News in Brief: Thursday October 17
More than 100 member delegates and 90 supplier delegates have converged on Queensland’s Noosa Heads for the Magellan Travel Group Annual Conference 2013.
The event kicked off last night with a cocktail event on Richard Branson’s Makepeace Island which is being followed up with two days of conferencing at Outrigger Little Hasting Street Resort & Spa.
“The niche nature of the Group means we can really focus on issues of common interest and have a lot of participation and interaction,’ chief executive Andrew Macfarlane said.
“We are looking forward to sharing our plans for the future with members and hearing their views, and we will have our usual transparent presentation of financial results – income, costs and most importantly, profit for our members”.
Keynote speakers include Ita Buttrose and Australian Federation of Travel Agents chief executive Jayson Westbury.
The launch of a new Island Hopper deal from Air Vanuatu will enable Australians to add an outer island to their trip to Vanuatu for under $100 including taxes when they book return flights to Port Vila from Australia.
The offer represents a saving of more than 60% on the usual airfares to Espiritu Santo or Tanna.
“Vanuatu is made up of 83 islands and while it’s not possible for travellers to get to all of the islands, by offering an affordable add-on flight, Australians will be encouraged to explore beyond Port Vila,” Vanuatu Tourism Office’s Australian representative Anne Morris said.
Tickets must be bought before November 15 for travel between October 28 and December 8, or January 20 and March 30.
Brisbane Airport is ramping up its efforts to cater to the burgeoning Chinese market with the appointment of a Chinese liaison officer and the introduction of Chinese cultural and customer service training.
Tourism Ireland has welcomed news that the destination’s new budget will retain the 9% VAT rate, the slashing of the travel tax to 0 euro and a contribution of 8 million euro towards the Wild Atlantic Way tourism route.
Bookings to Greece have soared in the third quarter of 2013 for Excite Holidays, rising 69% year on year.
According to the company, hotel bookings to Athens grew by 59% over the three month period with the island of Santorini up 85%.
Chimu Adventures has released its dedicated Antarctica brochure showcasing its wide range of itineraries, vessels and activities on the continent.
Destination Port Stephens has thanked the Rural Fire Service, emergency services, tourist operations and local residents for their help during and after bushfires which affected parts of the region last weekend.
Marketing manager Tars Bylhouwer stressed that fires were isolated to areas around Fingal Bay and the Tilligerry Peninsula and had not affected the main tourist areas or infrastructure.
“Our heart goes out to those affected by the fires and who lost property but we also want to thank rural firefighters, emergency personnel, tourism operators and local residents for pulling together to fight the fires and accommodate people evacuated from affected areas,” he said.
Peppers Seaport has unveiled a new $1.3 million function space giving Launceston a new option for conferences and events.
The brand new Peppers Seaport Function Centre was officially opened by the Honourable Lara Giddings, Premier of Tasmania with Launceston’s business community in attendance.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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