Australia’s highest profile medical professional, Dr Brendan Murphy, pictured, says he doubts that Australia’s international borders will reopen this year. Dr Murphy acknowledged ABC News Breakfast yesterday it was a “big question” and that “I think that the answer is probably no. “I think that we’ll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions, even […]
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Resort Reviews – Treble Cone and The Remarkables
This is a tale of two South Island NZ ski resorts: Treble Cone and The Remarkables. They are very different but each does their job well with a recent trip confirming that neither actually conforms to their popular stereotype. For example, Treble Cone has a rep that it’s an experts-only mountain, while The Remarkables is […]
Rachel Argaman, CEO, Toga Hotels
A visionary leader who believes in “encouraging the heart,” Rachel is currently the CEO of Toga Hotels. With over 20 years international experience at senior management level in the travel and hospitality industry, Rachel has a passion for creating a results-oriented, responsive and market-driven culture within companies. This is backed by a driving belief that the […]
Booking.com launches new cleanliness standards for short term rentals
Booking.com has decreed that short term or holiday rentals will have to meet a minimum cleanliness standard by May 4, 2021, or have their properties delisted from the world’s biggest online travel agent. “We’re asking partners to commit to a Minimal Cleanliness Score of 6 out of 10,” Booking.com has advised properties. “A property that’s […]
Will Deague, CEO Art Series Hotel Group
William Hunter Deague is the Chief Executive Officer of Asian Pacific Group (APG), the parent company of Australia’s hottest hotel group – Art Series Hotel Group. Educated at Melbourne Grammar, Will holds a Domestic Builders Licence (unlimited) and a private fixed wing and helicopter licence. Joining APBC in 1996, Will worked on a range of […]
Sue Badyari, Chief Executive Officer, World Expeditions
Sue Badyari, is CEO of the World Expeditions Travel Group, operator of small group adventure tours all over the world. World Expeditions is Australia’s longest established adventure travel company and offers more than 500 stand-alone itineraries, escorted by expert leaders and meticulously designed for those travellers who want to take the ‘paths less travelled’. Under […]
AFTA left hanging after Prime Minister promises
Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Darren Rudd appears to have awkwardly misjudged the political climate by prematurely announcing a funding package that has yet to eventuate following a conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Rudd, pictured, who had asked the Federal Government for $250 million emergency funding over 18 months for travel agents, wholesalers […]
Border openings drive car hire bounce back at Hertz
After a tough year in which demand slumped through COVID by up to 90 per cent, Hertz Asia Pacific boss Eoin MacNeill says demand is bouncing back with the car hire giant starting to rebuild its fleet after cutting it by almost 40 per cent during the height of the pandemic. MacNeill says corporate has […]
Booking fees, questions, lawyers and Webjet
Flight booking fees – now eliminated at Zuji and Expedia – appear to be a sensitive topic at Webjet, which charges up to $49.90 in fees to process international airline bookings ($29.95 processing fee, $19.95 price guarantee), and $29.90 for domestic airfares ($19.95 processing fee, $9.95 price guarantee). Lawyer Paul Zawa from Minter Ellison got in touch with TravelTrends.biz on behalf […]
Karthik Siva, Chairman, Global Brand Forum
Karthik is the founding Chairman of the Global Brand Forum, Asia’s most influential Forum for brands, business and leadership described by BBC as the “ Davos of Branding “. Karthik has been responsible for bringing some of the world’s most influential leaders like Al Gore, Francis Ford Coppola, Rudy Giuliani, Dame Anita Roddick, Warren Bennis, […]
Taking the road less travelled – who knew it could be so much fun?
As scenic drives go, the 836km between Sydney and Melbourne along the Hume Highway is, for many people, exciting as a TV test pattern. The sprawling country between Australia’s two largest cities is always dry and the weather hot, with a midday glare that somehow lasts for hours. Sheep, cattle, hills, grass, dirt, rocks, drought. […]
TFE Hotels left with Travelodge COVID quarantine mess, guests evacuated
The reputation of TFE Hotels, one of Australia’s largest accommodation groups, has taken a hit after 366 guests quarantined in the Travelodge Hotel Sydney were last night evacuated by NSW Police who determined that complaints about poor standards of cleanliness and hygiene at the property were valid. Guests, some of whom had had vigorously complained about […]
James Baillie, Co-Founder, Baillie Lodges
James Baillie is a 20-year veteran of high profile Australian luxury lodge properties. Having (almost) grown up on Heron Island, James became the founding managing director for P&O Resorts in the 1998 and steered Australia’s first portfolio of premium experiential properties including Lizard, Bedarra & Wilson Islands and Silky Oaks Lodge. When P&O sold to […]
Hertz cuts Australian fleet by 40%, calls for border openings, launches #backontheroad
Hertz wants to get Australia moving again. Eoin Macneill, Vice President, Hertz Asia Pacific, today called on Australian governments to start opening borders and encouraging travel, revealing a lack of demand has forced the car rental giant to cut its Australian rental fleet by 40 per cent, from 35,000 vehicles to an estimated 20,000 sedans, […]
Geoff McGeary, Founder, Australian Pacific Touring
The McGeary family have owned Australian Pacific Touring – APT – since it was founded as De Luxe Motors in 1927 when Geoff’s father, Bill, built a bus body on a tray truck to cover part of the tram route during a tram strike in Melbourne. The company made steady progress until 1961 when Bill […]
Travel back to (almost) normal by 2024
Macquarie Research has brought forward its travel industry recovery profile by 6-9 months due to the rollout of global vaccines in its latest analysis of the Flight Centre business. “We forecast 85% Total Turnover Value recovery (of pre COVID-19 levels) in FY24 (FY21: 30% recovery, FY22: 55%, FY23: 75%), with more emphasis expected on domestic […]