Travel Associates hosted its first Luxury Travel Event on Sunday in Sydney, with more than 600 luxury travel consumers in attendance.
The Travel Associates event brought together consumers and a curated group of travel partners including luxury cruise lines, tour operators, hotels and airlines.
With no trade stands in sight, Travel Associates called the show a one-of-a-kind event, in which consumers were able to chat one-on-one with travel suppliers with the personal support of a Travel Associates advisor.
Encouragingly, some 70 per cent of guests at The Luxury Travel Event were new to the Travel Associates brand.
Flight Centre Travel Group’s Global Managing Director of Luxury Leisure and Independent Brands Danielle Galloway said the show was “the first of its kind, and designed to really showcase how we work and who we are as a brand”.
“Our DNA speaks to our desire to truly connect with guests, and we love nothing more than bringing this to life by working with our incredible partners to connect them to future clients in a way that is both personal and immersive,” she added.
Galloway said Travel Associates’ experiences could not “be googled and we offer an exceptional and highly personalised service”.
“Travel Associates’ luxury product collection is handpicked, then tailored to each client, allowing us to exclusively negotiate benefits that no-one else can,” she said.
Galloway also flagged a change in luxury travel trends.
“Our clients are tending to be younger, time poor and also keen to really experience the world after the challenges we’ve all faced in the pandemic,” she explained.
“Our clients know that the best advice and those ‘one of a kind’ magical moments can only be delivered by a trusted and expert travel professional.”
Held at the Hyatt Regency Sydney, the event saw a pop-up cinema screen immersive presentations, cultural exhibitions, wellness massages, canapes, champagne and luxury gift bags.
Celebrating 25 years, Travel Associates boasts 250 travel advisors across 65 businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
Among the event’s exhibitors were Fiji Tourism, Hawaii Tourism, Qatar Airways, Scenic, Viking, Silversea Cruises, Abercrombie & Kent, Western Australia Tourism, Adventure World and Bench Africa as well as a host others.
Read our interview with Travel Associate Sheron Konig, who took home the gong for Australia’s top Cruise Consultant at the CLIA Awards.