Winning Most Outstanding Travel Agency Manager at the 2025 National Travel Industry Awards is a big moment in anyone’s career.

For Sonia Jones it was also a chance to reflect on the journey that got her there.

In this episode of Offloaded, Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones sit down with Sonia to talk about the path from Flight Centre consultant to independent agency owner to winner of the most illustrious honour that our industry has to offer. 

The conversation explores the role industry awards can play in building credibility, why entering them can be a powerful business strategy, and how the application process itself can become a valuable “health check” for your business.

Along the way, the discussion covers innovation, supplier relationships, accreditation, service fees and why you should never name your business after yourself. 

“If I see something that adds value for my clients or my business, I’d rather jump on it early than wait for everyone else to decide it’s a good idea.” 

This is one of our best interviews, packed with tips for advisors and suppliers alike. And for subscribers of Offloaded, we'll be quietly releasing a bonus episode covering Sonia's thought on time management and attending industry events. Look out for that on your podcast app or via the website. 

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We hope you enjoy the episode — and if you’d like to support us, please follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Rail travel is ‘having a moment’, says AC, and according to the CEO of Railbookers Group, Frank Marini, it’s only just getting started.

In this episode of Offloaded, Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones explore what this renaissance means for travellers and advisors.

The conversation covers everything from iconic luxury journeys like the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express through to practical point-to-point rail connections across Europe, North America and beyond.

Frank talks about changing traveller behaviour, the rise of experiential and slower travel, and why rail is increasingly being used to connect multi-destination itineraries.

For travel advisors, this episode is a reminder that rail isn’t just a mode of transport. Done well, it can become the highlight of a client’s trip. 

 ”The romance of travel is not being in a security line at the airport getting frisked, taking your shoes off and trying to find where your laptop and all your chargers are” - AC Jones, 2026. 

All aboard for a great conversation!

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We hope you enjoy the episode — and if you’d like to support us, please follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn and Facebook.

Oh, and if you haven’t already — subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Frank Marini on LinkedIn

Local Contacts in AU

Railbookers Website - https://www.railbookers.com.au/

'Conductor' Craig Owens on LinkedIn
Nicole Francke on LinkedIn

Angus “Gus” Pitkethley of Rosewood Hong Kong joins us for this episode — and fair warning: if you weren’t already thinking about a trip to Hong Kong, you will be after this one. 

Rosewood Hong Kong has just been named the No. 1 Hotel in the World (a coincidence after featuring this year on Offloaded Podcast? We think not!) , and Gus takes us behind the scenes of what it really takes to reach — and stay at — the top. From its “vertical estate” approach to design and art-led storytelling, to the way Rosewood blends luxury, culture, and a deep sense of place, this is a masterclass in how to build a flagship hotel that resets the bar globally. 

 But this episode isn’t just about the hotel.

Gus also gives us his own story, from Double Bay to London to New York, and the insider track on expat life in Hong Kong — what makes the city tick, why it’s firmly back on the world stage, and how it continues to evolve as one of the most electric, layered, and globally connected destinations on the planet. Think street food to sky bars, harbour views to hidden beaches - Hong Kong still knows how to impress even the most well-travelled guest.

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 This episode is brought to you by Rosewood Hong Kong. We hope you enjoy it — and if you’d like to support us, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you’ll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions, and much more.

 You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.

 Oh, and if you haven’t already — subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Angus Pitkethley on LinkedIn:
Rosewood Hong Kong: 

Malik Fernando of Resplendent Ceylon is our guest for this episode. And a word of warning before we continue...you're going to want to visit Sri Lanka after this one. This short video will paint the picture of what's discussed in this episode. 

Malik's father, Merrill J. Fernando, founded Dilmah Tea in the 1980s after realizing the need for a Sri Lankan-owned brand that celebrated single-origin Ceylon tea. Starting in Australia with Kamahl singing the jingles, Dilmah became a household name and one of the first tea brands packed at source rather than overseas. 

Building on that legacy, Malik launched Resplendent Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s first Relais & Châteaux hotel collection. What began as renovated plantation bungalows evolved into five award-winning boutique properties spanning tea country, beaches, and wildlife reserves.

Each property is built around Malik’s philosophy of “luxury with purpose” — combining five-star hospitality with meaningful community impact.

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This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

Nicole O’Sullivan is redefining how travel professionals sell. 

With over two decades in the industry that includes six years in the US, she has a sharp eye for what works and what doesn't.

Nicole's unique offering to the industry begins with 'mystery calling', during which she assesses how wholesalers, tour operators and agents are communicating with agents, clients and each other. 

Could we all improve? You bet we can. 

In this terrific chat that’s brilliant for - well, everyone - Richard and AC ask Nicole about what led her to start this unique business. It all begins with letter listening, she says, which aligns with our thoughts because we're always after a better quality of listener. 

You can connect with Nicole via her website at Bird's Eye View Consulting, and via her LinkedIn profile

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This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

Club Med's Michelle Davies has a new and quite lengthy title of General Manager - Pacific & New Emerging ESAP Markets. 

Hired in June 2020 as Marketing Manager, Michelle later took on the General Manager role with a mission to lead Club Med's Australian office out of the pandemic and into the unchartered territory of a new industry landscape.

This episode is a story of navigating new challenges and getting the very best from a dynamic team, whose collective efforts led to the brand picking up Most Popular Accommodation Group/Chain at the 2024 NTIA awards. 

As AC says during the episode: " I always love to hear stories of women in leadership because we've got so many fabulous women in the industry who lift up and inspire each other, and I'm hoping that this podcast will do that for a few of our listeners."

In other news, AC offloads on hotel commisions, and a listener finds themselves even more On Notice than they were before. 

You can connect with Michelle via her LinkedIn profile. 

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This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

David "Dave-o" Kolner, Virtuoso's Executive Vice President, joins Offloaded to offer what AC describes as a health check for the luxury travel industry. 

"I want to be so much more than just the data guy", says Dave-o. 

And he is. He most certainly is. 

In this episode you'll learn about the trends that Virtuoso are currently seeing through the unparalleled sales data that the global luxury behemoth has unique access to. Richard and AC uncover why cool destinations are hot, why cancelling bookings on short term political dramas is a bad idea, how four in five travel advisors see AI as an opportunity rather than a threat that will replace them, and so much more that includes Saudi Arabia, adventure cruising, Lorazepam, 'set-jetting', thoughts on Gen X's limited time in the sun and why you'd be a fool to ignore cashed-up 80 year-old-plus females. 

It's another brilliant interview that we know you'll enjoy. 

Following Dave-o, AC offloads on surveys and a 'listener' joins our rogues gallery of people 'On Notice', with no obvious route to ever have that status removed.  

In each episode we like to share highbrow recommendations for our listeners, and this time AC recommends the 'Pet Painter' AI app that, according to their website, 'turns pics of your pet into art'. 

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This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

As the child of a father who was a founder of the US Tour Operators Association, it would come as no surprise for Matthew Upchurch to enter the travel industry and become one of it's iconic leaders. 

The founder of Virtuoso in the 1980's, as CEO Matthew has overseen the company become the leading global network of agencies specialising in luxury and experiential travel. Today Virtuoso comprises of more than 20,000 advisors across 58 countries who between them transact in the region of $54 billion AUD. 

Among his many accolades, Matthew was named to the American Society of Travel Agents Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Cruise Lines International Association Hall of Fame in 2010. 

But aside from all that, perhaps his most meaningful contribution to our industry is that there has been no greater champion of the travel advisor. 

In this episode we talk to Matthew about his backstory, along with Virtuoso's growth and how it operates in Australia. We discover the leading profession who are making the switch to become advisors, the increasing prioritisation of expenditure on experiences by travellers, and why the human interaction of a travel advisor can never be replaced by advances in technology.

And a lot more, including some elite-level Offloading. 

However we have run out of space and what's left goes to Matthew's Book Club. He mentions the following books for you to consider:

Will Guidara: Unreasonable Hospitality - The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
Simon Sinek: Start With Why. - Learn how great leaders and organizations inspire action and create a lasting impact
Prof. Scott Galloway: No Mercy, No Malice - (podcast)

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This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

80.5

That's the number of years experience of selling cruises on today's episode, as we invited the icons that are Robyn Sinfield and Megan Caterall into The Room Residence in Sydney, which is a brand new space recently opened by Room Res that Co-Founders James Mooring and Nic Bryant were on hand to explain the space to us.

With an eye towards helping both new and existing travel advisors sell cruise more effectively, it was the perhaps the words of Robyn that captured the interview - "it's the ships of life - the partnerships, the friendships and the relationships". 

This episode is essential listening for anyone hoping to learn a thing or two from two of the most celebrated travel sellers in Australia. 

You can view photos of The Room Residence and the the interview with Robyn and Megan, here. 
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We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

Melanie Whyte is a single parent with two special needs children who also happens to be one of Australia's most successful and highly decorated home-based travel advisors. 

In this episode Mel joins Richard and AC to share her story of how helping with the travel arrangements for parents adopting children overseas and those of 'neurospicy' families (her words) became the bedrock of her fledgling business. 

"It's not that hard", she says. 

We say that if you keep a list of people you admire in this industry, you'll need to dust that off and add another line to it. 

We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. 

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!