Displaying items by tag:Australia

Australia on Tour wrapped up in Queenstown with about 40 ‘super-engaged’ agents attending the event at QT Hotel. Agents travelled from Dunedin, Invercargill and Wanaka. The roadshow also visited Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, allowing Tourism Australia and its state and territory partners to connect with more 220 travel sellers across the four cities.

‘Working with airline partners, Air New Zealand and Qantas, we were able to give away eight pairs of return tickets to Australia so even more Kiwi agents can see Australia first-hand,’ says a spokesperson from Tourism Australia.

(Earlier coverage page 1 Tuesday 26 November travelmemo.co.nz/memos/20241126.pdf and page 7 Friday 29 November travelmemo.co.nz/memos/20241129.pdf)

• At the Auckland event in the Park Hyatt… Jo-Anne Khor, North Shore Business Travel; Melanie Mutch, Tourism Northern Territory; Angelene Haslem, North Shore Business Travel
• Tara Baxter, Helloworld; Grace Yang, Air New Zealand; Sincere Wong, Hellworld
• At Naumi Hotel, Wellington Adelaida Brooks, Tourism and Events Queensland; Stacey Leitch, NZ Travel Brokers
• At the International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch… Sam Cameron, Destination New South Wales; Caitlyn McAuliffe Gardiner, Kaci KLane, both Flight Centre Riccarton

Viking has released its 2024-2025 ocean voyages season, including two new itineraries.

Viking’s new 32-day Grand Australia Circumnavigation takes in a combination of beauty and culture as it circumnavigates Australia from Sydney return, encountering iconic natural wonders and lesser-known cultural gems, as well as Indonesian highlights in Komodo and Bali.

Viking has released a number of new  dates for ocean cruise itineraries for late 2023 and early 2024, including those that cover Scandinavia, The Mediterranean, Alaska, The Caribbean, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It has also launched two new combination cruise itineraries in Scandinavia.

‘The new departure dates are for some of our most popular cruise itineraries and provide more choice and certainty for travellers to plan ahead,’ says Michelle Black, managing director of Viking ANZ.

The Australian Government’s latest announcement on reopening is a is a step forward, but more can still be done,’ according to Philip Goh, International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s ) regional vice president for Asia Pacific.

‘The announcement of the November timeline and the removal of the international arrival caps are positive steps forward.

‘The reduction of quarantine period and introduction of home quarantine for vaccinated Australians are also steps in the right direction. We welcome the use of rapid antigen tests for international travel.’

The Cook Islands and (to a lesser extent) Australian bubbles have at least provided some green shoots in a challenging time and led to a change of attitude amongst brokers, says Steve Lee, director at NZ Travel Brokers.

A number of members have also found success in domestic travel, events and conferences – something they should not abandon when more borders open, Lee adds.

‘It’s a bit like only selling socks in a menswear shop, but at least our brokers are actually selling something instead of only handling credits and refunds.’

Scenic is ramping up the promotion of its just released New Zealand programme and has a number of touch points planned for agents and their clients over the next couple
of months.

The company is also reminding travel advisors about some of its tours’ special attributes – such as Scenic Freechoice and Scenic Enrich – and emphasising that the Kiwi and (when the borders

Tourism Australia is promoting a number of ways agents can encourage their clients to experience different sides of Australia while travel is restricted.

‘Storytelling is embedded in Australian culture. Thanks to our creative industry, there are many different means of soaking up our rich culture – even from the comfort of your couch,’ says Phillipa Harrison, managing director of Tourism Australia.

ANZCRO Connect has already generated considerable interest amongst the trade in New Zealand but this is set to increase with the current focus on domestic and, as a next step, trans Tasman travel, says the company’s managing director Nick Guthrey.

The specially designed agents’ portal allows travel agents to search, quote and book all of ANZCRO’s product from one platform. It can also be used to create an entire New Zealand itinerary.

The Aussie Specialist Team has moved the monthly Talkabout webinar series to a weekly schedule through to early June.

The new series kicked off with Annabelle Sweetman from Tourism Tasmania last week, informing agents on the sights of Tassie. Those travelling the island can taste produce straight from the farm and ocean, and meet the makers at cellar doors, farm gates and local markets.

Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ) president Brent Thomas says the thoughts of the New Zealand travel industry go out to all those who have been impacted by the destructive fires in Australia. 'The bush fires are of a magnitude that we have not seen before and it is hard to comprehend just how ferocious the fire, smoke and heat have been.'