"If you don't do it, it just does not get done".

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones were joined by  Nicola Strudwick for this episode that talks about the unique needs of regional travel agents and advisors.

Nicola's job title is General Manager Sales at Travellers Choice, a national retail travel group whose independent member travel agencies are the only shareholders. They represent travel agents located throughout Australia's capital cities, metropolitan and regional areas, and it was the uniqueness of those regional agents that we wanted to delve further into.

Nicola also talked of her extensive work she's done with tourism students, guiding them towards travel with an enthusiasm that we thing you'll be hard pressed to equal elsewhere.

Along the way we heard stories about professional bed-testers and being helicoptered onto warships with briefcases full of cash.

You can find out more about Travellers Choice here: https://www.travellerschoice.com.au/

Our series sponsor is Viking, and this is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Nicola's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-strudwick/
Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones meet Travel Agent Achievers (TAA) founder Roslyn Ranse about elevating the profession of the travel advisor.

As the first frontline travel advisor to come onto the show, we were interested in Ros’ take on the current state of play in the industry and the new dominant force that is the mobile travel advisor.

Ros also tells about her motivation to start her learning and development platform Travel Agent Achievers and what support she can offer travel advisors to become more polished, more professional and more successful.

She lets us in on the secret of how she juggles being a mum, running a million dollar travel business, hosting a podcast, mentoring other advisors and running the Travel Agent Achievers community.....and apparently it doesn’t take a time machine in the lounge room to be able to fit it all in!

You can learn more about Travel Agent Achievers here : https://www.travelagentachievers.com/

Our series sponsor is Viking, and this is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Ros' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslynranse/
Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones speak to CLIA's Head of International Training & Development , Peter Kollar.

We wanted to get Pete's take on the cruise industry and his rather large influence on how cruise is positioned and sold to consumers. Whilst doing that we found out he is a former primary school teacher than ended up traversing the globe on cruise ships dressed in leotards. We also discussed the increasing diversity in cruise passengers, why much of the travel industry are introverts, and why you can't judge new clients by their handbags.

More officially, Peter is a seasoned voice for the cruise segment, designing professional development programs on behalf of CLIA - the representing trade body of the cruise industry. He's had a career of more than  25+ years in the industry, from onboard roles of servicing guests and training crew through to his current role.

Peter's list of achievements would take too long to type, so head to his LinkedIn profile (listed below) if you'd like more intormation. 

Our series sponsor is Viking, and this is a Travel Community Hub production. More info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Pete's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-kollar-425b2954/
Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones are joined by travel industry doyenne Fiona Dalton for a discussion on, well, a great many things.  Fiona is the General Manager Australia & New Zealand for Virtuoso Travel, the 'leading global network of travel agencies specializing in luxury and experiential travel', in their own words.

For all our episodes, visit https://podcast.travelcommunityhub.com/

Our series sponsor is Viking, who are wonderful people with a product you need to experience!
https://www.vikingcruises.com.au/

This is a Travel Community Hub production, and more info, including options to contact us and sign up for our newsletter, is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Fiona's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-dalton-7830356/
Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

"A Problem Shared"

Richard Taylor and AC Jones speak to Platinum Travel Group CEO Andy Buerckner, for very frank discussion on the trauma the industry is still carrying, and how he's rebuilding his business after the pandemic.

In June 2020, Andy made a post on LinkedIn entitled 'It's Time To Say I'm Struggling', that received huge feedback and led to the piece being run by KarryOn, here: https://karryon.com.au/community/its-time-to-say-im-struggling-andrew-buerckner-platinum-travel/

It was a piece of writing that showed many others that it was OK to not be OK, and led to hundreds of important conversations.

Richard and AC ask what happened afterwards, and how Andy and his sister Sarah began to rebuild their business. 

You can follow Andy on LinkedIn here, where the highlighted post is the Andy's 'Address To The Nation' on Sky News that we talk about in the podcast: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-buerckner

AC openly questions whether we should all be pumping social media for business, and finally we're joined by Emily Porter of Sno n' Ski for a chat about the state of play for agents selling ski to travellers. More information on Sno n' Ski can be found at https://snonski.com.au/

Our series sponsor is Viking, in case you weren't paying attention.
https://www.vikingcruises.com.au/

This is a Travel Community Hub production, and more info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

"There IS such a thing as a free lunch"

Richard and AC are joined by the founder iFlyFlat, Steve Hui, to uncover the secrets of his unique business that helps travellers effectively collect and use airline and credit card points to fly in business class.

Steve gives us an industry insider lesson on both status and points, and explains why he has the highest booking fees of any travel agent in Australia.  We plunder the best trips and tricks, and ask Steve whether he pretends to be someone else while travelling in taxis.

You can follow Steve on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenhui/

AC covers her 10 Golden Rules of How To Behave On Fam Trips (copyright Ann-Catherine Jones) that she made up a few minutes before the show.

And Richard is joined by Anna Jones (no relation to AC Jones, even though her name is also AC Jones) from Ormina Tours for this week's Sales Call. Anna speaks on how the company has adapted its modus operandi to adjust to the overwhelm experienced by travel advisors, and offers advice for them on effective  and efficient selling.

Our series sponsor is Viking, in case you weren't paying attention.

This is a Travel Community Hub production, and more info is available at www.travelcommunityhub.com

Richard's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-taylor-tch
AC's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-catherine-jones-158b3260/

Offloaded is a new podcast for the Australian travel industry, presented by Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine "AC" Jones. 

Leadership and Love - Part 2

Richard and AC are joined again for Part 2 of the interview with AFTA (Australian Federation of Travel Agents) CEO, Dean Long. 

In Part 2 we discuss our industry's impact on government and how that might continue. We also cover the important issue of who in the travel industry knows the most about hot chips. 

AC talks about leave meaning leave, and LIVN (Livn.world) COO Steve Martinez is here to talk about how travel professionals, their groups and online agencies can better employ technology to connect to tours, activities and attractions. 

Our series sponsor is Viking, who have always been supportive and wanted to help get Offloaded up and running. We’re really grateful for their support.  

Offloaded is a new podcast for the Australian travel industry, presented by Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine "AC" Jones. 

“Leadership and Love”

In this opening episode Richard and AC are joined by AFTA (Australian Federation of Travel Agents) CEO, Dean Long. With the arrival of 2023 and the prospect of the first full calendar year of travel since Australian borders reopened, it’s a great time to speak to the leader of the industry’s peak body. 

In this first half of the interview we challenge Dean with some of the perceptions that some have about AFTA, discuss how the pandemic was handled and look at how the association is adapting for the future. 

AC talks kindness, and Collette’s Head of Sales David Farrar dropped by to tell us about the current explosion in demand for small group touring. 

Our series sponsor is Viking, who have always been supportive and wanted to help get Offloaded up and running. We’re really grateful for their support.  

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones present Offloaded, the podcast launched in 2023 that charts the progress of a recovering Australian travel industry.

This is the trailer episode to get things going. AC and Richard introduce themselves and explain the concept of the podcast, to avoid boring you at the start of every episode :)

Offloaded is a Travel Community Hub production. For more information and to sign up for information on these sessions and other good stuff,  visit https://www.travelcommunityhub.com/