A group of 10 travel agents have spent three days in New York for the Ausmerica mega famil, organised by Qantas and Brand USA.
They are part of a 50 agent cohort split into five groups and sent to explore different parts of the US for the mega-famil.
The New York trip kicked off at the refurbished Novotel for welcome drinks at the bar which overlooks Times Square. The bar is themed around New Year’s Eve – light installations represent New Year traditions around the world and floor to ceiling windows offer a view of the ball that will drop come midnight January 1.
Day two started with bagels at Ben’s deli, a New York institution renowned for kosher pastrami and corned beef. Then it was time to brave the icy winds at Top of the Rock, the Rockefeller Centre’s observation deck which affords great views toward Central Park and the Empire State Building.
Next up it was time to don a helmet and cycle through Central Park with Bike and Roll, pedaling between landmarks such as The Boathouse and the peace park. After all that exercise, lunch was at Molyvos Greek restaurant and actress Lucy Liu was spotted at a nearby table.
The New Year’s Eve theme continued at the Times Square Visitor Centre as the agents had a chance to write wishes on confetti that will be released at the start of 2014. This tradition began two years ago and it is said that finding your confetti wish at New Year’s will make it eventuate.
Another bar with a great view over Times Square is at the boutique Renaissance hotel, where the group had drinks and typical American bar food such as burgers, chicken wings and pizza. This was followed up by a night at Caroline’s on Broadway, to see the next big thing in comedy, with performances funny enough to keep hecklers at bay.
The group will continue on to Boston, Massachusetts with all 50 agents converging in Los Angeles for the final two nights of the trip.
