I HAD lunch with two of Australia’s hardworking travel agents the other day.

Apart from being delightful company, they were able to give me an up-to-date assessment of where their profession sits and the state of the industry as a whole.

I’m pleased to report that both said that they had “never been busier” and at times were actually unable to deal with inquiries due to the volume of work coming in.

That was the good news…

We also talked a lot about the bad days when COVID forced them to deal solely with refunds and the worries of consumers who thought they might lose considerable sums of money.

You could see that these mental scars were still fresh, but thankfully both had emerged somewhat stronger, wiser and (relatively) unscathed from the ghastly experience.

“It was a learning experience – not one we really ever want to go through again – but an experience nonetheless,” said one.

I’ve written before about the resilience of the travel industry and those that work within it. It was good to see that two such dedicated, skilled and caring individuals were reaping the rewards of their persistence and endurance.

And talking about lunch and travel (yes, tenuous link, I know!), you’ll detect a definite flavour to the May issue of Traveltalk.

A recent study revealed that six in 10 holidaymakers go abroad purely for food and that ‘Culinary Tourism’ is on the rise.

With that in mind, we’ve whipped up a few tasty stories to whet your appetite.

We look at the top 10 foodie capitals of the world, as chosen by Panache Cruises, who did the original research mentioned above.

There are tips on how to find the best food trails in both America and Canada, plus news on a new culinary package that puts you in the company of a top chef on a tour of Singapore.

Back home we’ve got a report on Kakadu’s premier Indigenous food and culture festival and for those inspired to get into the kitchen we’ve got a delicious recipe from Susan Jung’s new cookbook.

All these plus features on Austria, Vietnam, Tahiti, Bali…and Airlie Beach.

That’s all in the delicious, chocolate-flavoured May edition of Traveltalk. Bon appetit!