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The Daily Travel Agent Bite: Tues 20 Dec

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.

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. Germany on high alert after 9 killed in Christmas market attack

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Image: @BBCBreaking/Twitter

Christmas is meant to be a time of giving, love and family, but for shoppers at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market in Berlin last night, it turned into a time of tragedy.

The popular annual Christmas market near the Zoologische Garten train station was filled with tourists and last minute shoppers last night when a Lorry was deliberately driven into the busy area, killing nine people and injuring up to 50 others.

German police confirmed that one of the men behind the incident was found dead at the scene, while another, believed to be the driver of the vehicle, has been detained.

Read on

 

2. 26 hilarious Travel Agent moments from 2016

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Some went to Japan, others explored Queenstown’s adventures. A fair few attended conferences while others went on virtual tours. There were octopus hats, Tom Cruise sunnies, epic selfies and more.

2016 has proved to be another busy year for the travel industry with no shortage of famils, conferences and events where cameras have oh-so-conveniently captured some incredible moments.

KarryOn flipped through its folder of shame (jokes, it’s not that bad) and found some epic pics that we just had to share.

Read on

 

3. Can you imagine millennials on river cruises? Uniworld can

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River cruises, which are generally associated with older cruisers or families looking for a relaxing river holiday, are about to become so hip that younger travellers will willingly book them.

Well, that’s Uniworld’s plan.

The boutique cruise line is chasing adventurous 18-40 years old (aka Gen X and millennials aka people who usually wouldn’t willingly board a river cruise if you paid them) with a new brand – U by Uniworld.

Read on

 

4. Singapore Airlines celebrates 50 years with more Aus flights

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Singapore Airlines has revealed it will celebrate its 50th year of operations in Australia with additional services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Melbourne will receive an additional three flights a week from 17 July 2017. SQ247/248 will operate on Monday, Friday and Saturday’s taking the number of weekly flights between Melbourne and Singapore to 31. Operated by a 285 seat two class Airbus A330, SQ247 will depart Singapore at 02:00 and arrive in Melbourne at 11:25 local time before departing as SQ248 at 12:40 arriving in Singapore at 18:30 local time.

From January, Melbourne customers will be provided a second flight offering four classes, including the new Premium Economy class. SQ227/228 will be operated by a 264 seat Boeing 777-300ER while SQ217/218 will continue to offer customers the choice of Suites, Business, Premium Economy and Economy class on the 441 seat Airbus A380.

Brisbane will be serviced by an additional four weekly flights from 22 August 2017 when SQ265/266, which has been operating three times a week since May 2016, moves to daily operations delivering the Queensland capital with 28 flights a week to Singapore. The service will continue to be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, providing Business class customers with a full flat bed for the overnight flight between Brisbane and Singapore.

From 4 June 2017, Sydney will be served 33 times per week, up from 31 times per week. To cater to peak period demand, flight frequency to Sydney will be further increased to 35 weekly flights from 18 June to 30 September 2017. SQ251/252 will increase in frequency from three times weekly to five times weekly from 4 June, while SQ231/222 will be operated by a 441 seat four class Airbus A380 throughout the peak winter period delivering Sydney double daily A380 flights.

 

5. Here’s how Aussies can avoid paying the visa fee for Thailand this Christmas

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Temporary tourist visas for the most part aren’t all the expensive, but when you’re going on holiday every penny counts.

That’s why this Christmas, Thailand is gifting Aussies by axing the visa fee over the holidays.

Here’s how it works.

Read on

 

6. Helloworld’s Karina Zamora is a WINNER!

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Congratulations to Karina Zamora from Helloworld in Corrimal for winning a Series 2 Apple Watch from Visit California.

Zamora won the handy device in the tourist bureau’s ‘12 Days of Christmas Giveaway’, whereby Agents could win a share in more than 12,000 dollars in prizes.

The incentive is designed to celebrate and promote the new California STAR training app, which launched earlier this month.

Prizes vary from Apple Watches, to $250 Visa gift cards, giant inflatable swans and even round beach towels. Read more about the incentive by clicking here.

 

7. Meetings surge at sea

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P&O Cruises has reported a swelling number of meetings at sea, with its corporate group bookings increasing by an impressive 54 percent in 2016.

 The cruise line, which expanded capacity by 50 percent with the addition of Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria in late 2015, says enquiries and bookings for its five-ship fleet continued to grow during the past year as more meeting groups discovered the benefits of holding their event onboard a ship.

P&O Cruises Corporate Groups Sales Manager Rebecca Mutanen said the hike in the number of meetings at sea had also translated into fantastic growth in overall delegate numbers, with the cruise line carrying 64 percent more corporate passengers in 2016 than 2015.

 

8. All Nippon Airways becomes the first airline in Japan to…

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… own and operate an A320neo.

The airline became the country’s first carrier to take delivery of the aircraft earlier this month and is scheduled to begin operating on short-haul services to China from mid-January.

ANA says that compared to its predecessor, the A320neo achieves 15 percent more fuel efficiency and has a maximum range approximately seven percent longer.

The airline has outfitted its A320neo for international routes, with eight seats in Business Class and 138 in Economy Class.

 

9. Scenic awards top employees with free cruises

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Scenic hosted its annual staff awards earlier this month where employees were congratulated for a year of great work and two were even handed free cruises.

Sales Development Manager of the Year was awarded to Queensland based Leanne Wilmot who was recognised for her positive attitude, commitment and consistently going above and beyond, while Tour Director of the Year went to Sally Austin for her professionalism and enthusiasm, and her passion for Scenic. Sally also consistently receives fantastic guest feedback.

The 2017 Australian Achiever was awarded to Alfred Law, yield manager. Alfred’s peers commented on his professionalism, patience, dedication, immeasurable company knowledge. The 2017 Australian Spirit Award 2016 went to training developer Troy Ashman, who won the award largely for his work on the Scenic Academy staff training program which launched earlier this year. Troy’s peers commented on his dedication, self-motivation and keen sense to learn.

Both Alfred and Troy won a Scenic river cruise for two.

 

10. Helloworld consultants tick off Italy & Dubai in one famil

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Twelve lucky helloworld Agents didn’t just tick one destination off the bucket list during a recent Intrepid, Peregrine and Emirates famil, they also ticked off two.

The group flew Business Class to Italy where they not only indulged in Italian food, but learned to make it during a pasta class in Bologna and a pesto making lesson in Levanto.

Of course, there was Gelato tasting and making at the University of Gelato as well as a visit to a cheese factory in Modena.

Food aside, the group spent a day enjoying Tuscany with Peregrine before stopping by Dubai on the way home.

Click here for more pictures.

 

11. Agents meet basketball players & explore space in Houston

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What do you get when you send a group of TravelManagers to Houston? One epic tour, a celebrity and some space.

Travel Cube and Air New Zealand flew the group of consultants to the south of the US where they stayed at two of Omin’s Houston hotels, visited NASA’s famous Space Center Houston and toured tour iconic graffiti walls.

A highlight of the trip was watching NBA giants the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz play at Houston’s Toyota Centre. The Jazz line-up contained two Aussie players, including Joe Ingles who once played for Hawthorn in Australia. Melbourne-based consultant Darren Christensen – a big Hawthorn fan – decided to wear his Hawks jersey to the game and was spotted by Ingles’ best friends, Hawthorn player Jarryd Roughead.

Click here for more pictures.

 

This week’s competitions

Enter to WIN $1,000 cash prize from Collette

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Who will be the 2017 Collette Christmas Carol Carpool Karaoke Champion? Collette have teamed up with KarryOn to bring you some festive fun!

Read on

 

12 days of Christmas, $12,000 worth of prizes to win

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To celebrate the debut of Visit California’s new training app, the bureau is having a ’12 Days of Christmas’ campaign, which gives Agents the chance to win more than $12,000 in prizes.

Read on

What are your thoughts on today’s travel news?