November news

The UK is having a very tough time with political turmoil in the government and inflation increasing to over 10%.  This is exacerbated by the fuel shortage due to the conflict in Ukraine causing huge increases in gas/electricity rates along with petrol/diesel.  All the more reason to go on holiday ASAP!  It is much the same across Europe, but all agents are reporting being busy still. 

World Travel Market was very well attended and had a great positive feel to it as travel bounces back strongly.  There was no attendance from Tourism New Zealand or Tourism Australia but many agents that deal with NZ/Oz were there and keen to catch up and hear what is going on.  Great networking and meetings with agents from UK/Scandi and CEU.

Tourism Australia also had their ‘Marketplace’ this month with a fantastic turnout by agents.  I had 51 meetings plus a few catch-ups during breaks.  Just great to see everyone again.

The lack of staff is still a conversation that is everywhere, agents are short of staff, so are airlines, airports, and hotels so bookings are taking a very long time to get confirmed.

Tourism New Zealand ran two fam trips in November for UK/EU agents.  One was for product managers which had 6 staff and 2 hosts from TNZ UK and the other was for front-line sales staff with 10 staff going.

There was also the New Zealand tourism awards with Altitude Tours winning https://www.altitudetours.co.nz/tourism-award-winner/