This week’s Agent Wrap is sure to lift your spirits. It’s absolutely brimming with positivity and is a welcome distraction to end the working week. 

Helping hands and fabulous feet: how Travellers Choice agents are sticking together 

As the travel industry reels from the impact of COVID-19, the close bonds that bind the Travellers Choice network together are once again proving invaluable, with members using the private Facebook group ‘TC Connect’ to share advice, encouragement and practical support.

Among the hundreds of messages posted by the group’s members, one stood out as encapsulating the cooperative spirit that has long defined the award-winning group:

Walker said she made the offer because she could see fellow agents were struggling to find accurate information, especially when circumstances were changing at “a rapid rate of knots”.

“I’ve been running my business for 15 years, so I have a fair bit of experience, and I just wanted other Travellers Choice members to know that I’m happy to help resolve any issues, if they are running out of hands.

“It’s about helping people maintain that sense of calm and letting them know that we’ll get through this together.”

While the majority of advice and information concerns ticket waivers, cancellation fees and government shutdowns, some members are using TC Connect to lift their fellow agents’ spirits.

For Gemma Smith from City Beach Travel & Cruise in Perth, that means shots of the glamourous shoes she’s wearing to work each day.

“Shoes and handbags are my thing,” Smith said. “And with it being all doom and gloom out there, I thought a photo of a fabulous pair of shoes would cheer everyone up. I’ll put another pair up tomorrow.”

MTA suspends monthly advisor membership fees

Part of its ongoing strategy to help its 400-plus advisors circumnavigate the challenges many of them are facing during the COVID-19 crisis, and particularly cash-flow, MTA – Mobile Travel Agents has decided to suspend all monthly membership fees until 30 June 2020.

MTA executive manager Sara Pearce said the suspension would be held in place until the end of the financial year when the company will review the situation.

“Amidst the chaos of this situation and as a family business, we know it’s important to look out for each other,” she said.

“There is much uncertainty around everything at the moment, most of all when this state of affairs will all return to normal.

“We have stressed to our advisors we are with them all the way; we are doing everything in our power to help them. They are just as much a part of the family, and that goes for their clients as well.”

Agents speed date with resorts in Fiji

Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and Castaway Island, Fiji recently meet 50 of the most influential frontline agents from Australia and New Zealand during the Mega Matai Conference held over earlier this month at the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa Denarau, Fiji.

The intimate yet comprehensive ‘speed dating’ event consisted of 50 appointments for the resorts – a chance to chat face-to-face about upcoming product enhancement, incentive deals and other property news.

All guests then had the chance to informally network at an evening cocktail reception sponsored by Tourism Fiji.

As well as participating in the agent speed dating sessions, the properties also hosted pre- and post-conference famils for agents to gain first-hand insight to how the properties look, feel and operate.

Vanuatu delivers surprise and delight on exclusive TravelManagers famil

For holidaymakers looking at the different options available for their next South Pacific beach holiday, Vanuatu has a lot to offer – as nine personal travel managers learned during an exclusive TravelManagers famil last month.

The five-day itinerary, travelling with Viva Holidays and Air Vanuatu, and escorted by TravelManagers business partnership manager Julia McLean, was enough to provide the participants with an overview of the beautiful scenery and amazing cultural experiences that Vanuatu provides.