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. All Nippon Airways considers flying to a new Australian city
All Nippon Airways (ANA) may be just one-week shy of celebrating its one-year anniversary since returning to Sydney, but the carrier is already considering its expansion around Australia.
Speaking at an anniversary dinner at Sake Restaurant in The Rocks last night, Country Manager Brett Walsh hinted that the airline could be adding another Australian city to its network in the near future.
While congratulating staff on a successful year and thanking the industry for its support, Walsh said the airline was just waiting on extra aircraft to get new routes off the ground around Australia.
2. This 2016 ‘It’ destination is still going to be hot in 2017, apparently
Some say Egypt and Sri Lanka are the places to go in 2017, while others are leaning towards Chile and Yemen.
We here at KarryOn have our ‘dream destinations‘ for the coming year, as TripAdvisor encourages travellers to head to Mexico, Canada and Brazil.
Now Beyond Travel has joined the 2017 travel conversation, saying Croatia is shaping up to be the ‘it’ destination over the next 12 months.
3. roomsXML partners with Best Western
roomsXML users will have access to more than 4,100 hotels around the world after the hotel supplier secured a new agreement with Best Western Hotels & Resorts.
Announced this week, the agreement will see hotels across all seven of Best Western’s brands available through roomsXML. These include Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier, Best Western, Vib, Glo, Exclusive Residency and Premiere Collection.
According to roomsXML’s Managing Director, Prakash Bang, the agreement is also set to bring “incredible value” to Travel Agents by gaining “seamless access to the company’s global portfolio”, roomsXML’s Managing Director said.
4. AccorHotels to expand Victorian hotel network
AccorHotels is expanding its presence in Victoria with the addition of The Sebel Melbourne Morrabbin scheduled to open from January 2017.
The new-build, 4.5 star apartment-style hotel will be located at 4-6 Station Street Moorabbin in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne and will offer guests a greater level of independence and control.
Simon McGrath, Chief Operating Officer AccorHotels Australia Pacific, said: “This is a strategic and significant new development for Moorabbin, and we are delighted to once again be working with Accommodation Management Group Limited to provide more places to stay in the area”.
5. The Sunshine Coast breaks an all time region record
The Sunshine Coast attracted a 45 percent increase in expenditure by international tourists in the year to September 2016, an all time record for the region.
Some $266.5 million was spent in the destination, according to the latest International Visitor Survey released by Tourism Research Australia.
The record expenditure figures were built on a 6.4 percent growth in international visitors (to 272,000), with holiday visitors up 9 percent. Holiday visitors also stayed considerably longer – up 27.9 percent – to an average 7.8 nights per stay and expenditure grew 19.5 percent to $89.3 per night.
6. Air NZ puts ‘Summer Wonderland’ profits towards charity
Air New Zealand’s Christmas song, ‘Summer Wonderland‘, has received so much attention that the airline has decided to release it as a commercial track and use it to raise funds for the Starship Foundation.
Starring Ronan Keating and Kiwi actor, Julian Dennison, the song was originally written to highlight the wonders of a traditional Oceania Christmas, which differs from the ‘winter wonderland’ in the north.
So far, the track has been viewed eight million times and reached over 750,000 views on Youtube. Air New Zealand’s General Manager Global Brand and Content Marketing Jodi Williams said it’s exciting to work with Universal Music to rally fans behind a great cause and add the unique track to their festive playlist.
The audio track will be available to download on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and Apple Music for NZ$1.29 from Friday 2.00pm New Zealand time.
7. Here’s why the new Qantas learning hub totally rocks
Shouldn’t learning be fun and engaging? And shouldn’t it be possible to learn at your own pace and in your own time, whether that’s on your daily commute, a spare five minutes at home, or face-to-face?
Yes, it should, and thankfully Qantas totally gets it.
The new Qantas Learning Hub makes it easy for Travel Agents around the country to learn everything there is to know about the Flying Kangaroo: from support, sales, and fares, right through to product, networks and partner alliances – all accessible 24/7 on your desktop, mobile or tablet.
8. Wendy Wu Tours’ bosses come up with a 5-year plan
The guys over at Wendy Wu Tours recently completed their annual global leadership team conference and walked away with a five-year growth plan.
Held at Club Med in Guilin, the occasion gave 45 senior management and top-selling sales executives from head offices in Australia, the UK, USA, NZ and China the chance to exchange ideas and concepts for further growth.
Newly appointed London-based CEO Joe Karbo and founder Wendy Wu briefed the group on the benefits of joint international events to share strategies and methods which, as a result of combined efforts between country offices, contributed to a highly successful year for the company.
Click here for more pictures.
9. India famil – a win-win for Agents & G Adventures
What happens when you incentivise Agents with a free trip to an international destination?
They generally respond by selling, selling, selling the destination. That’s what happened after G Adventures incentivised consultants with a place on the National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures North India Highlights Tour earlier this year.
The tour operator said India sales increased 10 percent in 2016, and believes the incentive played a big role in growth.
Meanwhile, the five lucky Agents who won the trip recently returned after experiencing highlights such as a seeing the sunrise at the Taj Mahal, spending a night in a traditional village home and taking part in the the G Adventures-supported New Delhi Streetkids Project.
This week’s competitions
Christmas Travel Gift Guide Bonanza Giveaway
Those who love to travel are always looking for the latest gadgets to make the journey just a little easier and more fun. Enter our Christmas Gift Guide for your chance to WIN!