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. 80 people dead in France after truck ploughs into crowd
At least 80 people have died in Nice, in the south of France, after a truck ploughed into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day, a French national holiday.
The incident, which interrupted a fireworks display for the national celebration, has left in its wake a scene that has been described as “apocalyptic”.
Click here for the full story.
2. Pokemon are taking over Aussie travel agencies
Pokemon are spreading across Australia in seemingly biblical proportions, literally popping up everywhere, from suburban streets, to city parks, and even inside travel agencies across the country.
Yes, that’s right: Pokemon love to travel too!
We initially thought it’d be funny to have a little fun with the craziness sparked by the launch of the new Pokemon Go smart phone game by crafting this hilarious meme. You won’t guess what happened next…
Click here for the full story.
3. PNG introduces new tourist visa on arrival for Aussies
Effective immediately, Australian passport holders can now receive a free, 30 day tourist visa upon arrival in Papua New Guinea.
The change in visa requirements was delivered this week by the National Executive Council and is the first time this option has been available to Australian visitors. The free tourist visa is an important step forward for the PNG tourism industry.
PNG, which is one of our closest neighbours (around 3-hours flying time from Brisbane), comprises more than 600 islands with popular activities for tourists including fishing, diving, trekking (e.g. the popular Kokoda Track), surfing and cruising.
4. International visitor numbers looking good for Australian tourism
In great news for Australian tourism, the latest official forecasts released by Tourism Research Australia (TRA) has confirmed that Australia’s visitor economy is on track to generate $127 billion in overnight expenditure by 2020, most of which is backed by a surging Chinese visitor numbers.
International visitor growth rate is forecast at 6.7% in 2016-17 and 5.9% in 2017-18, and 12.3 million international visitors per annum are forecast to travel to Australia by 2024-25.
Chinese tourists are expected to overtake New Zealand as our largest visitor source market by by 2017-18, which is two years earlier than previously forecast.
5. Air NZ’s Grabaseat promo’s $10 domestic fares
To celebrate its 10th birthday, New Zealand’s best travel deal website, Grabaseat, is offering one thousand $10 seats on all domestic routes flying with Air New Zealand.
The promotion also includes thousands of cut-rate fares for international destinations and thousands within the country for less than $39.
General Manager Market Development and Retail Sales at Air New Zealand, Annabelle Fowler, says Grabaseat has experienced phenomenal growth since its creation in 2006 with over 28,000 people visiting the site on average each day.
6. Man on easyJet flight urinates on passengers
A 26-year-old man onboard an easyJet flight from Copenhagen to Edinburgh has allegedly urinated on his fellow passengers after being refused access to the toilets just after the plane had landed.
According to the horrified passengers onboard, flight attendants had asked the man to sit down in his seat just before the passenger started urinating all over the people onboard. The man was allegedly drinking his own alcohol onboard.
Edinburgh police were called to attend to the incident and the man was later charged.
7. LATAM continue to work with Sabre to streamline operations
In an effort to streamline its operations, LATAM Airlines Group has expanded its long-term technology agreement with Sabre to introduce more efficient flight planning to achieve reductions in fuel usage and reduce CO2 emissions.
Sabre´s AirCentre Flight Plan Manager, which provides fully-automated flight planning capabilities and significant productivity savings, will help the group unify flight operations and fuel policies across its domestic operations in seven countries – in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay – as well as its international network.
LATAM Airlines has also selected Sabre as the technology provider for its combined reservation system.
8. The home of beauty and luxury is at Pacific Fair this July
Queensland’s newest, largest, and snazziest fashion destination, Pacific Fair, is set to reinvigorate the Gold Coast’s retail environment this July with the opening of beauty empire SEPHORA.
SEPHORA will join other beauty retailers in the multi-million dollar shopping centre, such as Aesop, Jurlique, Kiehl’s, L’Occitane, Mecca Cosmetica and Mecca Maxima. In addition to luxury and beauty, fashion retailers Gant, Jan Logan and R. M. Williams will open at Pacific Fair during July.
As the fastest growing region in Australia, the Gold Coast continues to rapidly attract new residents driven by the area’s lifestyle, climate and opportunities. The Gold Coast is also a tourism mecca, attracting more than 12 million visitors per year, which gives Pacific Fair retailers the opportunity to be exposed to shoppers from all over the world.
9. Scenic opens new Aussie headquarters in Newcastle
Finally, on Wednesday this week, Scenic, the luxury cruise and tour brand, officially opened its new custom-designed Australian headquarters in Newcastle.
The five storey office, which was designed by architects EJE Architecture to be a collaborative workspace where nobody is tied to their desk, houses the 206 staff that work across all facets of the business from reservations, Journey Design and operations to finance, IT and HR.
Scenic have experienced huge growth since moving into its second premises in Newcastle, and after many, many years they had outgrown the space and needed a bigger space. The new headquarters gives them this extra space, and is built with the possibility of future expansion.
Click here for more pics of the official opening.