Five reasons why you should apply for the Avis Travel Agent Scholarship

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The Avis Travel Agent Scholarship is back for another year, with applications for the prestigious endowment well and truly open.

Celebrating its 23rd year, the Avis scholarship is designed to encourage, recognise and reward outstanding customer service in the Australian and New Zealand travel industries.

To help Aussie travel agents pull together the best application, Travel Weekly spoke to past winners Jo Patton (2019), Michelle Ashcroft (2003) and Robyn Sinfield (1997) to find out the benefits and perks they received as part of the Avis Travel Agent Scholarship.

Here are their top five that this year’s lucky winner can to look forward to:

1. Networking

“The scholarship opens doors to creating relationships with industry heads who you can connect and learn from,” Ashcroft said.

“It also creates the opportunity to build your network with like-minded, high-achieving applicants who you can share ideas with and grow from.”

2. The travel opportunity

“The scholarship opens your eyes to travel opportunities and helps you make connections that last a lifetime,” Ashcroft said.

3. Mentorship

According to Patton, the mentoring is extremely beneficial for business development.

“It was the part of the prize I was most looking forward to and has proved crucial in the growth my business has had in the last year,” she said.

4. Support

Aside from confidence and presentation skills, Sinfield talked fondly of being the first member in the ‘Winners Circle’ – a supportive, exclusive club of scholarship winners.

5. Acknowledgement

All three winners said it was great to be noticed for their work, which gave them the confidence and determination to achieve their big dreams.


Agents wishing to apply for Avis’ scholarship have until Monday 23 September, with finalists announced on Thursday 10 October.

Finalists will then have the opportunity to travel to Sydney, where they will present to the judging panel ahead of the winner announcement at the Awards Gala Dinner on Wednesday 13 November.

For more info and/or to apply, click here. We’ve also compiled a list of tips from past scholarship winners on creating a winning application.

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