News in Brief: Tuesday October 14

News in Brief: Tuesday October 14
By admin


The eight incentive winners of the first Santa Monica famil hosted by official Santa Monica Ambassadors and My Kitchen Rules finalists Luke Hines and Scott Gooding have been announced.

The winners include Bryana Duval, Flight Centre Westfield Sydney, Maria Rainone, Travel Managers Sassafras, Bridgit Little, Globe Net Travel Queensland, Craig Watson, Flight Centre Bluewater Square Queensland, Andrew Buykxsmith, Flight Centre Business Travel Victoria, Brianna Schwarz, Helloworld Norwood South Australia, Melissa Bauer, Flight Centre Burleigh Heads Queensland and Rebecca Simms, STA Travel Highpoint Victoria.

The group will fly into LA with Air New Zealand on November 22, and will enjoy a seven-day trip at one of Santa Monica’s exclusive properties.

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Bench International has marked its 46th year of operation with the introduction of Safari School, a new training tool for travel consultants that provides a simple platform for agents to expand their knowledge of the African product.

Safari School is made up of five modules, represented by one of Africa’s Big Five animals, including the buffalo, elephant, lion, rhinoceros and leopard, with short videos covering topics such as destinations, getting there, highlights, seasons for travel and other general information.

On completion of the modules, agents will receive both a 90-page information guide on Africa, as well as a certificate recognising their expertise on the destination. 

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Contiki has teamed up with Virgin Australia and Etihad to offer the 18-35-year old market air and land deals to explore Europe in 2015, with return flights to Europe between February 1 and March 24 starting at $1399 when combined with applicable Contiki trips.

For later flights departing Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth between March 25 and June 7 2015, Contiki and partnering airlines are offering return flights from $1499 to Europe, with Contiki trips also open to the 10% early bird discount until December 18.

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World Aviation Systems (WAS) has announced its appointment of Gia Acitelli as regional general manager for Virgin Atlantic Airways, following the airline’s recent appointment of WAS for the Asia-Pacific region.

Acitelli joins WAS from Virgin Atlantic Airways, where she held the position of sales and marketing manager for Australia and New Zealand for the past 14 years.

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The Chair of Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) Tony South has announced he will step down as Chair in the lead up to the formation of a new organisation that will represent the interests of the Australian accommodation sector.

South’s announcement follows the resignation of TAA managing director Rodger Powell, who left in September, with South holding his position for nearly three years, intending to continue his involvement in the industry through his recent appointment to the Board of Tourism Australia.

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Mantra Group is expanding its portfolio with the announcement of the Mantra Midtown Apartments Brisbane, the company’s 50th hotel in Queensland.

The hotel is a 143-room full serviced apartment hotel on Charlotte Street, and prior to the Mantra rebranding operated as an independent hotel since 2012, with the newly acquired Mantra property featuring a swimming pool BBQ area, boardroom for 14 people and on-site bar and bistro.

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InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has been named Asia’s leading luxury business hotel brand for the first time at the recent 2014 World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia.

The group also took home Asia’s leading business hotel brand for the third consecutive year, and Australasia’s leading hotel brand for the third time overall.

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Creative Holidays is reminding agents of its upcoming Newcastle and Sydney events, to be held on October 17 and 20 respectively, where agents can learn about product updates on the operator’s destinations.

The events will showcase a range of the company’s key partners from the Asia Pacific region, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vanuatu, with prizes and famil opportunities also available. 

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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