Travel Counsellors 2016 ‘MY TC’ Global Conference held in Manchester came to a close on Sunday afternoon after three dynamic days of inspiration and celebration.
The UK’s biggest retail travel event brought together 1670 Mobile Travel Counsellors (TC’s), Head Office Staff and suppliers from their seven operating countries including Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Belgium, Dubai, The Netherlands and the UK to the Manchester Central Convention Centre.
And KarryOn was honored to be exclusively invited to get more of an insight into the bigger story of the UK’s No.1 mobile travel business Australia is a fast growing piece of.
He’s back! Hello Vernon!! #tcconf16 pic.twitter.com/ONNmtTIzLr
— Sarah Pickford (@SarahDubai_TC) November 18, 2016
The theme was ‘MY TC’ and ‘what it means to me’ and the celebrations and re-unions ensued from the get go on Friday night at Manchester Central with a Village theme including a stunning Victorian horse carousel and UK TV celebrity and local boy Emcee ‘Vernon Kay’ firing up the excited crowd.
UK Comedian Jack Whitehall decided he needed his own personal TC thanks to a history of travel disasters and eclectic Irish hip-hop duo ‘Abandonman’ performed a hilarious ‘TC – The Musical’ with the help of two unsuspecting delegates.
@HXAgents having such a great #tcconf16 #MYTC @TCworldwide TY for such a great eve! See you all today at POWOW ??????@LeanneMurfinHX pic.twitter.com/t4tDttd5ed
— Lindsay Garvey-Jones (@LGJHX) November 19, 2016
1500 Travel Counsellors en partners komen dit weekend samen in Manchester voor #TCConf16. CEO Steve Byrne on stage. pic.twitter.com/zGEpI9iynW
— TCBelgie (@TCBelgie) November 19, 2016
“Great companies know why they exist, and Travel Counsellors exists because we care,”
CEO Steve Byrne
That innate ‘caring’ and support CEO Steve Byrne spoke of clearly permeates every aspect and individual in the TC business and set the tone for the conference proceedings on Friday night with ‘Reuben’s Retreat’ announced as the charity of choice for all donations over the weekend.
The choice was a popular one and especially poignant to many in the room given the charity was founded by Travel Counsellor’s much-loved Head of Sales Mike Graham after he tragically lost his 23-month-old son ‘Reuben’ to a brain tumor in 2012.
Since then Graham and his wife (who he met at a TC Conference) have remarkably bought and set up a retreat in the North West Peak District for children with life limiting and life threatening illnesses, with a bereavement support and counselling centre for families who have also lost their children.
Incredible !blown away????#23 Reuben’s number ?amazing ?on behalf of all our families & our fab team – heavenly thank you’s ? https://t.co/JJe6n1Jtar
— Reuben’s Retreat (@ReubensRetreat) November 20, 2016
All donations from the weekend would go towards developing the retreat and by the end of the conference on Sunday afternoon an incredible £23,000 (AUD$38,760) had been raised.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the final number was announced, particularly given that 23 was the number of months Reuben had lived to.
It was a very special moment indeed and only echoed the caring ethos that had weaved itself naturally into much of the weekend’s agenda.
24-year-old Nadia Clark, a Cerebral palsy and deafness sufferer (and TC client), told her story on stage of her travel and dreams and the vast challenges of living and travelling with such a severe disability via an electronic voice box fitted to her wheelchair.
@Nadsyclarke “There are no barriers” what an inspirational 20 minutes..#tcconf16 pic.twitter.com/fk8hxNUwrg
— nadinefarrellyTC (@NadineFarrelly) November 19, 2016
Nadia’s braveness of spirit and desire to travel further afield was a lesson to all of us to stop sweating any small stuff and dream big.
Nadia’s own TC, Richard Thompson joined her on stage to add his personal thoughts on Nadia’s story and then surprised her with a dream trip to India thanks to a combined head office and supplier donation.
Another amazing moment. Cue more tears all round.
CEO Steve Byrne gave an impassioned presentation that spoke of his late father’s advice to him to always “Treat people decently” and that “values mean everything to him” and are what make up Travel Counsellors DNA.
How can we do better… #tcconf16 pic.twitter.com/OgAhw5RuTK
— Polly Poulton (@POLLYLYONS_) November 19, 2016
“Customers are looking for people who make them feel special”. We have to make them feel special with every individual booking”.
CEO Steve Byrne
Byrne also announced that a further whopping £21m (AUD$35,337,235) would be invested in 2017 to support the growing Travel Counsellor network – a 50% increase over the last five years and an ongoing commitment to service excellence and improving performance.
Looking to his own legacy Byrne noted that, “When I leave TC I want people to be able to say that I left the company in a better place than when I joined and that I was a mentor to help other people grow”.
Champions do more. Learning to be an even better TC @TC_Ireland @TCworldwide #goldTC #proud #TCConf16 pic.twitter.com/6QQEtmAXPF
— Mandy Walsh (@Mandy_TC) November 19, 2016
As well as updates from Travel Counsellors Business leaders, there were keynotes from brand guru Alex Hunter who talked about creating your own wow moments and Green and Blacks Chocolate Founder Jo Fairley who shared her inspirational journey from a Portabello Road flat to a global ethical brand.
Whilst on Sunday morning, two time gold medalist and Great Britain Olympian Dame Kellie Holmes had the crowd eating out of her hand with her energetic, bold story of perseverance in achieving your goals.
@damekellyholmes Thank you! thank you so much! for your inspiring & motivational talk… loved listening to you #tcconf16 @TCworldwide pic.twitter.com/KgGgVxwqxo
— Lucy Morgans (@LucyMorgans) November 20, 2016
Numerous Travel Counsellors featured throughout the agenda either on panels where they answered questions or in videos to share their tips and success stories.
And let’s not forget the prize giveaways… A colossal £140,000 (AUD$235,645) in supplier sponsored travel packages were drawn at random and gifted to individual Travel Counsellors throughout the event with each prize averaging around £5000 (AUD$8,415) and generating more ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ than an episode of Deal or no deal.
140,000 pounds worth of holidays will be given away this weekend at #tcconf16?✌️️AMAZING! @TCworldwide @TCworldwide @TC_Australia pic.twitter.com/mzjd3D0iL5
— KarryOn (@karryontravel) November 18, 2016
There was also plenty of service excellence recognition with the glamorous award ball on Saturday night being the pinnacle of sales success for the year.
But probably the more eagerly awaited announcement was just who the headline act would be on Saturday night for the awards ball.
With a stunning winter wonderland theme, the 1670 strong crowd were frocked up and ready to party with all the talk of speculating who the big act might be. Last year it was former ‘Take That’ man Gary Barlow so there were big shoes to fill.
Whilst UK based Drew Palmer won Travel Counsellor of the year for 2016, Nadine Kutz was recognised as the Australian Travel Counsellor of the year with Australian Managing Director, David Hughes handing out the award.
Nadine Kutz you’re a winner! Congratulations from Manchester! #tcconf16 @TC_Australia @TCWorldwideHQ @TCworldwide pic.twitter.com/jeFSIFBznG
— KarryOn (@karryontravel) November 19, 2016
Amazing set for @thelaurawright #tcconf16 pic.twitter.com/PYnDNGtGvb
— Richard Twynam (@RichardTwynam) November 19, 2016
Host Emcee Vernon Kay built the momentum and after a heavenly performance from gorgeous English operatic superstar Laura Wright we were all kept guessing and waiting until…
Former Boyzone man and all round musical legend Ronan Keating hit the stage to mass hysteria before reeling off a variety of favourites including ‘Life is a rollercoaster’, ‘Danny Boy’ and the Notting Hill movie hit that made him famous as a solo artist – ‘When you say nothing at all’.
@RonanKeating we salute you! Wow!?Amazing performance last night. #tcconf16 @TCWorldwideHQ @TCworldwide @TC_Australia pic.twitter.com/U5wcj0P82u
— KarryOn (@karryontravel) November 20, 2016
Needless to say there were some very happy faces on the dancefloor and a few tears too, which together only seemed to further reflect the theme of the weekend and the caring Travel Counsellors ethos they collectively live and work by.
@vernonkay Another year another video…Cheers Vernon #partofthefamily #tcconf16 pic.twitter.com/q2njbdlqo8
— Sam Peters (@TCsampeters) November 20, 2016
Author and speaker Anthony Iannarino had spoken on Saturday of TC’s business model of focussing on ‘customer intimacy’ and how it was impossible for most travel businesses to scale ‘Care’.
“But you have scaled it” he said of Travel Counsellors, “Because you are the value proposition”.
In a time where Travel Agents are increasingly having their value versus online questioned by customers the world over, Travel Counsellors are investing heavily and wisely to innovate for success whilst maintaining their caring service values at heart as their biggest asset.