Offloaded - The Travel Industry Podcast

Offloaded is back for Season Three!

To kick things off, Richard and AC are joined by possibly the most senior industry leader to appear on Offloaded thus far in the shape of James Kavanagh, Flight Centre Travel Group’s Global CEO of Leisure. 

We begin by covering leadership, change and the importance of having mentors and good people around you, before moving onto two of FCTG’s longer-term strategies of growth into luxury travel and forming new partnership options for independent agents to ensure a healthy travel sector. 

“We work in a wonderful industry and I think there's so much potential for what's to come,” he says. 

Hot on JK’s heels comes a chat with NCL’s Damien Borg and Angela Middleton, who speak of empowering agents via co-branding, a rapid growth in NCL’s group programme and increased options for travellers in Europe who are increasingly cruising as part of a wider holiday. 

JK also has some book club recommendations, which we are linking here. They are: Legacy, by James Kerr and The Leadership Pipeline, by Ram Charan. We expect all listeners to have read these in time for the next episode of Offloaded. 

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Offloaded Season 3 is supported by Interline Travel. For more information, visit www.interlinetravel.com.au

The final episode of Series 2 broke the mould before we change things up again for Series 3 that's coming in September. 

Erina Pindar, COO and Managing Partner of SmartFlyer, became our first international guest, our first live in-person podcast held at a luxury hotel, and the first guest who hijacked our Offloaded section with an Offload of her very own.

Erina joined SmartFlyer when there were just 6 travel advisors connected to the brand. Celebrating it's 10th anniversay in 2025, the numbers are currently at 250 across the US and Europe with another 35 here in Australia.

We asked how Erina glues an international network together and what Australian advisors can learn from their international counterparts. She also spoke about 'recommendation culture' and the tightrope a modern advisor has to dance between recommending everything on social media versus holding some of that back to avoid contributing to overtourism and the possible saturation of those cute, secret little finds that give advisors their value in the first place. 

If that topic isn't fascincating enough Erina also talked about the increasing trend of putting clients on a retainer, an entirely new concept to at least one of our hosts.
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The winner of the Numinous Moments competition that includes 3 Nights in the Maldives at JOALI BEING for two people with half-board and return seaplane transfers was announced during this episode as Sarah Webster of Wayfinder Travel, with this entry!

Our enormous congrats to Sarah as we put claims in to be her plus-one. Pick me! Pick me!

We must also make honourable mentions of three terrific runner-up entries from Deanne Scanlan with this one, Peta Godfrey with this one and another from Emily Sonley who entered with an email that we read out during the episode. 

Charlie Trevena's new and exciting Travel Agent Takeaways podcast was mentioned, and is an instant contender for the second-best podcast in our industry. You can find that here, and there's links to subscribe on your favourite podcast platform on that page.
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A heartfelt thanks to our series sponsor Numinous Luxury Travel Representation for their support and encouragement, without which this series would never have happened. More info on Numinous is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we've been exceptionally proud to partner with the iconic Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong during the series that has included hidden treasures that you'll never have heard about. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html

Finally our sincere thanks to all the guests who've appeared in Series 2, the organisations who've appeared as Sales Calls, our stand-in hosts Nicola Strudwick and Sonia Jones, our marketing team of Lisa Maroun and Anya Vokhmyakova, our editor Chris Finesa......and most of all to you, our listeners xx

You're all on a retainer for Series 3.
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Social Details

Follow Erina Pindar, Managing Partner and COO at SmartFlyer, here on LinkedIn and here on Instagram. The Insta is pretty cool - just saying.

Andrew Young is the General Manager Sales for TTC Tour Brands Oceania, and the only person we know that performs a demanding industry role while living and helping out as the only son on a working farm.

That topic is worthy of a podcast all by itself, but the reason for asking Andy to join us on this occasion was to talk about travel industry sales.

We were also joined by Karen Macmillan, Director Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific for Hong Kong Tourism Board.

A sales 'nerd', as he puts it himself, Andy tells us how 'consultative selling' has taken over as the method to educate agents to promote and explain diverse touring options to their clientele.

A changed industry landscape of less agents and advisors in visible locations around Australia presents a challenge for their suppliers, who must promote to consumers and also educate agents on the potential demand in their local area.

It's a fascinating discussion and we welcome your feedback on the points raised.

Also, for the first and possibly only time, we take an industry person OFF notice.
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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html
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NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Listen to our special Bonus Episode to discover what a Numinous Moment is. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
Andy Young, GM Sales TTC Tour Brand - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-young-09b9a735/
Karen MacMillan - Director Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific for Hong Kong Tourism Board- https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-macmillan-96711918/

Richard Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/
...and Chris Finesa, Editor and Producer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-finesa-490637300/

Bye!

"Get the country open".

These were the suggestions from the Fijiian Prime Minister, Attorney General and Chair of Tourism Fiji to Brent Hill , the new CEO who had taken up the role at a time when the island was closed for visitation.

AC and Richard quizzed Brent about this interesting life and career choice, before moving on to discussing Fiji's unique charms, character and challenges that make it a favourite for Australian travellers. 

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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html
____

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Listen to our special Bonus Episode to discover what a Numinous Moment is. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
Brent Hill - CEO, Tourism Fiji - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenthillfiji/

Richard Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/
Sonia Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniajonestravel/
...and Chris Finesa, Editor and Producer, is your goto guy for audio projects. He's recommended 1000x over - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-finesa-490637300/

A packed episode that includes AC howling at the moon. 

Parris Fotias, Regional Sales Director APAC for Dorchester Collection was our guest for this episode, interviewed by AC and stand-in presenter Sonia Jones. 

Our interviewers were very excited to get a hotelier onto the podcast in Richard’s absence, and immediately set about discussing some of the reasons why advisor relationships with properties can make so much difference for their travellers, both in planning the perfect itinerary and also tailoring the experience to the unique wants and needs of a guest. 

They also covered eschewing loyalty and preferred partner programs, new properties on the horizon, anthropologists and the 'wealth curves' of travellers that see them steadily gravitate towards luxury brands. 

Managing Director of Albatross Tours Shelley Poten joined us for this week's Sales Call to school us on a unique, 2023 NTIA-award-winning brand that caters uniquely to Aussie and Kiwi travellers. 

AC and Richard also Offloaded about people putting too many pictures of their trips on Facebook, a theory based largely on pure envy. 
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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html
____

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Listen to our special Bonus Episode to discover what a Numinous Moment is. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
Parris Fotias, Regional Sales Director APAC for Dorchester Collection:: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parrisfotias/
Parris’s book is called Adventures Through COVID, The Art of Subconscious Travel in a Transcendental State, and is available here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Adventures-Through-COVID-Subconscious-Transcendental/dp/1922629561

Shelley Poten, Managing Director of Albatross Tours: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelleypoten/
For more on Albatross Tours, visit: https://www.albatrosstours.com.au/

Richard Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/
Sonia Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniajonestravel/
...and Chris Finesa, Editor and Producer, is your goto guy for audio projects. He's recommended 1000x over - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-finesa-490637300/

Part TWO! Listen to part one first!
Michael Gazal and Tania Myles of TravelManagers Australia return for Part Two of a 2024 travel industry take on the famous book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey.

Working daily with a network of 450+ travel advisors (or in their terminology Personal Travel Managers), Michael and Tania are brilliantly positioned to talk about the common qualities they're seeing in advisors that are successfully navigating the current landscape.

But what does 'successful' or 'effective' even mean when people are now working in such different ways and often with wildly different life and business goals?

Answering these questions and more was a conversation that was too interesting to consense into one episode, and so this is part two :)

We also Offloaded about people that more than one business card into prize draws. Are you one of them? 

Finally during the introduction we referred to Anthony Goldman's discussion with Gaya Avery at KarryOn called the 'Beyond the Chandeliers and Caviar: the redefinition of luxury travel'. The link to read that for yourself is here.

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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html
____

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Tune into Series 2 Episode 3 (Nicola Veltman) to find out what a numinous moment is, or hold out for our special short episode coming on the 13th March that contains only that section. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
Michael Gazal, TravelManagers Australia's Executive GM: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gazal-9ab1071b/
Tania Myles, TravelManagers Australia's Marketing Manager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniamyles/

AC Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/
Sonia Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniajonestravel/
Richard Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
and Chris Finesa, Editor and Producer, is highly recommended for your audio projects - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-finesa-490637300/

Michael Gazal and Tania Myles of TravelManagers Australia were our guests this week to discuss a 2024 travel industry take on the famous book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey. 

Working daily with a network of 450+ travel advisors (or in their terminology Personal Travel Managers), Michael and Tania are brilliantly positioned to talk about the common qualities they're seeing in advisors that are successfully navigating the current landscape.

But what does 'successful' or 'effective' even mean when people are now working in such different ways and often with wildly different life and business goals?

Answering these questions and more was a conversation that was too interesting to consense into one episode, and so this is part one.

It's opened by Ann-Catherine Jones and special celebrity host Sonia Jones, who stepped in for Richard to record the intro. We couldn't afford her service fees for the entire episode.

AC also spoke to Via Travel's Stuart Wesierski for this episode's Sales Call to learn more about the tour operator that provides unique, hand-crafted, small group experiences in Australia. She can't talk to you right now as she's currently booking one. 
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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html
____

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Tune into Series 2 Episode 3 (Nicola Veltman) to find out what a numinous moment is, or hold out for our special short episode coming on the 13th March that contains only that section. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
Michael Gazal, TravelManagers Australia's Executive GM: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gazal-9ab1071b/
Tania Myles, TravelManagers Australia's Marketing Manager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniamyles/
Stuart Wesierski, Via Travel's Founder and MD:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-wesierski-48b60625/

AC Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/
Sonia Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniajonestravel/
Richard Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch

and Chris Finesa, Editor and Producer, is highly recommended for your audio projects - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-finesa-490637300/

With AC away, Richard was joined by Nicola Strudwick to interview Isabel Limn, Key Partnerships Manager for Intrepid. 

Issy (she insists you call her this because it’s ‘Issy to remember’ – her gag not ours) is the most recent arrival to the industry among Offloaded guests thus far, having begun her journey in 2016. 

This is an episode that’s a break from the norm, and one that aims to scratch the surface of the mindset of our forthcoming generations of employees, leaders and indeed travellers themselves. Taking on this challenge to explain an entire generation, Issy takes us through some of the important aspects that matter to her in an eloquent, thoughtful interview that we know you’ll love.
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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html
_______

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Tune into Series 2 Episode 3 (Nicola Veltman) to find out what a numinous moment is, or hold out for our special short episode coming on the 13th March that contains only that section. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
This week’s guest Isabel Limn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-limn/
Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
Nicola's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-strudwick/
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

From Contiki tour guide to General Manager of the Luxury Travel Collection Member Portfolio, Nikki Glading has had quite the travel industry career. 

In a frank and introspective interview, Nikki talks about her leadership journey that has included healthy doses of vulnerability, honesty and self-awareness along the way. Now in what she calls her “dream job”, Nikki is perhaps uniquely qualified to bring high-performing luxury and boutique travel agencies into an ecosystem that focuses on their business needs. 

We also discuss why you shouldn't eat soup dumplings prior to an in-person interview, and how Nikki's devotion to customer service quite literally broke (Westfield Car Park) barriers. 

Here’s a link to explain the talk of pineapples, in case that's new for you. https://www.cruisehive.com/upside-down-pineapple-meaning/70087

In our Sales Call segment, Tamara Kobiolke from our series sponsor Numinous Luxury Travel Representation joined us to discuss the growing portfolio of this thriving business that sprinkles fairy dust on the bookings of Australian travel advisors.
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Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html

And here’s a link to Wong Tai Sin temple, which came up in conversation: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/explore/neighbourhoods/wong-tai-sin.html 

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

 We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Tune into Series 2 Episode 3 (Nicola Veltman) to find out what a numinous moment is, or hold out for our special short episode coming on the 13th March that contains only that section. 

 Final entry date is 30th June 2024, and visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Contact us via [email protected], or via LinkedIn below.

LinkedIn Details:
Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/
This week’s guest Nikki Glading - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-glading/

Tamara Kobioke of Numinous Travel Representation: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-kobiolke-0b21601a/

This special episode details how to enter our Numinous Moments competition! If you're unaware of what a Numinous Moment actually is, this short section (that was already aired in the Nicola Veltman episode, which was Series 2 Episode 3) will explain all.

NUMINOUS MOMENTS PRIZE DETAILS

We want to know what your NUMINOUS MOMENTS are, and by doing so you’ll go into the draw to win an amazing prize courtesy of Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. Listen to this episode to find out what a numinous moment is!
*****Final entry date 30th June 2024*****, and  visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/latest/numinous/ for terms, conditions and instructions.

 ____________________

This is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Our series sponsor is Numinous Luxury Travel Representation. More info is available at https://www.numinousltr.com/

And we're proud to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to raise awareness of the magic of Hong Kong. Their website is here: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/anz/index.html

Contact us via [email protected]