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NTIA17 SUCCESS STORIES: MAGELLAN TRAVEL GROUP

Another year, another WIN for the Magellan Travel Group, which was once again named the ‘Best Non-Branded Travel Agency Group’ at this year’s NTIA Awards.

Another year, another WIN for the Magellan Travel Group, which was once again named the ‘Best Non-Branded Travel Agency Group’ at this year’s NTIA Awards.

The Group won the award for a second time in the three years that it has existed, a result everyone in the business is “extremely proud” of.

During his speech, Managing Director Andrew Macfarlane attributed Magellan’s success to the quality of the Member Agents in the Group and noted the outstanding contribution that independent travel agents make to the industry at large.

Here’s more of what he had to say:

 

What does winning this award mean to you and the business?

Magellan feature

Magellan members & staff celebrate a triumphant night.

We were thrilled to be the inaugural winners of this Award in 2015 and it’s an honour to be adjudged winners again. The creation of this award by AFTA was recognition of the outstanding contribution that independent Travel Agents make to our industry. Winning this award twice in three years validates our niche strategy to assemble a Group of the very best Independent Agents in the land and to deliver value both to them and our supplier partners.

We were also delighted to have had 10 Magellan members recognised as finalists across various categories at the NTIA this year and seeing Stuart Ingram of Destination HQ and Spencer Travel win within their categories was further confirmation of the excellence within the Group

 

What was it do you think that helped you win this year?

Finalists, Destination HQ pose for a quick pic.

The team from Destination HQ pose for a quick pic.

The Magellan Travel Group has had an excellent 12 months. We have had more fantastic Agents join the Group and it is the collective achievements of all of our Members, new and long-standing, that drives our success. We have existing members innovating and expanding their businesses so we are driving results for partner suppliers with both organic and member growth. In the last two years we have also focused on delivering value added services to Members beyond the superior bottom-line profit that we already offer.

And I think the judges also recognised that we have forced an industry-wide change to deliver greater transparency and better value for Independent Agents throughout the Industry

 

How do you think the year ahead is looking so far?

Stuart from Destination HQ.

Stuart Ingram from Destination HQ with his award.

We are full of anticipation for a great year ahead. As we continue to grow and embrace change within the industry we are excited to be launching new initiatives, partnerships, technologies and opportunities to our member network when we gather together in Perth in September for our annual conference.

The market is strong and Australians continue to travel both at home and abroad in droves – travel is so ingrained now in our way of life. Our Agents continue to differentiate with specialised expertise and outstanding customer service so we will continue to prosper as the market grows.

Record low International airfares stimulate demand but frankly we hope to see prices go up as all of the supply chain depends on sustainable yield.

 

Do you have any award winning tips you’d like to share to inspire other businesses to greatness?

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The Spencer Travel team are all smiles after winning.

Acknowledging and dedicating this award to our recently retired and founding director, Kevin Dale, as I did in my acceptance speech on Saturday night, speaks straight to this point – stay focused and true to what you stand for.

When Kevin, Andrew Jones and Trevor Jones founded the Magellan Travel Group in 2008 the mission was to enhance the profitability and future success of independent travel agents.

We were established to profit for members, not from members. And this is as true today as ever. As long as we do everything that we do with this as our mantra I truly believe that we will continue to achieve greatness.

Join us in congratulating Magellan on their win.