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As Henry Kissinger said, “A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.” COVID-19 has certainly added an unprecedented amount of pressure on the travel industry, yet our personal travel managers have come back swinging, launching and advertising exciting travel products for both international and domestic travel. While some personal travel managers have enhanced and developed new international travel products in preparation of the borders re-opening, others have turned their sights stateside, helping fellow Australians discover the beauty our country has to offer.
Here are just some of the exciting initiatives launched by our personal travel managers in 2020.
During COVID-19, like most of us, I have had many up’s and down’s; most days struggling to face the day ahead. Back in April and May, I started to rethink what I could do to help get through these hard times and started upskilling so that I could promote domestic experiences.
My passion for walking tours led me to work with local suppliers to help Australians leave the big cities and connect with locals whilst exploring the beauty that surrounds us. My selection of Australian walking tours explores some of our country’s most beautiful and diverse landscapes, including Tasmania’s Bay of Fires, the Three Capes and the Tasman Peninsula, the Larapinta Trail, the Jatbula Trail and Kakadu National Park.
I am glad to say the hard work and resilience is paying off, with lots of interest in these tours. These are hard times I know, but seeing my clients enjoy these walks reignited my passion for the love of travel and inspired me to keep on going.
Disneyland Resort California is my favourite destination. I consider Walt Disney an inspiration and someone who strived for his dreams – Disneyland Resort California is living proof of that. It is somewhere you can let go of your worries, spend quality time with friends and family and create memories that last a lifetime.
With over 80 days spent at the Disney Parks myself, I started to become aware of certain tips and tricks that help make your day even more special. From arriving at Rope Drop to sitting in the back row of Splash Mountain, I knew I wanted to share these with my clients.
From this idea, I created my Magic Happens Here product. COVID-19 has given me the time to be able to work on this part of my business, which specialises purely on Disney travel. Within six months I have joined forces with Michelle Pelley. Michelle is a fabulous personal travel manager and shares my passion for Disney. Even with the current COVID-19 climate, between us, we have managed to double our Facebook followers, design and create product branding, flyers, gift boxes, a website and tour brochures, putting in place the building blocks for when travel resumes. To me, this is the silver lining to COVID-19. Michelle and I have been able to put in countless hours to continue building our dream.
My heart is for Mother India, and with my small group tours, I aim to share its colours, flavours, sights, sounds and spotlight beautiful people that call India home. When travelling home after my last group trip, we landed back in Sydney on the weekend of Australia’s closure. Just in the nick of time! We were SO SO LUCKY to have experienced the previous 23 days before the world and the gorgeous Taj Mahal shut down.
During the downturn of the travel industry, I have found a new world of Kundalini yoga and meditation, joining a daily class each morning to sow the seeds of appreciating life, breath and our energy within. The benefits of this practice have been a deep connection of vitality and wellbeing, increased positive energy and control and reduction in stress. I am developing a four-day group session in May of 2021 within Australia and will perhaps follow with another group tour to incredible India from the mountains in the north to Varanasi in the south (pending border openings of course). This new avenue in life has been created from the ashes of COVID-19. With every negative, there is a positive.
My goal is to come into your life and shine a bright light with a smile and love! I want to make you feel fabulous and on top of the world, if only for a moment. I am looking forward to doing this through my tours again soon.
This year, COVID-19 has led me to rediscover the incredible beauty and diversity of Australia. With my attention now set on domestic travel, I recently organised a ‘Mothers and Kids’ getaway for September’s school holidays. I had 14 mothers and 26 kids aged from 5-15 years spend a few days in Tangalooma. I designed an action-packed itinerary with fun activities that both the mothers and kids enjoyed. We had a guided snorkel tour of the Tangalooma Wrecks, ATV quad-biking adventure, a desert safari tour with sand tobogganing and a scavenger hunt. In between all these activities, the kids enjoyed the pool and beach while the mums had time to relax.
Usually, in September’s school holidays I am sending clients to the USA, Europe, Fiji and Vietnam. Tangalooma provided an opportunity for a planned getaway where all my clients had to do was show up.
Like many Australians, I always said that I will travel around Australia ‘later’. Well, this is later and it’s time to explore our backyard. I am now putting together some suggested itineraries and group trips including multi-day walks, wine tasting and staying at hidden gems to really explore what we have here.
TravelManagers Australia is a network of home-based personal travel managers that are here to make your next holiday a wonderful experience. True to our slogan, each personal travel manager has the freedom to let their individuality shine, each possessing their own unique set of interests, offerings and expertise. But when it comes to personalised holidays, no matter what you’re looking for, your personal travel manager will work closely with you to create a tailor-made trip that’s as individual as you are.
We at Travel Managers Australia recognise the traditional owners of the country where we live and work. We recognise and celebrate the diversity of Indigenous people and their enduring cultures and connections to the land and waters of New South Wales.
