AUSTRALIANS are booking luxury travel “at record rates”, with growing demand prompting a raft of luxury travel brands to open sales offices across the country, according to new research conducted for luxury travel network Virtuoso.

The company says Australians make 25% more luxury trips than the international average, and are also the second-highest consumers of Business class tickets in the world.

“(Australians) are some of the world’s most intrepid travellers, always looking to new and interesting destinations that Americans might not have considered yet,” said Virtuoso Chairman Matthew D. Upchurch.

Upchurch believes Australians are also willing to pay more for the best experiences.

“They will switch their loyalties, even if it means paying more, to have service that exceeds their expectations,” he said.

The report found that Australians take a higher number of international trips compared to the global average (1.9 vs 1.5), and they are also the least thrifty when it comes to budget setting, with only 14% allocating a set amount of spending money.

In good news for agents, the research also suggests that Aussie luxury travellers are more likely to use a travel advisor than the average (64% vs 52%), while the average Aussie expenditure for a luxury trip was $13,000.

UK-based data analytic firm YouGov carried out the research.

Source: traveldaily

AIRHELP, a Europe-based “flight disruption compensation company,” has unveiled its operations in Australia, saying it offers a new option for travel agents to earn revenue while assisting their clients.

The local office is led by Satu Raunola and Minna Monaghan, who have been ramping up operations in recent months targeting TMCs and OTAs with significant transaction volumes.

The business model is based on European Union Air Passenger Rights Law regulation EC261, which provides for mandatory compensation of up to 600 for travellers who are disrupted by a delayed or cancelled flight.

The payouts also apply to incidents of denied boarding or missed connections, but only in situations where the reason for any disruption is within the airline’s control – so weather and air traffic control restrictions do not lead to compensation.

EC261 applies to all flights departing from EU countries on all carriers, or arriving in Europe on an EU-based carrier, and compensation may be claimed within three years of the incident.

AirHelp CEO Henrik Zillmer said every year about 18% of all flights globally are disrupted, with the company having so far assisted over seven million travellers process compensation.

In the event of an eligible claim, AirHelp handles all the paperwork and partners such as travel agents can earn a commission from successful claims while providing an additional value add service to their clients.

For more information contact Satu Raunola via email on satu.raunola@airhelp.com.

Source: traveldaily

UNWITTING Aussie consumers are being targeted in a direct mail campaign operated by Kuala-Lumpur based scamsters.

The sophisticated operation sees a firm called “High Roller Holidays” send glossy brochures and scratch tickets (pictured) via post to Australian addresses, claiming to be part of the company’s 15th anniversary celebrations.

The promotional blurb cites the major achievements of High Roller Holidays which interestingly include the fictitious US$5 million development of a “new five-star hotel with a new adventure theme park in Australia”.

Travel Daily was one of the lucky winners, with the scratch card indicating we had won the US$200,000 second prize!

There is a reasonably convincing website and a Malaysian phone number to call for verification.

Naturally the fine print indicates that we may need to pay some “service fees” understood to be about US$3,500 in order to access the prize.

The scam is the latest in a series of similar fraud attempts, with other company names in previous fake brochures including Abel Travel Group, Famosa Travel, Lotus Travel and more.

Source: traveldaily