The last couple of years were written off before they even began. So, this new year really feels like a new start (even if our new year’s resolutions have already gone out with the recycling). We chat to ten travel advisors and ask them what they hope 2023 has in store for them and the industry they love.
Dana Brown – Personal Travel Manager
I’ve got high hopes for the travel industry for 2023. I’d love to see the airlines that we recommend and work so hard for recognising travel advisors’ time and expertise by bringing back commission or an advantageous bonus structure to support us in supporting them.
For myself, I’m looking forward to a year filled with new travel experiences and being able to inspire my clients to travel through social media with the brands I’m partnering with to visit the exciting destinations I’ll be showcasing this year. I’m also really excited to be speaking at the first-ever Travel Trend Summit on the Gold Coast in May – this event is going to be a game-changer for our industry.
Holly Velardo – Hollyday Travel Owner and ATAC South Australian Regional Director
I really would love some me time. I’m a mum to five kids and I’m working crazy hours. So probably my biggest goal is setting some boundaries around my work life and family life and really focusing on why I started my business. And, you know, I absolutely want to expand it and continue to build it. I have an incredible, incredible team underneath me now who are just amazing. And having them there is going to free me up to do these things that I want to do.
I love people and I really want to meet new people this year. I’m part of a group called SA Women in Business and I’ve been nominated a couple of years in a row for awards. I didn’t win them. But this year, my goal is to win one. So I’ll be really focusing on women in business and finding great networks of people — not necessarily just for my industry or business but just talking to clever people and having open honest conversations that we haven’t been able to have thanks to covid.
There’s no room to put other people down anymore. Let’s build everyone up and look at what we can create together.
Di Yates – Personal Travel Manager
My main goal is to head to Rwanda, stay awhile at Volcanoes National Park (probably spoil myself with the luxury of Singita Kwitonda Lodge) and go gorilla trekking. I would love to do this special trip with my family. Especially so the younger ones can see how essential conservation is not only for gorilla colonies, but for nature in general, and the future survival of all wildlife species. Gosh I sound like David Attenborough, don’t I? But Africa does get into your heart and soul, I love it.
Tina Pizzoni – Helloworld Travel Rochedale Shopping Centre Owner
My hopes for our industry in 2023 is to see calm and ease return. I feel there is a degree of chaos at the moment which is causing stress – from the suppliers to the agents and then to the clients. And that’s not what travel is about.
I also hope that the relationships between agents and our suppliers (namely airlines and hoteliers) return to a respectful and mutually beneficial position.
Maria Pandalai – Personal Travel Manager
My hopes for the travel industry for 2023 is that we thrive as one of the best industries worldwide. We have proven that we are well deserving of the MVP and therefore should be acknowledged for that.
As time progresses, I hope to see more consumer confidence so they are able to explore the world again without feeling sceptical or anxious.
For myself, I hope to continue to share more of my experiences with my clients. I hope to build on my client database so as to exceed my goals and aspirations. I am also aiming to return to travelling internationally more regularly to increase my product knowledge.
Andrew Sullivan – The Don’t Forget Travel Group Director
Not sure if these are my hopes or a ‘wish list’, but I’d like:
- The airlines get more planes back up into the air so that prices can start returning to a reasonable level (particularly Business Class prices)
- More collaboration between agents and suppliers (remember that early covid saying “we are all in this together”?)
- The re-introduction of (accessible) local supplier BDMs
- The inbound domestic market to bounce back (but also that the domestic market invests more in their offerings to tourists)
- I hope that fluctuating interest rates do not put a handbrake on people’s desire to travel in 2023
- I hope to get to ILTM Cannes this year.
- This year, I really want to visit a country I haven’t been to… I just cant decide which one.
Belinda Hackett – Personal Travel Manager
I would love to start a podcast this year. I just have no idea where to start or how to do. It would, of course, be Fiji based.
I’d love the romance of travel to come back. Covid and all its testing and rules really took the romance of travel away.
I also want people to learn that travel can be a wonderful thing and sometimes it’s best to spend a little more to get exactly what you want. I hate it when people call me and say I want to go to Fiji cause it’s $1999 per person — not for any other reason. Thing is, they came home and hate it as it was the wrong fit for them!
Sarah Fenton – Mobile Travel Advisor and Cruise Master
Personally, I would like perfect weather for the first week of July in Alaska. I am taking my son cruising there with Holland America and I just want to mush those husky dogs on the glacier under a clear blue sky!
For the industry? For those of us still standing, it’s our chance to write, or rewrite, our stories the way we want them heard. Celebrate our resilience. Train up new recruits in all fields to reach service standards that are second to none. We have learned that the most resilient, most adaptable and the best at what they do are survivors, so we can make our industry tougher, more resilient, diverse and better than it’s ever been
Grace Lech – Grace Club Travel
This new year there’s a sense of a truly fresh beginning in the air. A plethora of travel businesses are ready to offer more flexible and revamped products and services which were becoming staid — simply because they worked in the past. Sustainability and responsible tourism are no longer just buzz words and I hope everyone within the tourism industry jumps onboard with renewed ideologies.
But best of all from my observation, many companies have given their training platforms an overhaul with updated information and technology to meet the current variable situations. With this in front of mind, I’ve been inspired to help those wanting to join the travel industry with online training modules.
I’m also looking forward to an invigorating start with more blogging opportunities in the future.
Anna Shannon – Travel Agent Finder
I really believe that there is more than enough business to go around. We all have incredibly amazing talents, skills and expertise. And if we’re able to find ways where we can work together and lift each other up as an industry there’s just no limit to where we can go with that.
Amen to that!
