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. The 2016 Avis Travel Agent Scholarship winner is…
Last night, key players in the Aussie travel industry got together to announce the winner of the 2016 Avis Travel Agent Scholarship, and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the brilliant award.
Held in Sydney and attended by Australian travel industry leaders and guest of honour, The Hon. John Barilaro MP, New South Wales’ Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Skills and Minister for Small Business, the award recognises all the hard work and commitment that goes into being a top-tier Travel Agent.
And this year, one Travel Agent stood head and shoulders above the rest: Barbara Baron from Sylvania Travel & Cruise (NSW).
2. Virgin honours its accidental super-cheap airfares
A Virgin Australia technical glitch (or was it a clever marketing ploy?) has meant that Christmas has come early for some lucky travellers who managed to score some super-cheap flights to Asia and Europe.
There are few things as sweet as bagging a ridiculously cheap airfare to some exotic part of the world. Most of the time, this is the result of some epic sale campaign. But sometimes – rarely – an airline glitch results in prices that simply should not be.
Like what happened for a few hours early Tuesday morning, when Virgin Australia – through some kind of technical glitch – ended up pricing some of its international fares at rock-bottom prices.
3. G Adventures launches its biggest campaign EVER!
As if G Adventures couldn’t get any cooler, the adventure tour company with a responsible tourism bent has just launched its biggest ever campaign globally, and it’s pretty awesome!
The new ‘Change the World’ campaign will offer Australian and New Zealand travellers the chance to win an adventure travel prize valued at over $45,000, and runs on the back of last year’s award-winning ‘Make Your Next Step Count’ campaign.
It will use multiple channels to drive home its message of challenging travellers to change the world through travel.
4. How will today’s election impact our industry?
Within the next six hours, the results of the 2016 US presidential election will most probably be known. So what will a win for either Trump or Clinton mean for the Australian travel industry?
On the economic front, a win for Trump could spell serious consequences for trade-focused economies such as Australia, as well as trigger stock market falls of five to 10 percent globally, according to experts.
5. Helloworld: Bigger, stronger & more valuable
To many members and staff within the helloworld group, it’d be fair to say recent years have been a roller-coaster ride of change in brands, personnel and direction. KarryOn exclusively attended the recent OMC in Singapore to get a feel for where things are at now.
It was still early on Friday morning at Resort World on Sentosa Island in Singapore when helloworld Group CEO and Managing Director Andrew Burnes took to the stage and opened his address to an audience of 500 with the words;
“I said I’d be back… But what’s even better is that you’re back”.
As icebreakers go, it was a no nonsense double whammy of confidence that immediately got the audience’s attention.
6. Aussies in US urged to have an exit strategy
Australians currently travelling in America are being advised to have an exit strategy in place and avoid large gatherings in major US cities – just in case tempers flare up in the aftermath of the US election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Well, that’s what some travel insurance companies are advising the travelling public. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on the other hand, said its advice for Australian travellers in the United States remained at its lowest advice level.
Still, it’s probably a good idea to stay out of public places and keep a low profile as one of the most heated and controversial election seasons comes to its dramatic closure.
7. Join Dave in the USA for the Super Bowl!
An exciting new campaign has been launched by Keith Prowse Travel along with Air New Zealand and Brand USA which will give one lucky Travel Agent and a friend a Keith Prowse Travel Super Bowl package in February 2017. The epic prize is worth over $20,000!
To be in with a chance to win this uber-awesome prize, Travel Agents need to pitch their skills against one another to create the best itinerary to get Dave, Air New Zealand’s newest frequent flyer, over to Houston on his trip of a lifetime.
To register and create your itinerary for Dave, visit www.davesitinerary.com.au
8. helloworld share offer now open for applications
You may recall that at the recent helloworld Owner Managers Conference in Singapore, it was announced that helloworld would be offering 768,000 shares in the company (worth around $3.5m) to its franchisees.
Well yesterday, helloworld released the formal prospectus to get the balls rolling, and applicants have from today until 25 November 2016 to lodge their applications. Franchisees who are no longer a member of the Helloworld network on that date will forfeit their shares.
The offer represents a maximum of 0.65% of Helloworld‘s shares.
9. Air Tahiti Nui puts a hold on reservation system
Travel Agents are reminded that Air Tahiti Nui will be temporarily shutting down its reservations system from 9am Thursday November 10 until 9am Friday November 11 while the airline moves over to Amadeus.
Agents are urged to contact the airline’s Call Centre Support Team on 1300 657 190 for any urgent queries. However, it won’t be possible to make any changes or modifications in the system until the swap is complete.
Amadeus will provide Air Tahiti Nui with Altéa’s reservation system, an enhanced revenue management system, an advanced internet booking engine, and a totally integrated frequent flyer loyalty system.
10. Malaysia Airlines adds new services into China
Malaysia Airlines have announced that they will be adding 11 new routes serving 8 new destinations between Malaysia and China beginning in early 2017.
Some of the new routes include Kuala Lumpur to Nanjing, Wuhan and Chengdu; and Penang to Shenzhen and Shanghai.
The new routes not only make exploring Asia even more accessible for Aussie travellers, but they also have huge implications for China’s inbound tourism from Australia via Malaysia.
11. Personal Travel Managers experience the Rocky Mountaineer
Two lucky personal travel managers recently got to get up close and personal on a Rocky Mountaineer educational, experiencing the First Passage to the West! – one of Rocky Mountaineer’s best-selling rail journeys – together with its Coastal Passage add-on from Vancouver to Seattle.
Melinda Rowe and Trina Rynehart, both from NSW, also discovered some cool little cafes along the way (such as the 1886 Buffalo Café in Calgary) and had some amazing fondue at the Waldhaus Restaurant at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
The TravelManagers’ personal travel manager educational programme is backed up by strong state and national support, which includes a national partnership office and local business partnership managers.
12. WIN a Trip to Peru with G Adventures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCCj65HZqt4
Are you feeling lucky, traveller?
Well then you’re going to want to enter G Adventure’s ‘World of Good’ promo campaign, which will see three separate entrants each winning a tour for four to Peru with flights – so that’s like 12 winners in all!
In order to be in the running to win, all you need to do is visit here and enter your details.
But hurry, as the promo ends on 30 November 2016.
13. Sell Italy & See Italy
This is your chance to earn a place on a famil to Italy and Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways Alitalia and Trafalgar Travel.
14. WIN a trip to Los Angeles
Thanks to L.A. Tourism and American Airlines, a holiday to Los Angeles valued at over $5,000 is up for grabs!