Today’s agent wrap is absolutely bursting with pictures of agents partying, travelling and living their best lives! Get inspired, or seethe with jealousy, right here.

Intrepid wraps up Adventure Summit in Buenos Aires with Argentinian party 

FCTG Agents from Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada were treated to a special Argentinian experience following the Intrepid Group’s Adventure Summit. Agents were surprised to enter the event through one of the city’s restored tunnels, dating back from Argentina’s first settlement. They were then taken on a journey of Tango through the ages, which finished with an electric Argentinian drumming performance. The agents then partied alongside Intrepid Group’s sales staff from different regions, and leaders from South America.

Contiki unveils revamped Europe offering at Contiki Legends

Contiki launched its line-up of Europe Summer 2020 trips and experiences at its sixth annual Contiki Legends event. Celebrities and travel industry experts turned out including Jimmy Niggles, Josh Moss, Amelia Marni and Lincoln Lewis.

Sydney’s Max Watt’s venue was given a makeover with Europe’s favourite cities brought to life. The 300 guests got a taste of some of the new and iconic Contiki experiences in different themed rooms throughout the venue, perfectly setting the vibe for Contiki’s announcement of new European product.

The evening extravaganza included a Munich beer garden with plenty of fresh brews and pretzels on offer, Sydney’s first tapas train where guests dined on some of Barcelona’s best dishes and finest traditional red wine, before entering into a Tuscan feast room where Nonnas, Ceila and Gina of MasterChef fame, served pasta from giant cheese wheels.

Guests were put through their paces with a bar that came to life when powered by another guest pedalling a bike. Flamenco dancers were on foot to keep guests entertained and Perth’s renowned DJ Shann got the dancefloor hotter than a Sevillan summer night.

Networking, member sessions and Gala Dinner closes off a successful conference for Magellan Travel

Friday afternoon’s conference agenda saw Magellan members and industry partners alike actively participate in a Preferred Partner Exchange which included a mix of pre-assigned appointments and an expo-style working lunch.

On Friday evening, the Tjungu Ballroom at Uluru Meeting Place in Australia’s Red Centre was stunningly transformed to host Magellan’s night-of-nights, the 2019 Magellan Gala and Awards Dinner.

The event saw individuals from within Magellan member agencies recognised and awarded for their outstanding contribution in various award categories, namely:

• Abbey Alvin of Coopers Travel Centre was awarded the Rising Star of the Year.
• Julie-Anne Major of Epping Travel was awarded Leisure Consultant of the Year.
• Shareen Shepherd of World Corporate Travel was awarded Corporate Travel Consultant of the Year.
• Kathy Gambell of Encore Journeys was awarded Specialist of the Year.
• And the 2019 Loyalty Award was presented to Tracey Fidone, Hawthorn Travel & Cruise.

Abbey, Julie-Anne, Shareen, Kathy and Tracey will all enjoy a luxury/all-expenses paid trip flying premium class to New Zealand and will see them visiting Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. This luxury trip has been generously sponsored by Air New Zealand and will be personally escorted by Magellan Travel’s general manager, Andrew Macfarlane.

Agents discover Peru & the Atacama Desert with Eclipse Travel

Post-famil blues have been setting in this week for a lucky small group of Aussie & Kiwi agents who have just returned from a luxury 10-day famil to Peru and Chile’s Atacama Desert with Eclipse Travel in partnership with LATAM airlines. The itinerary started by exploring Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas where the group saw historic sites, sampled local food and drinks and visited stunning luxury properties including. A visit to Machu Picchu was predictably a highlight of the trip for everyone as they were treated to perfect weather and expert education from Eclipse Travel’s local guides.

Next stop was a change of pace in Lima with a tour of San Isidro Market and local cafes hosted by Hotel B’s chef before a Pisco Sour making class and three-course cooking class at the award-winning boutique property. A private guided tour of Peru’s cosmopolitan capital provided a glimpse of the vibrant city including 17^th Century architecture, stunning streetscapes and world-class restaurants. LATAM’s new Lima – Calama service enabled seamless access to Chile’s stunning Atacama Desert where the final three nights were spent discovering other-worldly landscapes and enjoying the facilities at the all-inclusive Alto Atacama resort.

Cruise STARS 2019 experience the beauty of Alaska!

The top 20 National Cruise consultants were lucky enough set sail for Alaska recently, on the exclusive Cruise STARS experience with Crystal Cruises!

The recognition program rewarded fifteen wholesale and five cruise line agents, taking consultants on the extravagant experience aboard Crystal Symphony, sailing from Vancouver to Alaska.

The lucky Cruise STARS reward recipients flew with Air Canada to Vancouver, and on arrival, enjoyed morning tea at the Pan Pacific Hotel before embarking Crystal Symphony.

The group of agents from Australia and New Zealand sailed Canada and Alaska for and amazing 10 nights roundtrip from Vancouver.  They were hosted by Cathy Tees from Crystal Cruises and Catherine Allison from Helloworld Travel.

MTA out in force for Cruise360

MTA – Mobile Travel Agents has fielded one of its biggest ever delegations at Cruise360 with a team of close on 40 attending the event in Sydney last week.

The team size reflects MTA’s strength on the Australian cruise scene. A large percentage of Advisors are now CLIA affiliated with many of those having also achieved CLIA ‘Cruise Master’ status.

The company’s success in the sector is further compounded by three of its advisors – Sarah Fenton, Wendy Allen, and Tracey Flower – having taken out the prestigious CLIA ‘Home Based/Mobile Cruise Agent of the Year (Australia)’ award in recent years.

Journeys & Africa – Indian Ocean Islands & Africa Famil 

Journeys & Africa recent trip to Mauritius visiting Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort. The group stayed at some of the most beautiful resorts around the island, experienced local cuisine, bartered in the markets, explored local villages by bicycle, visited Chamarel and Coloured Earth and was treated to a catamaran cruise to watch the Kite surfing competition.

TravelManagers’ pre-conference famil to Margaret River

The Margaret River region is renowned for its wineries, beaches and amazing natural beauty. It’s therefore not surprising that when TravelManagers offered a pre-conference famil to experience the many delights of this region, a total of 26 personal travel managers (PTMs) signed up.

The itinerary took the group first to the coastal town of Busselton, which serves as gateway to the region. After lunch and a walk along the town’s iconic, 1840-metre long wooden jetty, they continued to nearby Cape Naturaliste for a guided, interpretive walk and didgeridoo experience before heading to their base for the next two nights in the town of Margaret River.

Orbit World Travel team celebrates 25 years

Orbit World travel celebrated 25 years of successful travel management, with staff from around Australia joining Founding Director, Lisa Story and Chief Executive, Michael Chase-Smith at The Westin Brisbane on the weekend.

The celebration also marked the emotional departure of Wayne Swaysland.

The Orbit World Travel team were joined by key suppliers in a fun weekend of celebrations, which culminated in a “Back to the 90s” themed party on Saturday night.

Adelaide agents enjoy Thai night

Thai fun was had by 80 Adelaide Agents, thanks to Singapore Airlines, Tourism Authority of Thailand and ONYX Hospitality.

Retail Agents across the SA capital were treated with a delicious 3-course Thai dinner as well as an extravagant display of fireworks from the Rydges Adelaide Skyline on Tuesday the 3^rd September.

Ashley Schlesinger, Sales Executive for Singapore Airlines, gave an update on SQ and Scoot product and fares to Thailand.  Sherly Handjojo, TAT Marketing Manager, highlighted gastronomy tourism, local Thai experiences and updates on Chiang Mai and Koh Samui. Louise Barker from ONYX Hospitality gave updates on Amari and OZO hotels in Bangkok, Phuket and Koh Samui.

To wrap up, Ashley announced an Agent Incentive exclusive to those Agents attending last night. All they need to do is sell as many SQ tickets as possible from Australia to Thailand and enter the ticket numbers into the incentive form.  The incentive runs for one month, and the agent with the most entries will win the Grand Prize.

The Grand Prize includes return flights from Adelaide- Koh Samui//Chiang Mai – Adelaide for two persons, 2 nights’ accommodation at the Amari Koh Samui including breakfast and private cycling tour including picnic lunch and Thai massage, as well as Lanna-style cooking class in Chiang Mai.

Runner up prizes range from 2 nights stay at the Amari Watergate Bangkok, 2 nights stay at the Amari Phuket, 2 nights stay at OZO Phuket to 2 x $200 Coles Myer vouchers for grabs.

Vanuatu Tourism Office wraps-up another successful Tok Tok

The Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) has just wrapped-up its annual travel trade industry event, Tok Tok, with the highest number and widest variety of local operators in attendance, making its 17^th edition the most influential yet.

VTO, alongside more than 57 local sellers – including 15 new operators – welcomed buyers from across Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Singapore, China, Europe and the United States as they descended on the nation’s capital, Port Vila, to answer the call of Vanuatu and discover all that’s new in the South Pacific Island paradise.