REGISTER now for the opportunity to upskill through a Travel Industry Mentor Experience (TIME) scholarship.
Made available via the generous support of a “senior industry figure”, applications for the scholarships during the next intake (commencing 29 Jun) close on 10 Jun.
Applications are open to all Australian employees of the travel industry – CLICK HERE.
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ORMINA Tours is offering a limited time deal for all new Sicily Bella Tour bookings.
Travellers can receive a free hotel room upgrade in one of its featured five-star properties on the tour.
Ormina is also running the promotion alongside its Book with Confidence offer of only $150 deposit per person.
The deal celebrates the launch of Ormina’s Agent Sell Guide, which contrasts the business’ product with other similar tours across a host of key selling points – download the guide HERE.
The post Sicily deal guide appeared first on Travel Daily.
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NEW premium Aspire Lounges at Ontario International Airport in Southern California will add to the customer experience as travel volumes spike at the airport.
Officials for Ontario International and Swissport recently opened the two lounges – one in each terminal – which are available to all travellers.
For US$37 per adult, the Terminal 2 lounge will be open from 5am-1pm and from 8pm-11pm, while the Terminal 4 lounge will be open from 5am to 6pm daily.
Swissport, which operates 64 lounges at 38 airports, expanded into the United States in Feb with the opening of a newly refurbished lounge in San Diego.
The post Aspire opens in ONT appeared first on Travel Daily.
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THE Tasmanian Government has allocated $10 million to Tourism Tasmania as part of its bid to stand out from the crowd as an appealing travel destination.
The funding was allocated in the state’s 2022/23 budget, charging the tourism body with continuing initiatives to secure its recovery from the pandemic and maximise future visitor economy opportunities.
Tasmania has also set aside $5.6 billion for general infrastructure investment, with $205 million of the pot going towards improving tourism and recreation facilities.
The Budget has also committed more funding to complete its upgrading of tourism amenities in the Freycinet National Park.
These enhancements will include the construction of a new visitor gateway transit hub and car park, a second Wineglass Bay lookout and return loop track, and a new Foreshore Walk linking Coles Bay to the national park.
The post $10m for tourism appeared first on Travel Daily.
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THE NT Government has identified several key areas in its Destination Management Plan (DMP) to help its tourism sector bounce back from the pandemic.
These include increasing visitor numbers and extending the length of stay, a consumer brand focus on being a safe destination for travellers, strengthening relationships with neighbouring regions to enhance road trips, and encouraging visitors to leave the highway and travel through some of the more remote areas of the Top End.
click here to see the full DMP.
The post NT destination plan appeared first on Travel Daily.
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Keep Dreaming was created to help you stay in touch with clients and generate enquiries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Designed to inspire your clients’ travel dreams and future travels, to be booked through you, the travel agents.
Here are some assets that you can use in promoting Keep Dreaming to your clients. Click on the images to download the resources.
Social media post images (optimised for Facebook and Instagram):
Email signature:
MREC ad which can be used on your website or in an HTML newsletter:
Front cover image (optimised to be placed in an email):
The link to view the online magazine is https://travelandcruiseweekly.com.au/?r3d=KeepDreaming079
We suggest using the various assets and always linking to the magazine online. Why not include a call to action in an email to your client database, about how they can contact you to start planning their next trip. Now is the perfect time to be dreaming up their next adventure, and there are some great deals to be had out there.
The post Keep Dreaming Toolkit 079 appeared first on Travel Daily.
Source: traveldaily
QANTAS has commenced rolling out its next-generation airport kiosks, which the carrier claims will make the airport experience for travellers much faster and easier for those travelling on domestic flights.
The new system can process boarding passes four times quicker than current models, with the process to print a bag tag now taking just 20 seconds.
It is a timely rollout for The Flying Kangaroo, which has faced the fury of passengers across the country who have endured major wait times as the country reboots its aviation sector after a virtual two-year hiatus.
Qantas has started a “limited trial” of new self-service kiosks in Terminal 3 at Sydney Airport, and following what it hopes will be a successful trial, the airline said it expects to have the kiosks fully installed in Sydney by early Jun and around 140 kiosks across all major Aussie airports by Sep.
With more than three quarters of customers already checking in online and using digital boarding passes on their smartphone, the new kiosks will primarily be used for bag tag printing, Qantas said, while customers will also be able to use the new kiosks to purchase additional checked bags.
Any travellers who haven’t checked in prior to arriving at the airport will also be able to use QR codes on the kiosks to check-in online and receive a digital boarding pass, while customers will still have the option to be checked in by a human agent.
“The existing kiosks were instrumental in reducing queuing for check-in at airport counters when they were introduced more than 10 years ago, and these new kiosks will match the latest technology with customer preferences,” Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said.
The post Qantas paces up boarding appeared first on Travel Daily.
Source: traveldaily
SYDNEY-BASED hotelier Glenn Piper has swooped in to purchase the Hook Island Lodge in the Whitsundays, revealing plans to transform the property into a $20 million eco-lodge.
The property, which has been closed since 2013, was badly damaged in cyclones twice over the last 11 years, with the previous private owners reportedly sinking plenty of time and money into repairs and plans to turn the property into a major tourism attraction.
Sustainability and culinary appeal will form a major pillar of Piper’s renovation ambition he revealed, with research and development tipped to kick off in Aug to see how the lodge can be positioned to attract both international and domestic travellers.
“I want to create an experience that befits the beauty of the island, and the Whitsundays – respectfully and sustainably,” the Meridian Australia founder said.
“I’m energised at the thought of creating a world-class hospitality experience for this slice of paradise.
“Eco-tourism and sustainability in design are very current trends now and that’s not going to go away, since COVID, domestic tourism is booming and overseas tourists are keen to visit the natural wonders of Australia,” Piper added.
The high-profile property entrepreneur has reportedly linked arms with a small syndicate to make the purchase possible, believed to be in excess of $10m.
Piper is already the owner of the Harbord Hotel at Freshwater Beach in NSW, and Manly’s Historic Q Station boutique hotel.
Tourism Whitsundays CEO Rick Hamilton said he was “delighted” the buyer was an Australian.
“I think it probably helps to have an Australian buyer because they’d feel a greater sense of ownership rather than an overseas investor with perhaps different priorities,” he said.
Hook Island is located close by to Hayman and Whitsunday islands, and boasts national park areas, pristine reefs and beaches.
The post Hook, line and tinker appeared first on Travel Daily.
Source: traveldaily
THE total number of passengers carried on international flights to and from Australia in Mar increased 10-fold on the same period last year, but was still well short of pre-pandemic levels.
The latest figures from The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics published this week show that close to 700,000 travellers hopped aboard overseas flights, 80% shy of the 3.29 million passengers Australia processed in Mar 2019.
Qantas managed to increase its market share significantly for the month, accounting for 14.6% of the total traffic, up from just 2% in 2021, however the top performer was still Singapore Airlines which captured close to one in five of all recorded pax.
Emirates also showed solid gains in Australia, growing its share from 9.3% last year to 14% in Mar 2022, while Air New Zealand wasn’t too far behind with 9.4%, followed by Qatar Airways (9.2%), Fiji Airways (3.8%) and Jetstar (3.4%).
Close to half of all Australian flights either took off or landed at Sydney Airport which recorded 48.3% of the market, well ahead of Melbourne Airport which attracted close to 30% of flights.
Brisbane was the next best with 12.2% of services, followed by a marked drop to Perth Airport, which only clocked 6.6% of the country’s overseas trips.
Unsurprisingly, Singapore featured at the top of the list of most popular routes, with Sydney to Singapore accounting for 8% of total travellers, followed by Melbourne to Singapore (7.8%).
Another popular city pairing was Sydney to Dubai (6.2%), followed by Sydney to Los Angeles in fourth spot (4.5%) and Melbourne to Dubai rounding out the top five (3.9%).
Major airline movers in the local market in Mar included Air India, which carried close to 17,000 passengers for the period (up more than 16,000 pax), as well as Etihad Airways (up close to 20,000 pax), and Air Caledonie International (up by 2,500 pax).
One of the only carriers to reduce services between Mar 2021 and this year was China Southern Airlines, which reduced flight volumes from 3,340 pax to just 1,675 passengers.
The post Flights still landing short appeared first on Travel Daily.
Source: traveldaily
ACCORDING to a recent survey by BCD Travel, duty-of-care is a top priority for travel buyers, followed by traveller satisfaction and wellbeing.
Despite this, only 62% of the 118 travel buyers surveyed said their companies provide travellers wellbeing support, and only 14% said their companies plan to increase budget for traveller wellbeing in 2022.
A previous BCD survey of 875 business travellers revealed that travel buyers rated mental support measures, such as stress management training and mental health counselling, as most important, while travellers prioritised physical wellbeing measures, including sleep and recovery advice, and gym membership while travelling.
The survey showed travel buyers and travellers agreed on the top five policy options to improve traveller wellbeing, including convenient hotel location, direct flights, and Business class for long-haul flights.
Freedom to decide to travel or not and a simple trip approval process were both ranked by travel buyers as important policy options for traveller wellbeing, while travellers preferred plane seat selection and fast-track security programs.
BCD Travel Global Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer, Mike Janssen, believes there is “a significant gap between wellbeing supply and demand, and differing views on which measures most support traveller wellbeing.”
“Travel buyers should align their policies to what their travellers value and need…[and] put in more time and effort to clearly communicating the benefits of mental support, which is currently valued less than physical support,” he said.
Read the full report HERE.
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