Find out where to get your next hit of cocktails, canapes and prize draws AND catch up on all the latest famils right here.

Adelaide and Perth invited to rediscover the world of A&K

Abercrombie & Kent is inviting agents to ‘Rediscover the World’ for their 60th anniversary with trade events in Adelaide and Perth in November to showcase its full range of luxury journeys and experiences to more than 100 countries on all seven continents.

Get an insight into the brand’s product range — Tailor-Made Journeys, Luxury Small Group Journeys, Luxury Expedition Cruising and Wings Over the World journeys — with tips on selling and developing your luxury clientele over  light drinks and canapes, with the chance to win some special prizes, as they celebrate 60 years of delivering inspiring luxury travel.

Perth – 22 November, Como, The Treasury, 6.15pm
Adelaide – 23 November, Mayfair Hotel, 6.15pm

RSVP HERE.

APT & Travelmarvel launch The World is Waiting for You event series

APT and Travelmarvel are hosting travel events across Australia in November, with the theme “The World is Waiting For You”.

These events have been designed to inspire your clients’ next holiday experience by providing expert advice and insider insights on the company’s award-winning product range.

The free events in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, and Western Australia will be hosted by the company’s sales team, who will be sharing exclusive insights and information on a range of luxurious travel styles and exciting destinations with presentations vary for each event but will cover destinations for both brands including Europe, Canada and Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Antarctica, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam & Cambodia.

Tickets to our showcases are limited, and agents are invited to register their clients ensuring they advise their ‘Preferred Travel Agency’ when registering.

Reserve your spot HERE.

PONANT’s new wave of ‘Explore to Inspire’ 2022 Roadshow Events

PONANT has opened registrations for their new round of events which will take place across Australia as well as New Zealand next month, allowing travellers and travel agents to discover and learn about PONANT’s upcoming experiences at sea available for 2023 and 2024.

The series will showcase PONANT’sitineraries with presentations and stories from PONANT’s team of destination expedition experts and photographers, accompanied by canapes and a glass of PONANT’s onboard French house champagne.

The PONANT team will also be on hand to assist guests and travel agents plan their next escape, with participants of the event also receiving exclusive offers on their next PONANT booking.

Auckland: Tuesday 15 November 2022, 2pm or 6pm session, Orakei Bay
Wellington: Wednesday 16 November 2022, 6pm session, Wharewaka Function Centre
Christchurch: Thursday 17 November 2022, 6pm session, Doubletree Hilton Christchurch
Canberra: Wednesday 23 November 2022, 6pm session, Hyatt Hotel Canberra
Gold Coast: Monday 28 November 2022, 2pm or 6pm session – Sofitel Gold Coast
Noosa: Tuesday 29 November 2022, 5.30pm session, Peppers Noosa Resort & Villas

Register HERE.

Utah hosting in-person events throughout November 

Utah partners are coming back to Australia and New Zealand to host events in Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne.

The Utah Office of Tourism will be joined by returning regional partners from Greater Zion, Bryce Canyon, Kanab (Kane County), Park City as well as first-time market visitors from Moab (Grand County), Visit Salt Lake & Cedar City/ Brian Head.

Each event will have a mini marketplace with drinks and canapes followed by presentations and product updates and a prize draw.

Auckland – Monday 7 November from 5:45pm at Hotel Britomart – The Papuke Room (2nd Floor) (29 Galway Street)
Sydney – Tuesday 8 November from 6:20pm at Ace Hotel Sydney – Tyne Room
Melbourne – Thursday 10 November from 5:45pm at Rendezvous Hotel – Heritage Lounge (328 Flinders Street)

Learn more about Lindblad Expeditions to win

Lindblad Expeditions has launched its new advisor training platform: Expedition 360˚.

Agents will be rewarded for signing up to and completing the program, including:

• $100 bonus commission on the first new booking made within 120 days of completing the course
• Special booking bonus opportunities throughout the year
• A listing in the Find a Travel Advisor section of the Lindblad Expeditions website
• Exclusive famil opportunities for graduates
• Sales and marketing support for consumer events
• Exclusive Expedition 360° logo available for email signatures
• Dedicated social media toolkits
• Access to Lindblad Expedition-National Geographic’s dedicated Travel Advisor Facebook community
• Certificate of Completion

The launch also comes with an incentive running until 22 November, giving agents who complete five modules before the cut off date the chance to win one of 50 $50 gift cards (each module takes about 20 minutes to complete).

Plus, once you’ve completed your five modules, you’ll also go into the draw for the grand prize  – a cabin on a Kimberley 2023 departure aboard National Geographic Orion, for each guest booked and deposited during the incentive period.

For more information, go HERE.

New PR writing workshop announced 

What do Australia and NZ’s top travel media want in news items and story pitches? What format, tone and style do they prefer? How do they want images? What about follow-up? And how has COVID changed the media landscape?

Learn all this and more in a half-day writing workshop for PRs, marketers, agents and operators that includes feedback from Australia and NZ’s leading travel editors, freelancers and digital content creators (including Traveller, Escape, The Australian, GQ & Vogue).

Taught by award-winning travel writer Rob McFarland, the workshop also includes a valuable toolkit of planning, writing and editing techniques plus a detailed post-course review of a press release or story pitch.

When: Friday 18 Nov 2022 – 10am to 2pm (AEST)
Where: Online via Zoom
Cost: $450

Sign up HERE

Tourism Ireland hosts Australian and New Zealand agents on island of Ireland fam 

Kilkenny Castle, left to right: Courteney Pfennig, Arivo; Tina Hindman, Flight Centre NZ; David McMahon, Tourism Ireland; Kate Walsh, Wauchope Travel; Peta-Marie McLeod, Orbit World Travel; Cathy McHenry, Emerald Travel; Tina Johnson, MTA Travel; Maria Summers, Travel Partners. Front left: Kat Armati, Flight Centre Ballarat. Front right: Gina Biggins, Failte Ireland.

Tourism Ireland hosted a group of Australian and New Zealand travel agents on the island of Ireland in October, visiting Kilkenny, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Londonderry and Belfast.

The travel agents are all ‘Ireland Specialists’, who’ve taken part in Tourism Ireland’s virtual training series during 2022.

The aim of the travel agents’ visit was to familiarise them with Ireland and its key tourism offerings, so that they will be better informed and more enthusiastic than ever about Ireland when advising their clients about planning and booking a holiday to the island of Ireland.

Kerala Tourism wraps up roadshows

Kerala Roadshow Melbourne winner

Kerala Tourism has wrapped up its Sydney and Melbourne roadshows, where the tourism office welcomed wholesalers, tour operators and agents for two evenings of all things Kerala. Returning to Australia for the first time since, 2018 Kerala Tourism was joined by local operators who showcased the destination’s latest and greatest.

Guests were treated to an evening of cocktails and canapes at Sydney’s Ovolo Hotel in Woolloomooloo last Tuesday and at Melbourne’s Pan Pacific Hotel on Thursday. During each event, agents had the opportunity to speak to some of Kerala’s local travel suppliers – CGH Earth, Pioneer Personalised Holidays, Somatheeram Ayurveda Group and Intrepid Travel – and get a better understanding of new product offerings.

Guests learnt about some of Kerala’s unique product offerings such as its backwaters, cuisine, beaches, ayurveda, responsible travel and more. New product highlights include Keravan Kerala; caravanning as a new way to experience Kerala and Jatayu’s Earth Center, a new tourism destination which holds the distinction of having the largest bird sculpture in the world.

Attendees in each city then competed in a game of heads or tails, to determine the winner of the Go Kerala Contest, who walked away with a 7-night all-inclusive holiday to Kerala!

The winner of the Sydney roadshow was Ash Ladha from Payless World Travel and Ashley McGough from Intrepid Travel at the Melbourne Roadshow.

PTM adds luxe river cruising to repertoire

The Coa Valley

Having spent more than 20 years in the travel industry, personal travel manager Rose Febo has spent much of her career feeding her passion for selling boutique, luxury travel. Most recently, she has added a luxury river cruise exploring Portugal’s Douro River aboard the Scenic Azure to her repertoire.

Febo, who is TravelManagers’ representative for Hawthorne, QLD, said Portugal has long been on her wish list of destinations to explore, so she was delighted when the opportunity arose to visit via a self-famil.

Having travelled with Scenic previously on a Land Journey encompassing Jordan, Febo had grand expectations for her river cruise which saw her travel the length of the Douro on a round trip from the northern city of Porto.

One of her favourite locations was Porto, which she had time to explore at the beginning and conclusion of the cruise.

CATO & KTO wrap up Korea events 

CATO Board at the Sydney event

The Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) concluded its education seminar series, providing networking opportunities for its members, in partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization Sydney Office (KTO) in Sydney at the Royal Exchange.

CATO vice-chair Lisa Pagotto emceed the evening in a traditional Hanbok dress, sharing insights on South Korea and her personal connection to the destination, its uniqueness and how members can truly experience a different side of the destination, in conversation with senior members of the KTO team.

CATO members were also treated to a Korean-style banquet and a demonstration of making Somaek (a combination of soju, Korean rice wine and maekju, Korean beer).

NLC hosts partner retreat 

Tyrrells Wine Tasting 2: Shannon Fogarty, Travel Associates; Angela Middleton, NCL and Caroline Hitchen, Creative Cruising

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) recently gathered a select group of some of its most valued travel partners for an exclusive partners retreat in the Hunter Valley to thank them for their ongoing support.

Featuring briefings from Ben Angell, NCL’s managing director and VP APAC and Damian Borg, NCL’s director of sales AUNZ, guests also enjoyed VIP experiences at Tyrells Winery, a BBQ cooking masterclass at De Bortoli Wines and a private dinner at Spicers Eremo.

Agents blessed by monks on Cruise Traveller famil 

Mekong Princess famil group

Cruise Traveller hosted 18 Australian travel agents on a Mekong River trip in conjunction with its exclusive partner, Mekong Princess Cruises.

Cruise Traveller key partnership manager, Julie Donaldson, and Cruise Traveller boutique voyage and cruise specialist, Kerryn O’Neal, both hosted the agents on the famil which was headlined by a week-long cruise from Siem Reap in Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam aboard the deluxe and spacious, all-suite river ship, Mekong Princess.

Designed to reflect the French colonial era in the region, the elegant, 63m-long Mekong Princess offers French balconies in all staterooms, a fine dining restaurant, lounge, deluxe chaise day beds for sunset cocktails on the alfresco sun deck, gym and spa centre.

PTM sets sights on Antarctic for 2024

Jen in awe

Having held Master Cruise consultant status for more than 20 years, TravelManagers’ Jennifer Dwyer has experienced a vast range of cruise lines and destinations. A recent Silversea Cruises famil which took her to some of the most beautiful and remote areas of Scandinavia and the Arctic provided the personal travel manager (PTM) from Monash, ACT, with incredible memories and fresh inspiration for selling cruise holidays.

Dwyer said she was delighted to be able to share the experience with her husband, along with six other travel agents from Australia and New Zealand and their partners. Silversea Cruises’ national account manager, Nathen Burke, and his wife, completed the group of fifteen who participated in the famil.

Having embarked from Tromsø in the north of Norway, the ship headed even further north to Bear Island. The ten-day itinerary also included further stops within the remote Svalbard archipelago, before cruising south through the Greenland and Iceland Seas, disembarking in Reykjavik, Iceland.

One memorable highlight was the sighting of polar bears – Dwyer was thrilled to see two of them during the cruise. Every day delivered more spectacular scenery, which Dwyer says was matched by the spectacular service the group encountered throughout the cruise.

New Zealand trade celebrate inaugural Air NZ direct to New York City

Culinary Institute of America, New York State

Last month, I LOVE NY – New York State’s Division of Tourism – partnered with Air New Zealand to host tour operators on a famil to experience the best of New York State, in celebration of the inaugural direct flight from Auckland to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

In attendance were senior travel trade managers from across New Zealand including representatives from Flight Centre Travel Group, Helloworld, First Travel Group Marketing, Fortis Events, and industry partners including United Airlines and Brand USA.

After enjoying highlights in New York City, the group ventured north to one of New York State’s 11 vacation regions, Hudson Valley. Famed for its foodie fare, stunning landscapes, and soft adventure activities, Hudson Valley is easily accessible from New York City – it’s just 90 minutes from Manhattan by train or car (with options to travel there by bus also available).

Famil highlights included an open-air cockpit biplane ride to see the region’s colourful fall foliage from above, dinner at The Bocuse Restaurant on the shores of the Hudson River at The Culinary Institute of America, and networking with partners from throughout the destination’s vacation regions to hear the latest product and accommodation updates from across the state.

Featured image: King George River, (PONANT, Nick Rains)