March 26, 2026
Sonia Jones discusses winning Most Outstanding Travel Agency Manager at the 2025 National Travel Industry Awards.
Sonia Jones discusses winning Most Outstanding Travel Agency Manager at the 2025 National Travel Industry Awards.
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.
We talk to Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch about Virtuoso’s growth and how it operates in Australia, and why travel advisors will continue to thrive. Matthew also ‘Offloads’ in epic fashion.
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
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.
In the first release from Beyond Borders (BB), this session covers the first hour of and specifically the key areas of focus that will lead the travel industry towards 2030. The project is called A30, and you’ll hear from ATIA CEO Dean Long, Chair Christian Hunter, Vice Chairs Skroo Turner and Danielle Russom, and Director Brett Mitchell.
Offloaded is back for Season Three!
Richard and AC kick things off with James Kavanagh, Flight Centre Travel Group’s Global CEO of Leisure. They dive into leadership, the value of mentors, and FCTG’s big strategies for growing in luxury travel and supporting independent agents.
JK chats 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.
