Big Fat Wholesaler Wrap

Big Fat Wholesaler Wrap

We wrote this wrap while in the darkness of the Travel DAZE audience, so if there’s any typos, it’s because we couldn’t see the keyboard.

Beyond Travel nominations for ‘Optus My Business Awards 2017’

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Australian owned and operated destination specialist for over 22 years, Beyond Travel, has just been announced as a finalist for two awards in the upcoming ‘Optus My Business Awards 2017’.

Standing for the Business Leader of the Year award and the Travel and Tourism Business of the Year award, Beyond Travel owner and CEO Michael Lavilles is humbled to see Beyond Travel named among highly reputable and respected businesses in these categories.

The Optus My Business Awards is the longest-standing business awards program in Australia, and acknowledges the achievements of Australia’s best business operators over 28 categories. Winners from all categories will be automatically shortlisted for the highly coveted Business of the Year Award.

The awards ceremony will a black tie awards dinner held on Friday, November 10 at The Westin Sydney.

‘Places We Go’ Explores Canada with Travelmarvel

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Join Places We Go and Travelmarvel, as presenter Clint Bizzell explores Western Canada on a trip of a life time, to the heart of the enchanting Canadian Rockies.

Airing over three consecutive weekends, the series will take viewers to a bevy of Canadian gems including the mesmerizing Icefields Parkway, Lake Louise, and the quaint towns of Jasper and Whistler. The first of the three episodes goes to air Saturday, 23rd September at 4.30pm on Channel TEN.

Join former AFL player, Clint Bizzell as he travels from the cosmopolitan city of Vancouver to the jaw dropping sights of Banff National Park, via a bucket-list rail journey on Rocky Mountaineer.

Rocky Mountaineer, the world’s largest privately owned luxury tourist train, has seen 2 million guests since 1990 inhale the mountain air and let nature take their breath away. The unparalleled experience on-board the all-dome fleet offers rich, historic storytelling, world-class cuisine, and a first-hand look at the vast and untouched wild beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Early Bird Deals for UTracks active Europe holidays

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UTracks, the active European holiday specialist, is offering savings of up to 10% per person off a selection of a huge selection of its 2018 walking and cycling holidays.

The UTracks 2018 Early Bird offer entitles travellers to save 10 per cent per person off guided and self-guided trips priced under $2000 per person.

For trips greater than $2000 pp, travellers can save five per cent per person.

UTracks 2018 Early Bird Deals include The Italian Camino or Francigena Way, the Tuscany Family Cycle in Italy, the Surreal Dali Deal and the Loire Valley by bike and barge in 2018.

Remembrance Day Centenary Tour

At 11am on November 11, 1918 the guns fell silent on the Western Front and the First World War came to an end. Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours are leading a Remembrance Day Centenary Tour to commemorate the 61,000 Australians killed.

The tour includes key Ypres Salient and Somme battlefield sites, a Paris sightseeing tour, champagne tasting in Epernay, Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate, a day exploring the charming Bruges, Remembrance Day service at Villers-Bretonneux and much more.

Beginning in Paris, the tour will explore the ‘City of Light’, seeing the city’s iconic sights including The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre and Notre Dame. From there the tour will travel south to follow in the footsteps of the Anzacs with extensive touring of the Australian battlefields led by an expert Historian.

On the 11th November the group will join thousands of other Australians to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the war at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

APT Partner with Gourmet Traveller for the Ultimate Foodie Tours

Special guest agents invited to enjoy the Gourmet Traveller and APT series launch

Australia’s best luxury cruise and tour operator, APT, has paired up with the food and wine experts at Gourmet Traveller magazine to craft and host six exclusive culinary journeys, departing 2018.

To celebrate the launch of the delicious new series APT and Gourmet Traveller hosted a reader dinner last week at Sydney hotspot, Madame Shanghai. Readers and agents indulged in signature dishes including Madame’s Gold, a gold bullion inspired chocolate mousse while enjoying a Q and A session with Gourmet Traveller Editor, Sarah Oakes.

The prestigious team members of Gourmet Traveller have personally curated each tour to share their travel highlights with APT guests, while Gourmet Traveller’s Chief Restaurant Critic, Pat Nurse, has select the extravagant list of restaurants each group will visit.

The guest hosts will be presenting cooking demonstrations and sharing their invaluable knowledge, while local guides will indulge guests with cultural and historical insight, helping bring an extra dimension to the passionate foodie based tours.

Andrew Mulholland speaks at Tourism, Aviation and Transport Summit

On Wednesday 13 September, the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) Australia held an Asian Industry Panel Discussion. Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF) is the peak industry group for the Australian tourism, transport and aviation sectors. A national, member-funded CEO forum TTF advocates the public policy interests of leading corporations and institutions in these sectors.
In the China – Australia year of tourism, TTF saw this as an ideal opportunity to facilitate a panel discussion with key industry stakeholders covering venues / hospitality, airlines, inbound and outbound tourism.
Managing Director of Australia & New Zealand, Andrew Mulholland, was invited to participate as an expert in the China/Asian outbound tourism sector and provide his insights into what this industry means for Australia.
Alongside Mr Mulholland for the session were Matt Bekier, CEO and MD of the Star Entertainment
Group, and Martin Winer, CEO of Gold Coast Tourism – all moderated by Barrie Cassidy, a host of
ABC’s Insiders. The focus of the session was “Securing Strong Visitor travel between Australia & Asia.

How travellers can find Adam Liaw’s secret menu in Australia

Groupon Australia has teamed up with Adam Liaw, one of the country’s most beloved television chefs and MasterChef Australia 2010 winner, to unveil Taste of Groupon’s ‘Secret Menu’.

‘Secret Menu’ is an exclusive dining experience featuring specially curated ‘surprise’ dishes co-created by Adam Liaw in partnership with head chefs of three leading Australian restaurants – Artichoke (Gold Coast), Manta (Sydney) and Mister Walker (Perth).

Launching today, Taste of Groupon Secret Menus feature dishes offering the freshest seafood, seasonal produce, locally sourced and sustainable ingredients, and mouth-watering desserts. Limited numbers of these special four-course menus are only available for purchase via the Taste of Groupon website until the 30th of September.

Contours Travel launches new small group tour with cruise to Patagonia and Antarctica for summer of 2018/19

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Contours Travel – the longest-running Latin American tour operator in Australia – has launched its first, hosted cruise tour to Patagonia and Antarctica, with two departures slated for the summer of 2018 and 2019.

The new 29-day ‘Antarctica and Patagonia’ tour, escorted by Contours Travel, is the company’s third hosted group tour but the first including a cruise and the first to canvass the wilds of Patagonia at the southern tip of South America and the ice continent of Antarctica.

Contours’ two other group tours are ‘Treasures of South America’ and ‘Treasures of Mexico’. The trio of tours means Contours Travel, established in Australia in 1975 and dedicated to Latin America holidays, now has Latin America covered from Mexico all the way south to Cape Horn and beyond to Antarctica.

One week left of Viking’s trade incentive

There is only one week left for travel agents to take advantage of Viking Cruises’ river and ocean trade incentive, and the opportunity to win an eight-day ocean and an 8-day river cruise.

The most river cruise deposited bookings made by an agent between 1 July and 30 September 2017 will win an eight-day Danube Waltz (Christmas Markets) river cruise, from 24 November to 1 December 2017. This 8-day itinerary reveals the highlights of Passau, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, while cruising leisurely through spectacular scenery and visiting the famous European Christmas markets.

The most ocean cruise deposited bookings made by an agent between 1 July and 30 September 2017 will win an eight-day Turquoise Caribbean Seas ocean cruise, from 10 December to 17 December 2017. Explore the magnificent Mayan treasures of the western Caribbean on this eight-day ocean cruise Miami to Miami.

The competition closes at 11:59pm AEST, 30 September 2017. Winner will be announced by Friday 14 October 2017.

Win a place on an Eclipse Travel Famil to Patagonia!

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Eclipse Travel, specialists in key adventure destinations such as Antarctica, the Arctic, Africa and Latin America, is offering Australian travel agents the chance to win a place on an intimate famil to Patagonia. This amazing trip is being organised in partnership with LATAM and will take place from Friday 1 to Wednesday 13 December 2017.

The lucky agents will get to experience LATAM’s service to Santiago before enjoying a luxurious five-day cruise on board the M/V Stella Australis exploring one of the most breath-taking wilderness regions in the world: Southern Patagonia.

Arriving at Ainsworth Bay in Alberto De Agostini National Park unveils the Marinelli Glacier and a chance to see Southern Elephant Seals before visiting a Magellan Penguin colony. Next stop is the Pia Fjord where a short hike reveals a panoramic view of the Pia Glacier whose main tongue extends from the mountaintops down to the sea.

Final week to Save $500 per person on Bunnik Tours Europe 2018 program

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Bunnik Tours are wrapping up their $500 saving on small group tours to Europe in 2018. This is the last week for passengers to book and deposit in order to receive the $500 per person saving.

Bookings made from this point onwards until December 22, 2017 will receive a $250 per person discount as part of this year’s new tiered Early Bird offer.

Northern Italy, Slovenia & Croatia was a tour introduced in 2017 and performed so strongly that Bunnik Tours tripled departure dates for the 2018 season. The 25-day small group tour travels through northern Italy and the beautiful Italian and Slovenian Alps.

Pioneers of the small group touring concept, Bunnik has a maximum group size of just 20 passengers in Europe. To take advantage of the $500 per person early bird savings, remember to book your clients before September 29, 2017.

Croatia early-bird sale

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Croatia sells itself, with its turquoise water surrounding ancient walled cities, beautiful lakes in Plitvice Lakes National Park and a full cultural calendar in the capital, Zagreb. But while it may hold its own, a littler sweetener never hurt anybody, right?  

Tempo Holidays are offering discounts on selected Croatia island hopping holidays if you book between 1st– 31st October 2017. Dalmatian Odyssey is an eight day package that includes seven nights’ accommodation, daily breakfast, arrival and departure transfers in Dubrovnik, Split, Korcula and Hvar.

Croatia Countryside & Island Hopping is an 8 day island hopping package including seven nights’ accommodation, entrance to the Plitvice National Park and city tours of Zagreb, Hvar and Split.

Albatross Tours Festive Touring programme is 100 per cent Guaranteed to Depart

Albatross Tours Christmas Brochure 2017

All Christmas, New Year and Winter Wonderland departures with Albatross Tours are 100 per cent guaranteed to depart, with selected tours still available. With unique festive tours on offer, each one has been designed to bring alive the nostalgia, joy and romance of the Festive Season.

Agents can recommend the Christmas in a French Alpine Village tour for their clients who want to experience the snow staying five nights in a classic chalet style hotel in the beautiful French Alps, the German White Christmas tour for families who want to experience the magical Christmas Markets or our brand new Italian Winter Wonderland tour staying in a 900-year-old Italian Castle for clients who want to travel in February 2018.

Adventure World unveils 12 new trips to its 2018/19 Exodus Cycling Collection

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Adventure World has released its 2018/19 Exodus Cycling brochure, with an additional 12 new trips to the collection.

Featuring over 90 different rides in over 40 countries around the globe, the 2018/19 range is incredibly varied, ranging from self-guided routes in Europe, to cultural road trips, off road expeditions and the more experienced drop bar trips.

The most popular program in South America is the Cycling Peru, Machu Picchu to Lake Titicaca trip.  Which gives clients a unique perspective as they cycle among 4000m high peaks and explore the spectacular mountaintop city of Machu Picchu, buzzing Cusco and marvel at Inca ruins like Sacsayhuaman and Pisac.

One of the most requested trips in Asia is the two week Cycling in Japan program which covers the best of rural Japan without compromising on the cultural highlights and iconic cities of Tokyo and Kyoto, perfect for first-time visitors who wants to explore the best of Japan on two wheels

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