Travel Counsellors live the high life on a rewards trip to West Hollywood and San Diego

Eight hardworking Travel Counsellors agents and a member of the head office Phenix support team recently got to experience some of California’s hottest restaurants, bars and hotels while on an exclusive rewards trip to the tourist hot spots of West Hollywood and San Diego.

As top users of Travel Counsellors’ innovative in-house booking system called Phenix, Samantha Slattery, Tamsin Catto, Karen Coates, Lani Symons Vaughan, Christine Jenkins, Tracy Dodsworth, Tina Millington, Danielle Cutrupi and Anne Dugdale from the head office Phenix support team were all rewarded with a prized spot on this exciting trip to one of America’s most popular travel destinations.

Hosted by Penny Brand from Sydney-based tourism representation company Gate 7, in West Hollywood the group got to experience the very best of this vibrant area filled with boutique hotels, hip bars and must-visit restaurants. After performing site inspections at many of West Hollywood’s newest hotels, the group got to soak up the atmosphere of the Sunset Strip and dine at some of the area’s coolest restaurants including Norah and Estrella.

Agents See More of the Mekong with Travelmarvel

Travelmarvel recently hosted a group of its top performing agents aboard its impressive Mekong river cruise ship, RV La Marguerite.

Sailing from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Cambodia’s Siem Reap, the group immersed themselves in the local culture, enjoyed the delicious cuisine, visited local markets, learned about the riverside community and took a rickshaw tour of the small island of Tan Chau.

The trip concluded with a two night stay at the boutique Shinta Mani Resort in Siem Reap.

The group sampled Travelmarvel’s comprehensive inclusions which cover all accommodation; a Travelmarvel Tour Director and expert local guides; most meals; international wine, local beer and spirits included with lunch and dinner; and all port charges, entry fees, tipping and airport transfers.

Agents Discover Latest Hotel Rebrand in Hong Kong

To coincide with the rebrand of Hong Kong’s renowned Cosmopolitan Hotel the Hong Kong Tourism Board along with Cathay Pacific held a joint trade famil from 7-11 September for agents to experience the fresh new look.

From October, the Cosmopolitan Hotel will be named the Dorsett Wanchai and will offer newly refurbished suites, most with Happy Valley Racecourse or city views.

The group was made up of agents from Flight Centre, Helloworld and boutique retail brands from Queensland. The agents enjoyed a range of tours and experiences during their stay, including a Hong Kong Island Tour, Come Horseracing Tour at Happy Valley, Central and Sheung Wan Foodie Tour and the Fisherfolk Life and Great Outdoors Tour where they explored the fishing village of Lamma Island before jumping aboard the Dukling, a junk boat in Victoria Harbour.

For more information on the new Dorsett Wanchai visit – http://www.wanchai.dorsetthotels.com/.

Traveller’s Choice agents chose Cambodia with Insider Journeys

A group of Traveller’s Choice agents travelled to Cambodia in September, taking in the sights and sounds of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap for seven days with Asia travel specialists Insider Journeys.

Highlights of the tour included discovering Phnom Penh’s rich French colonial past from the unique front-seat perspective of a traditional cyclo ride, visiting historic icons and attractions, gliding through the backstreets and markets of this increasingly vibrant and modern city, and a sunset cruise on the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers.

En route to Siem Reap, the agents had the chance to try a local delicacy, sautéed spiders, before a home cooked lunch at a small silk farm, followed by two days of exploring the temples of Angkor and outer lying temples. The adventure started with sunrise by tuk tuk, and included receiving a water blessing from a Buddhist monk at the peaceful Tep Pranam Pagoda.

Luxperience Inspires Personal Travel Managers

Nine of TravelManagers’ personal travel managers participated in the invite only, specialist luxury global three-day business exchange Luxperience.  The only Australian forum of its kind, Luxperience 2016 connected over 300 experiential, unique and inspiring luxury travel products directly to over 450 high-end experiential travel buyers.

Personal travel managers participating in the Sydney based event were New South Wales based Melinda Rowe representative for East Jindabyne, Annalize Troost representative for West Pennant Hills; Victoria based Debbie Bean representative for Tarneit, Lea Burford representative for Torquay, Luke Vaughan representative for Kooyang, Melanie Carter representative for Scoresby, Michelle Levins representative for Forest Hill and Queensland based Georgina Grandi representative for Wynnum, Annette Fyfe representative for Victoria Point. TravelManagers Executive General Manager Michael Gazal also attended the Gala Awards dinner.

Luxperience promised to connect travel buyers with the most innovative experiential travel experts in the luxury market and Grandi was definitely not disappointed.