News in Brief: Thursday March 13

A growing number of Victorian travel agents booking Latin America and Antarctica travel with Chimu Adventures has prompted the wholesaler to open a representation office in Melbourne.

The new office will be managed by senior relationship manager Sarah Baxter and is located on St Kilda Road. It will also be the base for Chimu ’s new virtual training platform.

‘It's been a busy 12 months as we experience consistent growth from agency sales in Australia,” Baxter said.

“It's great for our team to now have a base in Melbourne so we can react quickly to a  consultants needs for more specific and detailed information relating to their enquiry, ensuring they are knowledgeable, confident and therefore have the best opportunity to convert  the sale.” 

Agents that book a small group journey through Adventure World before the end of April will receive up to $100 off pre or post accommodation with the soft adventure travel specialists.

The offer is applicable for new bookings on Exodus, Trek America, G Adventures, Acacia Africa and Fez Travel small group journeys only with a minimum value of $1500 per person booked before April 30.

An upgrade to Express Ticketing’s Express Manager tool means members now have time-saving access to QBE Express Insurance by using ticketed PNRs with no additional log-ins required.

The new quote function allows agents to quote and issue policies and then email or print them for their customers.  It also pre-populates information like travel dates, email address and customer names.

“This is another technology upgrade where members can save time – and time is money,” chief executive Tom Manwaring said.

The time-saving upgrade follows the recent changes to reissuing and revalidating partially flown tickets.

To mark the new initiative, QBE is giving member agents $5 for every policy sold during March and April.