Skill up on all you need to know with bite sized travel news designed specifically to help you, the Travel Agent, be your best today and tomorrow.
1. Hurricane Matthew update: United rewards customers who support Hurricane relief
Image: @RedCross/Twitter
Thousands of homes destroyed, hundreds of people killed and millions more affected by Hurricane Matthew, which passed over the Caribbean and the south-east of the US late last week.
In Haiti alone, wind speeds of 233 kilometres per hour and severe flooding resulted in the death of up to 900 locals, and in the US falling trees and carbon monoxide fumes claimed at least 16 lives.
While the wrath of Matthew may have simmered in recent days, during his peak, the largest Hurricane to hit the region in almost a decade destroyed nearly 90 percent of Haiti’s south, leaving thousands homeless and at risk of disease.
2. Why Qantas is reducing the number of meals it carries on board
Qantas is cutting back on the number of meals carried on select services, in order to reduce food wastage.
Last month, the Flying Kangaroo started flying with two percent less meals on select, international overnight flights, The Australian reported.
Although the reduction in food could see around 10 passengers on a sold out A380 miss out on a meal, Qantas said so far it has had no negative impact on customers.
3. Tassie Agents, got a question for AFTA on ATAS?
#ATAS message very much alive in TAS, @BelleHerbSyd reads the Sunday Tasmania Escape @mercnews #roadtrip #hardatwork #accredited #travel pic.twitter.com/A1NWJDmOfr
— AFTA (@AFTAOfficial) October 8, 2016
Tasmania-based Travel Agents, now’s your chance to ask AFTA all those ATAS questions, because the guys from the federation are headed your way.
Jayson Westbury’s team from the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) touched down in the state late last week as part of the second phase of the recently launched partnership with the Tasmanian Government, which aims to spread the ATAS word to consumers.
So far, the two-month long campaign is believed to have reached some 250,000 consumers across Tasmania through local television, radio, newspaper and Google advertising, as well as a TVC that ran during the weekend’s Football Grand Final.
4. Air New Zealand joins the inflight wi-fi club
Air New Zealand is joining Virgin Australia and Qantas in the inflight wi-fi club, by rolling out the offering on jet services next year.
The announcement follows the carrier’s recent decision to make a grab for more of the Australian market through a new video campaign starring at goose.
Flight between Australia and New Zealand will be the first to receive wi-fi connectivity and expects that by the end of the year it will be available across all long haul jets.
Kiwis travelling domestic will likely have the service from 2018, but it’ll be worth the wait because according ot the carrier, it will be world class internet.
5. Only three weeks left to WIN $5,000 with Scenic
River cruise specialist Scenic is giving Agents the chance to win $5,000 cash plus four runners up prizes of $500 each.
To be in the running, all consultants need to do is run any marketing campaign promoting Europe, France, Portugal or South East Asia River Cruising. This can be any marketing activity at all including in-store flyers posters or banners; press or radio ads; email marketing to databases; social activity on Facebook or Instagram; an in-store event such as themed day, cruise night or loyalty event; mail drop in the local area.
Scenic Sales Development Managers are able to help plan campaigns plus there is a range of marketing tools to also assist on Scenic HUB – scenic.com.au/hub.
Send entries with the details of your campaign activity to promotions@scenic.com.au by 31 October 2016.
6. Travel Agents wins 11-day famil to Peru
Oh em gee you lucky…
Aaron Eilers from Cruise Express recently won a spot on an 11-day famil to Peru with eight other Agents for attending a special Peru event hosted by Eclipse Travel and PROMPERU.
The intimate evening was held last week at the Imperial Hotel in Paddington and included a special session from explora Valle Sagrado. There was also an overview from Eclipse Travel’s Stephen Lanfranco on the operator’s product offering and an introduction to their team of experts including Directors Matt McMillan and Tim Farquhar.
To end the night, hosts announced Eilers as the winner of a spot on the famil that will take consultants to Lima, Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu as well as two nights accommodation at the new explora property.
7. You won’t be able to miss Genting Dream when she launches
No seriously, how could you not see a completely illuminated ship in the dark.
Dream Cruises has revealed that its first ship, Genting Dream, will literally illuminate skylines in the evening with a state-of-the-art LED lighting system, which has been installment across the vessel’s balconies and hull.
Dream Cruises President Mr. Thatcher Brown said, “This highly innovative lighting display system represents something new to the cruise industry. Dream Cruises prides itself in being at the forefront of luxury cruise experiences for its guests. Now we will also be revolutionizing the way Dream Cruises and Genting Dream in particular will be appreciated by guests on board and by audiences on shore as she enters and leaves harbours across Asia.”
8. Learning about Los Angeles has never been so cool
he new ‘Neighbourhoods of L.A Interactive’ tool is about as cool as the City of Angeles itself, finally giving agents a destination training program that’s easy to use, fun, and won’t cut into their 9 to 5 work time.
Los Angeles has always been so uber cool, often setting the stage – literally – for the world to follow.
And now with the new ‘Neighbourhoods of L.A Interactive’ tool, it’s super easy for agents to learn all about this thriving metropolis at their own convenience.
9. So what’s new with Wendy Wu Tours?
*Cue Chinese gong* Wendy Wu Tours has entered the ring and she’s totally awesome, launching a new trade website, scouring the region for exciting new tours, and much more, all part of its #TheNewWu campaign.
Wendy Wu Tours – Australia’s leading Asian tour operator – isn’t a company to sit on its laurels.
In a quest to continually improve its Asian tour game, the company that lives by the motto “make booking Asia easy” has been busy tweaking its fully inclusive tours to help Travel Agents sell their impressive range of authentic Asian travel experiences with ease.