Paparazzo
Celebrating 4th of July
Ambassador of the USA in New Zealand, Tom Udall urged the audience to get out and cheer for America’s champion team daring the FIFA Women’s World Cup events here when he hosted a 4 July function last week. Travel and tourism representatives were among guests at the Hilton to celebrate the 247th Anniversary of the USA.
Udall said he was looking forward to having tens of thousands of US soccer supporters in New Zealand over the next few weeks and promised if Kiwis gave the US their backing he would do the same for the NZ team. On a more serious note he also highlighted collaborations in the Pacific and other aspects of the close relationship between the US and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines distributed some 4th of July sweetness to the trade in the form of cupcakes. It served as a bit of comfort food before the airline starts services in New Zealand later this year with its Delta Comfort+.
Janet Coulthart, American Embassy; Kate Bushby, Mint Innovation; Darragh Walshe, Hawai’I Tourism
Delta’s Stephen Tanner flanked by John Willson and Malcolm McLeod, First Travel Group
Franz Mascarenhas, Cordis Auckland; Leanne Cheesman, United Airlines; Grant Bevin, ATPI NZ
All about Egypt
Innovative Travel’s two-week Egypt roadshow has wound up after a series of presentations focusing on Egypt. The roadshow gave travel agents and their selected clients the opportunity to hear from Innovative Travel’s Cairo based director and former chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Board, Elhamy ElZayat. The events provided an insight into the life and times of the boy king Tutankhamen, who is in turn the key inspiration for the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza.
Egypt event at Egypt Embassy in Wellington… Egypt Ambassador Dina El Sehy; Robyn Galloway, Innovative Travel; Elhamy ElZay, Cairo based director, Innovative Travel
Sonja Dalley, NZ Travel Brokers; Elhamy ElZayat, Innovative Travel; Michelle Kaufmann-Walker, NZ Travel Brokers
Petra Ott, House of Travel; Rachel Rhind, Travel Advocates
Joanne Devereux, The Travel Brokers; Robyn Galloway, Innovative Travel; Yvette Park, Adventure Travel
TIME to get together
The TIME mentees who graduated on Wednesday were Jaime Mclaughlin, Air New Zealand, mentor, Deb Gyde; and Kerrie Hudson, YOU Travel, mentor, Andrew Gay (Hudson was the recipient of an NCL scholarship).
Seven new mentees joined the programme: Amanda Debenham, Discover the World Marketing; Hebron Canlas, Kiwi Travel Insurance ( recipient of Allianz Partners scholarship); Kirsty Latham, ITA (recipient of Allianz Partners scholarship); Nikita Glogoski, Cover More; Robyn Oretsky, Tandem Travel; Selese Rowe, Travel Managers (recipient of Aussie Specialist scholarship); Sofia Buetow Yubrin, Tandem Travel.
Also introduced during the evening was the recipient of the Inclusive Tourism Scholarship Maree Robinson-Olsson from The Walshe Group.
A total of 24 mentees have graduated since TIME was launched in NZ in late 2019 and there are currently 10 mentees on the TIME journey.
margaret@travelindustrymentor.co.nz
TIME committee member Grant Bevin, ATPI; mentee Angela Webber, House of Travel; Gaynor Moorah, House of Travel
MC and programme graduate, Aloma Butler, Qantas
Lisa Linn, Visit Anaheim; Dave Wallace, Allianz Partners
Heidi Walker, Flight Centre; new mentee Robyn Oretsky, Tandem Travel; Chris Jones, Discover the World
Mentee Lorene Bradley, Air New Zealand; mentor Sarah Porter, Wild Earth Travel/Niue Touurism
Adrienne Tahafa, Avis Budget; Alex O’Connor, Qantas
Time to MEET at Wellington's Takina
Corporate travel agents, incentive travel operators and group tour organisers were amongst the audience at MEETINGS 2023 in Tākina Wellington Convention Centre this week.
The event attracted 134 hosted buyers from around New Zealand and another 300 who made thie own arrangements to visit for a day.
Some 100 hosted or semi-hosted buyers from Australia and another 110 from international markets such as USA and Singapore also attended.
Victoria Wales. HOT Events; Malcolm Jordan, Total Event; Meegan Ruff, ChristchurchNZ
At Zealandia during a MEETINGS famil of Wellington… Janine Fillet, BSC NZ; Dani McEachen, Tandem Travel, Christchurch
Vita Jiang and Brianna Pfahlert, both Orbit World Travel Wellington
Vikas Yadav from JW Marriott, Auckland and Jenny Walsh, Motive Events
Jamie Swan, The Hotel Britomart; Jess Ogg, Event Travel Management
helloworld's NY'23 gathering
Significant systems changes with GO Holidays and GO Cruise, a strong broker presence that is quickly recovering its business and an independent network (MY Travel group) that has rebounded due to VFR traffic were all highlighted by helloworld GM New Zealand, Chris Hunter last week.
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Skal CHC kicks of 2023
Skal Christchurch began its 2023 events yesterday with lunch in the sun at the Commodore Hotel; where the Patterson family has just celebrated 50 years of the hotel.
Ironically, the last time the club meet at the hotel was the club’s 50th - also celebrating member Peter Morrison as Skal World President 2020 with the Skal International executive in attendance.
Celebrations were again order of the day this week, with Leighton Cameron being presented with the Christchurch Skalleague of the Year award. Club president, Victoria Wales says Cameron has taught her all about the Skal spirit and is dedicated to everyone in the club.’
Wales also welcomed new members to the club including Emma McDonald, ChristchurchNZ; Greg Cooper, Christchurch Casino; Thomas Patterson, Hotel Montreal; and Jo Simpson, HIND Management.
Jo Simpson, HIND Management; Rick Crannitch, Mayfair Hotel; James Wilson, Novotel Christchurch Airport; Leighton Cameron, PAE NZ; Chris Foubister, Wyndham Garden Christchurch
Christchurch Skalleague of the Year, Leighton Cameron; with Skal Christchurch president Victoria Wales
New members… Thomas Patterson, Hotel Montreal; Greg Cooper, Christchurch Casino; Jo Simpson, HIND Management; Emma McDonald, ChristchurchNZ;with Victoria Wales, president, Skal Christchurch 
Briar Nash, Christchurch Airport; Mel Wong, Christchurch NZ; Krissy Griggs, South Pacific Helicopters; Kate Baxtera, Pure Pods
Exploring Seven Seas Explorer
Seven Seas Explorer arrived in Auckland on 12 January, heralding a series of inaugural itineraries across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. About 50 travel trade and media took the opportunity to have a site inspection and lunch on-board.
The maiden voyages offer New Zealand clients the chance to visit destinations in their own backyard, from Bangkok to Sydney, Ho Chi Minh to Wellington and more.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers guests unlimited all-inclusive shore excursions in each port, included unlimited beverages (including fine wine and spirits), included speciality dining, complimentary in-suite liquor and mini bar replenished daily, pre-paid gratuities, included valet laundry service and unlimited wifi. Those booking Concierge Suite or above can also receive a complimentary pre-cruise one-night hotel packages well as a hotel-to-ship transfer.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises has also launched an Upgrade Your Horizon package with a free two-category suite upgrade up to a penthouse suite when booked from now through to 31 March. Guests from New Zealand and Australia booking now can also secure their preferred suite and sailings with a reduced 7.5% deposit.
In Seven Seas Explorer’s Master Suite…Libby Stafford, Cruise Connections; Merrill Holst, Travel Managers; Lisa Pile, Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Melanie Prince, Francis Travel Marketing
Grand Suite stop… Jenna Allan, Creative Cruising; Tony Smith, Francis Travel Marketing
Lunch at Chartreuse… Kevin O’Sullivan, NZ Cruise Association; Debbie Summers. IDNZ; Jodie Hart. Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Steve O’Dell, cruise expert and former CEO RSSC
Clinton Sangster, the Private Travel Company; Rinku Singh, Shore Travel
Julia Hindmarsh, Flight Centre; Tracey Brennan, Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Lindy Christian, Our Cruise
In Prime 7 restaurant… Craig Martin, Travel Associates Martin and Turner; Michelle Haliday, Creative Cruising
GTN agents get together
More than 100 Global Travel Network agents spent quality time with close to 20 suppliers during the GTN Conference at Rydges Auckland recently.
Co-director Rob Beecher says the event was about reconnecting after getting through the worst time in the travel industry’s history. ‘The group has survived and so has our distribution,’ says Beecher. ‘Throughout Covid we have actually added agents – including Tandem. Our sales are now 25% above 2019.’
He says the booth sessions during the event were extremely useful, especially at a time when many suppliers do not have business development managers on the road.
Vivian Wang, Chong Zhang, Nina Liu, Karen Cheung, all Aspire Travel Group; Grace Yang, Air New Zealand
Allen Bell, GTN; Roshnie Chhiba, QR, Kim Sinclair, EK; Felicia Verma, Brittany Homan, FJ
Janet Tucker, Sarah Southcombe, Rachel Rhind, Amber King, Michelle Rowe, all Travel Advocates
Michael Ji, Safe Journeys; Evelyn Lee, Jeffrey Liu, Midday Travel
Terri Small, Sonia Tollemache, Supreme Tours; Jill Grant, A Walkers World
Alka Thapar, Globus family of brands; Rob Beecher, GTN; Courtney-Jane McCarthy, Air New Zealand
Eboni Lowe, Explore the World; Nikko Escarilla, Malaysia Airlines
Shona Bracey, Courtney Burnett, Amped – The Ski Adventure Specialists
QLD's ticket to paradise
If clients are impressed by the tropical rainforests, sweeping sea views and white sandy beaches of the latest George Clooney and Julia Roberts movie Ticket to Paradise then they’d love their own holiday in… Hamilton Island.
The movie’s script may have the characters in Bali but the actual film set is true blue (or is that true maroon?) Queensland – shot in Brisbane, Gold Coast and The Whitsundays.
Tourism and Events Queensland hosted a group of agents this week to a private showing of A Ticket to Paradise, preceded by a short video that highlighted various places on Hamilton Island that were used in the film.
Mandy Veale, trade marketing programme leader for TEQ in New Zealand, noted in a short presentation to the group that the state had been seeing plenty of activity from the movie industry recently – Elvis was filmed on the Gold Coast and the upcoming Godzilla v Kong is due to start filming
in Queensland about now.
Mandy Veale, TEQ; Julia Bozich, House of Travel; Hayley Price, Air New Zealand
At the special trade screening of Ticket to Paradise… Mandy Veale, Tourism and Events Queensland; Nikita Smith, First Light Travel
Dave Nicholson, World Travellers; Toni Paltridge, First Travel Group
In the library themed movie theatre, EVENT Cinemas Newmarket for the Ticket to Paradise screening…Sarah Wilkinson, GO Holidays; Lizzie Brett, helloworld; Emma Bull, GO Holidays
