA, insurance packages to ensure Alamo customers have a hassle-free rental car experience, and much more.
The Alamo Rent A Car specialist badge is one of five new badges to be added to the training platform, which now offers a catalogue of 37 specialist badges.
Through the online training program incentive, Five Badge Fun, Agents will continue to compete for a two0night Mystery Flights package for two people, which is a short stay travel package to an unknown destination within Australia.
To qualify, agents will need to head to the USA Discovery Program and complete all of the five new badges to gain an entry. The incentive is only open to travel trade representatives in Australia who are registered users on the Discovery Program. New users must first complete the Regional Expert Badge in order to enter.
Click here for more information, the incentive will end on Sunday 1st October, 2017.
2. Phil Hoffman Travel signs with Ensemble Travel Group
Phil Hoffmann Travel has signed with the Ensemble Travel Group, a leading global Luxury and Experiential Travel provider, in a deal which will give the agency “an edge in this market”.
The deal, effective 1 August, gives Phil Hoffmann Travel access to Ensemble’s extensive portfolio covering a broad range of luxury experiences, food and wine tours, off-the-beaten track adventure travel, cultural and honeymoon customised vacations.
“Our business will now have access to an expanded range of luxury Hotels, Villas and Apartments, extensive Hosted Cruise options and other flexible luxury products which will enable our Consultants to offer a more diverse range of competitive travel products,” Phil Hoffmann Travel Managing Director, Phil Hoffmann said.
Ensemble also offers a wide range of bespoke services, market-leading travel technology, digital marketing and high-end travel Magazines all of which can be white-labeled.
Ensemble members benefit from a tailored and flexible marketing support structure which allows them to choose which marketing they participate in. Ongoing training opportunities also give members a distinct competitive advantage.
3. 15% Agents commission through The Library
Image: The The Library/Facebook
The Library in Thailand is offering 15 percent Travel Agent commission on bookings made in August and September for minimum 3-night stays until 20 December 2017.
Guests will also receive a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine during these stays at The Library which is set against the stunning backdrop of Koh Samui’s Chaweng Beach.
A member of Design Hotels, The Library presents 26 studios and suites and will unveil 20 fabulous Secret Pool Villas in November 2017. Click here for more information on the property, including its unique, red pool.
For booking enquiries please contact Svetlana Jovanovic at The Unique Tourism Collection on 02 9211 6590 or svetlana@uniquetourism.com or rsvn@thelibrarysamui.com and quote TA15%.
4. Register your interest to see Viking Sun
There’s a little under six months until the first Viking Cruises ship to visit Australia arrives!
Viking Sun will make the brand’s debut Down Under with visits to seven local ports (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Whitsundays Islands, Cairns, Thursday Island and Darwin) in February next year as part of a sold out Viking World Cruise from Miami to London.
Viking will also begin homeporting out of Australia and New Zealand in December 2018 on a brand new itinerary that will see Viking Spirit, the fifth ship to join the fleet in July 2018, spend three months of the year cruising between Sydney and Auckland. A second itinerary launching in November 2018 explores the Komodo and Australian Coast from Bali to Sydney over 17-days visiting the Great Barrier Reef’s Whitsundays, Brisbane’s picturesque coastline, as well as Darwin, Townsville and Newcastle.
Agents can register their interest to visit Viking Sun at their local port by clicking here.
5. Jetstar to fly Adelaide – Hobart
Jetstar has announced new direct flights between Adelaide and Hobart kicking off from 14 November this year.
The new services will be the first direct flights between the two cities since 2010 and will operate three times weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) on the carrier’s A320 aircraft.
Adelaide Airport Managing Director, Mark Young, said the service will give South Australians easy access to Hobart for both business and leisure.
6. Oman Air & Etihad codeshare to Brisbane & Perth
The airline with the ‘Best Airline Staff Service in the Middle East’ aka Oman Air will codeshare with Etihad Airways on the carrier’s flights to and from Brisbane and Perth.
The year round fares are in the GDS in both economy and business class and offer a base fare commission of seven percent.
Did you know you you could be in the running to WIN a trip to Oman? Click here for more information.
7. A&K supporting young girls in India
Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, alongside A&K India, is delighted to announce its support of Hansraj Children’s Home in Udaipur, India. Hansraj is a residential school for about 100 orphaned and underprivileged girls from neighbouring tribal lands. The home provides free education, books, accommodation, meals and clothes for the girls.
In Rajasthan’s rural villages and communities, housing and services are under-developed, incomes are meagre and literacy rates are very low. Families struggle to make ends meet and education is often neglected.
While priority is given to educating young boys, girls are often forced to stay at home either to help with the household chores or to look after younger siblings. The work being done by Hansraj Children’s Home is motivating parents to send their daughters to residential school where education is making a real difference to their lives.
AKP’s current support includes improving facilities at the school, an important focus area as it’s difficult for children to walk the path of development without adequate facilities and resources. A comfortable learning space can have a profound impact on students and teachers.
A&K guests visiting Udaipur have the opportunity to visit the school and connect with the students and teachers, an uplifting experience for all concerned.
8. SAVE up to 10% on G’s Peruvian adventures
‘Hola Peru’ is what your clients will be saying after saving 10 percent on a Peruvian trip thanks to G Adventures and PROMPERU.
The price drop comes just in time, given a steady rise in G Adventures’ departures to the Peru region and a 40 percent growth in traveller volume year-on-year.
Adrian Piotto, Managing Director of G Adventures Australia and New Zealand believes the sale – and the partnership with PROMPERU – will help even more travellers relish the wonders of the South American hotspot.
“Having been awarded Best Inca Tour Operator by the Regional Direction of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Cusco, we’re incredibly proud of our team in Peru who deliver an exceptional product to our customers,” said Piotto.
“Flights from Australia to Peru are so competitive right now and the Australian dollar to Peruvian Sole is strong.
“There really is no better time to book a Peruvian adventure than right now.”
The sale ends on September 15, 2017, with departures through to December 15, 2018. Savings include $400 off an Absolute Peru itinerary, $310 saving on a Amazon to the Andes tour as well as a $200 reduction on the Amazon Riverboat trip.
9. Shoppers queue to experience Macao in virtual reality
Macao had Sydney shoppers in a spin last week through a spectacular “Virtual Reality” presentations which literally had everyone viewing Macao – 360-degrees.
Beginning at suburban Chatswood Chase from Thursday, from August 3 till Sunday, August 6, shoppers had the chance to sit and put on goggles that allowed them to get closeups of the former Portuguese enclave’s major attractions as if they were there.
From 20 to 23 August, the virtual reality experience will hit Eastgardens Westfield where shoppers will be able to get the same experience.
The showing of the VR imagery, filmed in Macao earlier this year, coincides with the Macao Government Tourism Office’s links with Xiamen Airlines in launching a new “One Fare – Two Cities” product.
It’s the first time the Chinese airline has teamed with the MGTO (Australia) to offer a dedicated fare, the price – from $768 – including a complimentary night’s stay in Xiamen (6-24hrs) or a free coach tour (4 -24hrs) of a city popular for its beaches and colonial past.
In addition, passengers would not require a China visa if spending up to 72 hours in Xiamen.
Click here for more information on the deal.