We’ve done all the hard work, so you don’t have to! Read on for the top ten travel news stories we think you need to know today.
1. The airline of the year is…
While Australians may have an ongoing love affair with Qantas, globally it seems the Flying Kangaroo’s competitor across the ditch continues to be a global favourite.
Air New Zealand has been named ‘Airline of the Year’ by AirlineRatings.com for the third consecutive year.
Revealed overnight, the NZ carrier beat the Australian carrier, which landed in second place in the top 10 airlines for 2016 list.
2. America’s dream in the Sunshine Coast
The latest stats are in, and it’s official: the number of overseas travellers to the Sunshine Coast is growing steadily, and its the Yanks who are driving the surge.
According to the latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) statistics, there was a 4.5 per cent increase in overseas visitors (to 256,000) to the Sunshine Coast for the year ending September 2015. And of the overall visitor numbers, the US inbound visitor numbers grew an astounding 20.9 per cent – yep, the Americans are flocking to the beautiful Sunshine Coast.
3. What caused AirAsia’s flight QZ8501 to crash?
A faulty part and the actions of the crew together caused AirAsia flight QZ8501 to crash into the Java Sea last year killing all 162 on board, according to Indonesian air crash investigators.
In a recent statement, the National Transport Safety Committee concluded that the Airbus A320’s flight control computer had a cracked component that failed four times during the flight (and 23 times in the previous year).
The component’s malfunction caused repeated warning signals to be sent to the pilots.
4. ATEC’s Meeting Place Conference kicks off
A glorious morning at Royal Randwick welcomes @dlansky & @DainaMiddleton to Meeting Place 2015. ATEC members are thoroughly looking forward to their highly anticipated presentations #ATECMP15 #theraces
Posted by Australian Tourism Export Council on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
ATEC’s annual Meeting Place Conference kicks off today with more than 400 tourism exporters gathering to hear about industry changes and influences.
Commencing this morning, the event features a line up of guest speakers, including Daina Middleton – the Head of Global Business Marketing for Twitter – who will discuss the importance of social media to building a business.
There’s also this year’s Melbourne Cup Winner, Michelle Payne, who will discuss her success as the first female to win the annual sporting event.
5. Scoot-ing for more Singaporean visitors
The NSW Government signed a two-year agreement with budget carrier, Scoot, to launch joint marketing campaigns and increase tourism from Singapore to NSW.
The new agreement is an extension to the pair’s existing four-year strategic partnership which helped drive visitation from Singapore to Sydney up by 19 percent for the year ending June 2015.
“The MoU reaffirms the NSW Government’s ongoing commitment to creating even more opportunities for Destination NSW and Scoot to increase awareness of Sydney and NSW experiences and events for our visitors.”
NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres
6. Sabre veteran returns
He’s already been seen wining and dining key clients at some of Sydney’s finest restaurants and eateries, but Richard Morgan knows better than anyone else what it takes to continue leading travel tech company Sabre into success.
And it comes down to two key factors: experience (Morgan has over 25 years in the travel industry – over 10 working for Sabre) and a keen eye towards future growth.
Morgan’s recent promotion to Regional Director will see him lead an expanded South Pacific team (Australian, New Zealand and Indonesia).
7. Norwegian opens Sydney call centre
Norwegian Cruise Line continues to expand its presence around Australia with the opening of a new dedicated operations/contact call center operated by five full-time cruise consultants.
Elizabeth Krstevsk commenced call centre operations for Norwegian Cruise Line this week from the company’s new Sydney offices.
Agents will be able to contact the center Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 6.30pm (AEST) or Saturday from 8.30am to 1.00pm.
“Establishing a local call centre to deliver enhanced service and assistance to local trade was a top priority for us when setting up Norwegian Cruise Line’s Australasian office.”
Steve Odell, Norwegian Cruise Line Senior Vice President & MD Asia Pacific
“Our specialist team of call centre staff has just completed four weeks of intensive training to effectively and rapidly respond to service calls, new bookings from trade partners and assist with help-desk trade enquiries.”
The number for Australian travel agents is 1300 255 200 and the number for New Zealand agents is +61 2 9224 6000, while online reservations can be made via email:resoffice@ncl.com.
8. WIN a trip for two to Tuscany
Tempo Holidays is celebrating its new partnership with Emirates and a new route into Bologna by giving agents the chance to win a trip for two to Tuscany.
To be in the running, agents need to sell Tempo Holidays’ new Italy product featured in the 2016 Italy & Malta brochure.
The top selling agent will win two return flights to Bologna with Emirates that are upgradable to Business Class, pre and post-night accommodation in Bologna.
The winner will be announced in the first week of March. For more information contact Tempo Holidays on: res@tempoholidayscom or call 1300 362 844.
9. Take an Adventure in a new World
Adventure World has added a new tour to its portfolio – an 11-day South Korea Discovery tour travelling from Seoul to Jeju Island.
Released in the Adventure World India & Asia Tailor-Made Collection 2016/17, the tour takes guests to DMZ on the border of South and North Korea as well as the Seoraksan National Park on the east coast where they can see mountains that fall to the East Sea and granite outcrops.
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Andong and Gyeongju are full of Korea’s history and culture, while the trip to the southern seaport of Busan offer guests the chance try food from the Jagalchi seafood market – the largest in Asia.
The private tour includes ten night’s accommodation, meals as indicated, sightseeing, flights and train travel as specified in the itinerary, the services of a private car and driver and local English speaking guide. It is from $5,339 twin share per person.
10. Travel Counsellors celebrates success
What do you do when you’ve just celebrated your best year? Well, apart from thanking your agents, you thank your suppliers, and that’s exactly what Travel Counsellors did in Melbourne last week.
Held at the Art Series Hotel Group’s stunning Blackman Penthouse on the evening of Tuesday 24 November, Travel Counsellors hosted a range of suppliers for its intimate end-of-year event, including representatives from airlines, cruise companies, tourist boards, hotel groups and wholesalers.
With a wide range of travel industry suppliers in attendance, the event offered both suppliers and the Travel Counsellors team an opportunity to relax and reflect on what has been a tremendous, growth-filled year for both Travel Counsellors and their partners and suppliers.
P.S. Everyone wants to ‘Ask Isaac’
Love the photo bomb.
Princess Cruises latest promo featuring The Love Boat’s favourite bartender, Isaac, has gained so much interest that Princess decided to print off special t-shirts to commemorate the success.
Princess crew and Isaac himself have been spotted wearing the new get-up which features Isaac and the tagline ‘Ask Isaac’.
Australian and New Zealand agents can get their hands on a shirt by picking one up through the World Leading Cruise Line’s One Source (www.onesourcecruises.com) portal.
The t-shirts are such a big hit, the entire Princess’ Sydney team decided to don one for a photo (above), designed to make ‘the point’ about the new service.
P.P.S. Flight attendant reportedly loses her sh#t
Passengers on board a recent US flight would have no doubt been slightly terrified when a flight attendant allegedly lashed out at crew members and the on board marshal.
The woman reportedly shoved, punched and kicked her fellow crew members on both legs of a flight from Charlotte in North Carolina to Frankfurt, Germany, The Charlotte Observer printed.
The paper said that prior to the flight the attendant had attempted to get herself removed from duty because she was feeling ‘crazy’.
However, the airline decided not to remove the flight attendant which lead to her allegedly slapping another female flight attendant before attacking US Air Marshal Joseph D Fialka.
“She was quite irrational at this time,” the US Marshal wrote in his sworn statement.
He said he tried to calm her down, but she responded by striking him twice in the chest.
“The force of this action moved me back. I weigh considerable more than Snow,” he added.
On the return flight, Fialka said her behaviour worsened, with her yelling and screaming while preparing to clear customs.
“Snow attempted to bypass the passport control officer and enter the airport,” he added.
“I asked her to stop and she refused to do so. I moved in front of her and again told her to stop, showing her my badge. I told her I was going to detain her for her own safety.”
The flight attendant was scheduled to appear in court on Monday, however, her appearance was cancelled.
