A GROUP of Aussie travel agents have enjoyed a luxury stay with one of our popular South Pacific neighbours.
New Caledonia Tourism treated the top achieving consultants in its e-learning trade program to a six-day experience in the destination.
The trip began with a stay at the five-star hotel Sheraton New Caledonia Deva Spa & Golf Resort located in Bourail on the West Coast.
After some beach chilling and a glass-bottom boat tour in the UNESCO lagoon, the group headed back to Noumea and visited the Giant Fern Park as well as a distillery in Boulouparis on the way down to the capital.
The next few days were spent visiting hotels, enjoying meals at a range of restaurants, a culturally immersive visit to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, a wine and cheese tasting at Chai de l’hippodrome and overnight stays at Le Meridien Noumea, Hilton La Promenade and Chateau Royal Hotel.
We see the incredible value in inviting travel agents to New Caledonia, showing them around so they can learn all the great things about our destination and have an intrinsic knowledge about New Cal to be able to sell it to their customers, said Rebecca Marchal, Account Director for New Caledonia Tourisme Australia.
More Aussies are starting to discover how close New Caledonia is and we’re thrilled to have kick-started our famil program for the travel trade.
We’re looking forward to continuing to invite more people in the industry over to find out why New Caledonia is a destination that Australians are putting on their travel lists for 2023.
Travel agents can sign up to the e-learning program to become a New Caledonia Specialist and go into the running for future hosted tours in the destination.
HOW TO GRAB A SPOT ON MEGA TOUR
AGENTS WILL have the chance to experience some of the world’s most popular ski resorts in 2024.
A group of 30 consultants will travel to four destinations in Canada as part of Sno’n’Ski Holidays’ popular Mega Famil.
Since the first Mega Famil in 2016, Sno’n’Ski has hosted more than 150 agents to destinations across Canada, the USA and Japan.
Next year’s trip will be an eight-night experiential ski adventure through Banff and Lake Louise, Revelstoke, Sun Peaks and Whistler.
Canada ski sales have been booming since international travel re-started and sending dedicated agents on our Mega Fam to experience the country’s leading ski product is a no-brainer! said Daniel Walker, Managing Director, Sno’n’Ski.
Our goal is to educate retail agents to be ski experts by giving them firsthand experience, and in-depth knowledge of these ski resorts, so they can confidently talk to customers about planning a ski trip.
The qualifying period for the Canada Mega Fam is open from April 1 and all bookings made through Sno’n’Ski until July 31 count for an entry into the promotion.
At least one booking to a Canada Mega Fam destination resort must be made to validate an individual’s entries, plus bookings to the Mega Fam partner resorts allow agents to score bonus entries.
To support the initiative, Sno’n’Ski are offering holiday deals to Canadian ski resorts, including a $1,195 per person package, which includes seven nights’ accommodation and a five-day lift pass.
WHICH AGENTS GET TO CROSS THE DITCH?
A GROUP of 10 Aussie agents are about to head overseas having won a spot on a global trade famil.
The If You Seek’ promotion began last October and invited agents to enter by upskilling their knowledge of New Zealand. Those who applied had three different tiers of entry available, with each tier increasing their chances of winning.
The winners are:
- Leann Molloy Flight Centre
- Grace MacRae Flight Centre
- Jessica Bennett TravelManagers Australia
- Jacqueline Bourke Flight Centre
- Selena Petyt Journey Earth
- Alex Lee TRAVEL & CRUISE BRIGHT
- Linda Forster TravLin Travel
- Melissa Thornton Flight Centre
- Laura Bacuriski Holiday Wonders
- Sharon Ward TravelManagers Australia.
The winners will travel from April 16-24, discovering what New Zealand has on offer across Auckland, Nelson, Marlborough and Wellington.
GET ON COURSE FOR LATEST CRUISE INSIGHTS
A NEW online course has just been launched providing insight into the latest trends and developments in a resurgent global cruise industry.
Cruise Dynamics 2023 is an initiative of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) for its travel agent members.
Cruise Dynamics is CLIA’s annual recertification elective, allowing members to renew their CLIA credentials and maintain their Accredited, Ambassador, or Masters status.
Peter Kollar, CLIA Head of Training & Development, said this year’s course would offer facts on important topics such as responsible tourism, industry resilience and the value of cruise tourism.
Cruise Dynamics is a chance to look to the future and understand why cruising is such a resilient industry, backed by strong consumer confidence, said Mr Kollar.
It offers facts that help show why cruising continues to be one of the most popular forms of travel worldwide and provides details on upcoming developments, including all the highly anticipated new ships ready to launch in the next 12 months.
To access the course, CLIA members can visit www.cruising.org.au and log in to the CLIA Members Hub.
EXPLORE THE CHANCE TO WIN A FREE TRIP
EXPLORE WORLDWIDE has announced the launch of a new incentive that gives travel agents the chance to earn a free trip.
The Sell 3, Get 1 Free’ promotion covers three Explore bookings made between now and June, giving agents the chance to choose a trip of a lifetime that suits them.
Exclusively for agents located across Australasia, this incentive gives agents considerably more flexibility and scope compared with the traditional FAM trips, in which departure dates and the number of agent places are limited.
Having agents experience an Explore trip is so important to us – it gives them the experiences and confidence to better sell our small group adventure tours and understand why this sector is growing so rapidly, said Ben Ittensohn, Explore’s Regional Director for Australia & New Zealand.
Once the three qualifying bookings have been made, agents will need to get in touch with the Explore sales team to request their free trip.
AGENTS SAIL AWAY WITH $45K IN PRIZES
A GROUP of agents certainly have a liking for Viking after snapping up a host of prizes at a recent training night.
Some 140 consultants attended the event in Brisbane, the first Viking Vör training night held since 2019.
Named after the Norse goddess of wisdom, the evening gave agents the opportunity to learn about the latest on Viking’s expansive worldwide product over a three-course meal and drinks.
We’re incredibly grateful to all our travel partners for taking the time to come along and learn about what makes us different, said Michelle Black, Viking ANZ Managing Director.
Whether they were new to selling Viking or a seasoned cruise expert, we love hosting those looking to maximise their growth potential in the ever-changing travel landscape.
The cruise line also gave away prizes worth more than $45,000 to agents in attendance, including eight Viking cruises, $2,000 worth of Rewards by Viking points and $3,000 worth of marketing dollars.
A special congratulations to all our all our winners we can’t wait to welcome some of you onboard a Viking ship very soon and we look forward to hosting many more Vör nights across the country.
