Skill up on all you need to know with bite sized travel news designed specifically to help you, the Travel Agent, be your best.
Read on for this week’s travel news that Travel Agents need to know:
1. Earn Qantas Points with Sunlover Holidays
Travellers can now earn Qantas Points when they book new air and land packages through Sunlover from 1 January 2018.
Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on Sunlover Holidays combined air and land packages when flying with Qantas or Jetstar. Plus Qantas Frequent Flyers can also earn points on eligible Qantas and Jetstar flights when booked as part of these packages.
That means members can earn twice – once on the flight and again on the package!
Cinzia Burnes, Executive Director and Head of Wholesale & Inbound at Helloworld Travel Limited welcomed the addition of Qantas Points with Sunlover Holidays, saying the move will benefit both travellers and their Travel Agents.
“We know clients love getting all the Qantas Points they can with their travel bookings and we are pleased to be able to offer this feature to you to offer to your clients,” she said.
Agents can secure Qantas Points for their clients by quoting their Qantas Frequent Flyer membership number when booking any Sunlover Holidays air and land package in-conjunction with eligible Qantas or Jetstar flights.
2. Travellers Choice adds smart new Agent training initiative
Travellers Choice is continually looking for new ways to give its members a competitive edge, which is why it recently conducted an exclusive Airfare Learning Day for its members in Queensland and Northern NSW.
Members from as far afield as Cairns, Rockhampton, Maryborough and Longreach travelled to Brisbane for the event, which provided a priceless opportunity to hear from a range of preferred partner airlines.
Nicola Strudwick, Travellers Choice General Manager – Sales, said presenters provided in-depth training on relevant airfare products, while also delivering valuable sales tips and tricks.
Ongoing training and education is a key component of the support services Travellers Choice offers its member shareholders. Along with a variety of events held around the country, the award-winning group also provides its agents with unfettered access to TC EXELL, an innovative eLearning library containing a growing selection of online training materials from preferred partners.
3. Club Med to open first resort in the Seychelles
Club Med has announced its international expansion, with new properties opening in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Quebec and in 2020, the Seychelles.
The new 5 Trident Exclusive Collection Resort on Sainte-Anne Island in the Seychelles archipelago will be open all year round to offer families and active couples an exceptional destination at the heart of the Sainte-Anne Marine National Park.
Just 30 minutes from Mahé International Airport, the new resort will boast 295 rooms – from Club to Suite – and offer its family guests the full range of childcare facilities – from Petit Club (2 – 3 years old) to Junior’s Club (11 – 17 years old).
4. A&K’s new stylish Kimberley cruise
Abercrombie & Kent has exclusively chartered the new luxury all-balcony vessel Le Laperouse for a unique cruise along the Kimberley coastline in June 2019.
The 12-night journey from Broome to Darwin will showcase the spectacular Kimberley landscape and coastline including the Buccaneer Archipelago, a jet boat tour to the extraordinary Horizontal Falls, a unique low tide experience at Montgomery Reef, bush walking and Worrorra cave art at Raft Point, the Prince Regent Nature Reserve plus a helicopter ride to Mitchell Falls. An in-depth look at the incredible rock art of Bigge Island is part of the adventure plus saltwater crocodiles and turtles at Low Rocks, the King George River and Falls and a Bungle Bungles overflight.
A&K’s award-winning expedition team will be on board to bring the region to life with special insights into the ecology, geology, marine biology and history of the area.
5. SilkAir’s Boeing 737 arrives in Northern Australia
SilkAir celebrated the arrival of its new aircraft, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 into Cairns earlier week. The newest aircraft to join the SilkAir fleet, the MAX 8 offers customers an enhanced on-board experience and new cabin products, ensuring a comfortable and pleasant flight.
The MAX 8 aircraft is fitted with a total of 156 seats, with 12 Business Class and 144 Economy Class seats. Customers will be greeted by a refreshed cabin look and feel, with the MAX 8’s Boeing Sky Interior featuring modern sculpted sidewalls and window reveals to provide a sense of spaciousness, as well as LED lighting designed to create a more relaxing atmosphere on-board.
The Business Class cabin features thoughtful refinements such as enhanced personal space through increased seat pitch and additional seat recline for added comfort. The new seats also feature a convenient side pocket for easily accessible personal storage, as well as a USB and in-seat power supply to keep devices fully charged throughout the flight. To top off the experience, customers can also pre-select their main meal from a range of 20 options on SilkAir’s All Time Favourites menu and indulge in gourmet coffee from world-renowned illycaffè, brewed freshly on-board.
Economy Class seats have also been refined and showcase a sleeker and more ergonomic design. To increase comfort and convenience, seats in Economy Class are fitted with seat-back tablet and phone holders and personal in-seat USB charging ports.
6. ecruising.travel wins prestigious LUX awards
THE team at ecruising.travel is celebrating after receiving two honours in the prestigious 2018 LUX Tourism Awards.
The cruise expert has not only been recognised for developing Australia’s Best Cruise Booking Platform but the celebrated POSH Club receives the exclusive LUX Excellence Award for the Best Loyalty Program.
Ecruising’s founding chairman Brett Dudley says that while it’s a thrill to win every award the LUX prizes are special because they recognise travel businesses right around the globe that go above and beyond for their clients.
“We work hard to offer the very best, from making the booking process as easy as possible to promising a loyalty program that really rewards frequent cruisers, and for LUX to recognise this is pleasing,’” he says
7. Fly free to China or Japan through Wendy Wu Tours
Bucket List getting longer? Make your New Years Resolution to explore further with free return economy-class flights to China and Japan when you book one of over 25 different tour itineraries with Wendy Wu Tours.
As well as free flights, Australia’s largest Asia tour specialist is making tours to these ancient lands even more accessible with deposits of just $99 per person.
This is the first time that Wendy Wu Tours has ever offered their travelers to fly free to any of their exotic destinations in Asia, and travelers ideal opportunity to visit the destination.
The fully inclusive Classic tours, as well as Immerse Yourself and Deluxe Tours, have been carefully selected to deliver travellers with the most sought-after experiences of China and Japan, and crafted with Wendy Wu Tours’ 24 years of experience.
The Free Free to China & Japan offer is on sale until 15 March 2018, but book as soon as possible to guarantee your position.
8. Save up to $1,060 on Peugeot through DriveAway Holidays
Create the ultimate European self-drive holiday for travellers in 2018. The launch of DriveAway’s Peugeot Earlybird gives clients the most flexible and economical way of getting around Europe. Choose from 10 guaranteed models to collect and return a brand new Peugeot from 28 locations throughout Europe – it’s that easy.
Until Friday the 23 of March, DriveAway Holidays have 10 FREE Days on petrol vehicles, seven FREE Days on diesel vehicles and 50 percent off delivery and return fees. That’s savings for your clients up to $1,060. PLUS if your clients are a return Peugeot Leasing customer, they will receive an additional three FREE days.
9. APT launches ‘feel free’ sale with Business Class specials & more
APT is kicking off the new year with a bang thanks to their ‘Feel Free’ sale featuring fantastic flight deals and more across their worldwide destinations.
With fly free deals, business class specials, cabin upgrades and other huge savings across APT’s extensive portfolio, guests can feel free to take in the sights, free to get active or free to relax and watch the world float by as APT takes care of the finer details.
From airport transfers, five-star food and beverage service to luxury accommodation, APT guests travel in luxury, making as many or as little decisions as they please to create bespoke adventures. APT’s experienced guides will entertain and inform on city shore excursions, or guests can take a stroll through town at their pace before a spot of shopping or round of golf, APT tours can be tailored with as little or many choices as guests please.
Thanks to these unmissable deals guests can experience river cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest on a Magnificent Europe tour; take in the spellbinding beauty of Lake Louise on the Rockies Highlights and Alaska Cruise, or indulge at Luke Nguyen’s new restaurant Vietnam House on the Vietnam and Cambodia Highlights tour.