- AOT Group

AOT GROUP NEWSLETTER
Issue three—December 2007
Happy Christmas!
Where did it go? 2007 I am
talking about……
Well, Christmas is just
around the corner and it
seems only yesterday that
we all gathered together in
Brisbane for ATE!
This is the last edition of the AOT
NEWS for 2007 and I trust you will
enjoy some light reading.
It has been a great year at AOT, not
just because we turned 20, but because
it has been a record year in all areas! I
would like to take this opportunity on behalf of
Andrew, myself, the Directors, Management and
all staff to THANK you for your support to all of
our divisions during 2007.
We look forward to a FANTASTIC 2008 which
we hope will be stronger and better than even
2007 which has been a record year for AOT.
As many of you have kindly provided generous
support to our educational packages which have
been drawn at the various AOT divisions’ Xmas
parties, may we just say once again THANK
YOU. A full list of the lucky winners will be
published in the next edition of the AOT News.
Inside this issue:
AOT Inbound
2
AOT Holidays
11
Australian Online
Travel
14
AOT People
15
Kind regards,
Managing Director - AOT Inbound
Please do not hesitate to send us some feedback on this new
publication by emailing aotnews@aotgroup.com.au
AOT Inbound News
page two
AOT FAMIL UPDATE
The AOT Famil program has been a
huge success in 2007. There have been
an unprecedented amount of famils,
which have had great benefits to all
involved. Not only does getting out of
the office for a few days do great things
for morale, but it allows for a bit of
battery recharging (although, I‘m not
sure how much recharging happens on
our famils!)
The Famils give our staff an all
important refresher on the great
products we sell and allow us to meet
up with the people we are dealing with
on a day to day basis. It‘s also a great
reminder as to why we love working in
this industry.
A fantastic selection of destinations
were included in the last few months.
There was Darwin at the beginning of
September followed by Sydney (04 - 07
October), Great Barrier Reef (25 - 28
October) and Far North Queensland
(22 - 25 November).
DARWIN & TOP
END FAMIL
At the beginning of September a lucky few got
to escape the chilly Melbourne weather and
head north to the Top End, for some good all
round Territory hospitality. The participants
were: Lyna Lam, Hanh Trinh, Heather Barling,
Isabelle Cameron, (Reservations), Richelle
McLeod, Cheryl Ahyick-Wong, Vicki Malcher
(Product / Contracting), Jill Jaspers, Tracey
Cuyos (Groups) and Angela Failla (Customer
Service).
The group started out in Darwin and were able
to visit a plethora of hotels but were then able
to relax on a city s/s with Darwin Day tours and
also a sunset dinner cruise with Sailing Adventures (thanks to NT Tourism!)
From the big smoke of Darwin it was off bush
into Kakadu with APT for a two day tour.
Points have to go to the guide, he had his stuff
to say - even when some of them were trying to
sleep, how dare he?! But he was definitely given
the thumbs up! The group enjoyed a Yellow
As part of our policy at AOT, the
participants must complete a report at
the end of each famil that is then sent
out to all staff. The reports are very
comprehensive with a lot of images and
reviews. They become handy tools in
getting updates thus allowing all staff to
get the
latest images of hotels,
restaurants, tours etc.
We will be continuing on with this
program into 2008 and thank you - the
suppliers for your continual support!
We think she is
having a good
time? Vicki Malcher (GM Product), left, has a
bit of a squint,
but this is most
likely the sun.
Looking a lot
more serene is
Cheryl
Waters Cruise before heading off to Waradjan Cultural Centre. The highlight on
the second day appears to by the Guluyambi Cruise on East Alligator River, with
another great guide (Roman). Considering the time of the year, the group was
actually able to see a lot of wildlife and more unfortunately, able to experience an
endless onslaught of flies and mozzies! It all was worth it though!
The group travelled back to Darwin and had a half night‘s ‗rest‘ before having to
catch the Red Eye back to Melbourne (flights should not be allowed to depart
any location at 02.35 am!!)
A big thanks goes out to Tourism NT, Sita Coaches, Darwin Airport Shuttle,
Novotel Atrium, Crowne Plaza, Darwin Day Tours, Holiday Inn Esplanade, APT
(with accommodation at Aurora Kakadu) and Travelodge Mirambeena for providing tours, transfers, beds and food!
Give me an A,
give me an O,
give me a T!
Working the
AOT spirit (left)
at Ubirr.
The beautiful
lookout at Nourlangie Rock, with
the lovely
Tracey, Angela,
Cheryl and Jill
(from left - right)
AOT Inbound News
page three
SYDNEY FAMIL
The following day, after Bridge Climb, some of the hotel
inspections kicked off in around the Rocks area, such as Old
Sydney Holiday Inn and Harbour Rocks hotel.
Dinner for the evening was hosted by Captain Cook cruises.
The next day there was a morning city s/s tour with
Mount‘n‘Beach Safaris, more Hotel inspections, free time at
the Rocks Market (Free time! Wow!) and a tour at the Sydney Opera House.
Tastebuds and stomachs were looked after at Wolfies Bar
and Grill before heads hit the pillow.
Before their departure flight late in the afternoon the following day, the group was pushed through a lot more hotels
(just so they wouldn‘t relax too much!) Of course there
was a breakfast here and a lunch there in between properties and then back to the airport and homeward bound.
Aah, yes, what would a famil to Sydney be without the Bridge Climb!
From the 4 - 7th October, Shelley Lynch, Julie Stevens, (Database) Azra
Aganovic, Natalie Mastroianni, Christen Searle, Anh Vo, Marita Maldal
(Reservations) Mei Liang, (BDM China), Emma Apsey, (Financial Services)
and Angela Failla (Customer Service) climbed to the top and back down
again, traipsed all over the city, wined and dined and generally had a great
time! Their stay kicked off to a great start, cocktails (it was the evening)
and dinner at 360 Bar and Dining followed by an overnight at the Shangri
La.
A big thanks goes out to the suppliers and Tourism NSW
for looking after the group. Those suppliers who provided
tours, accommodation, food and beverages were: Bar 360
and Dining, Shangri-La, Bridgeclimb, Harbour Rocks Hotel,
Captain Cook Cruises, Mountnbeach, Amora Jamison, Sydney Opera House, Wolfies Bar and Grill, Four Seasons Hotel, Sofitel Wentworth, Murrays and Sita Coaches!
GREAT BARRIER REEF FAMIL
Well, the pictures say it all really. Lots of
smiles with the picturesque islands in the
background, lounging on a private yacht
and feeling so relaxed that one falls into
slumber! (Mel, Reservations)
The group was in the region from the 25 28 October. Participants were Lisa
Modica, Sharna Crosbie, Wendy Blackwell
(Groups) Jennifer Robb, Michelle LesterSmith (Product & Content) Melanie
Hobbs, Glenda Winkler, Heather Barling
it!). After ‗slogging‘ it out on Whitehaven, the group flew back to Hamilton
to get the launch across to Hayman to
relax and enjoy their last day and soak
up the luxurious environment before
returning to Melbourne.
As Famils go, this one really was very
leisurely, although I don‘t believe
‗stress‘ or ‗fast paced‘ exists in the
Whitsundays!
Big thanks to Fantasea, Daydream IsLisa Chard and Rob Guest (Reservations). land, Whitsunday Rent a Yacht, Whitsunday Transit, Best Western Mango
First stop was Daydream Island (after arriving directly into Hamilton). After cruis- House, Coral Sea Resort, Hamilton
Island Aviation, Hayman Island and Sita
ing over to Daydream with Fantasea, the
Coaches.
group enjoyed some free time on the island to ease into the Famil!
The next morning started with their yacht
charter to Airlie Beach. Here they embarked on a number of site inspections
before enjoying sometime on Fantasea‘s
Ammari. The group then overnight in
Airlie Beach.
It was then back to Hamilton Island for
inspections and then a lunch date on
Whitehaven island (someone's gotta do
AOT Inbound News
page four
TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND FAMIL
This sun loving famil took place from the 22nd - 25th November
and was, like all of the other famils, a resounding success. 8 lucky
AOT Team members got to experience the best of TNQ, including
Peggy Pei (Accounts Payable), Richelle McLeod, Jennifer Robb
(Product) Karen Au-Yeung, Tracey Cuyos
(Groups), Laura Newman, Vivienne Kalogeropoulos (Reservations)
and Kelly Beaver (Customer Service).
The group flew up to Cairns and were whisked straight up to Thala
Beach for some lunch. After relaxing and getting enough energy
for the afternoon, the group continued onto Port Douglas for a big
afternoon session of hotel inspections. They covered a lot of
ground, but were rewarded at the end with a swim at the Sheraton
Mirage before enjoying their dinner and overnight stay.
The next day was a full day tour with Quicksilver. Weather was perfect and the
group had a ball. As you can see here (left) Peggy was making sure her hair do was
left in tact whilst walking around under water and talking to the friendly fish.
The evening dinner was a roaming one - a progressive dinner through Palm Cove.
The group started at Peppers Beach Club and Spa for entrée, onto Sebel Reef House
for the main and for dessert, they ventured down to the Angsana Resort and Spa - a
good way to justify eating 3 courses with a stroll in between each one!
Down Under Tours looked after the group the next day with an exclusive tour to
Kuranda, incorporating Kuranda Rail (Gold class, pictured left), Hartley‘s Crocodile
Farm and Skyrail. Afterwards, the group was transferred back to Cairns for one
more night‘s accommodation, at the Lakes Cairns.
Before departing the following day, they hit the Cairns hotels for some more whirlwind site inspections.
Thanks goes out to all suppliers for being involved in this famil, particularly those who
hosted meals, accommodation and tours such as, Thala Beach Lodge, Sun Palm Express, Sheraton Mirage, Rydges Sabaya Resort, Quicksilver Connections, Novotel
Rockford Palm Cove, Peppers Beach Club and Spa, Sebel Reef House, Angsana Resort
and Spa, Down Under Tours, The Lakes Resort Cairns, Cairns Colonial Club and Sita
coaches Melbourne.
A night out with TOGA
On Thursday evening the 18th October Toga Hospitality kindly hosted a progressive dinner for AOT Inbound.
We visited 3 Toga properties in Melbourne - the Medina Executive
Northbank, Vibe Hotel Savoy and the Travelodge Southbank enjoying either
entrée, main course and dessert at each property. As a nice little surprise
Toga also organised a visit to the Eureka Skydeck 88 as part of the evening!
We would like to thank Toga for their great hospitality and also APT for providing transport on the evening. It was a great night and thoroughly enjoyed
by all who attended.
AOT Inbound News
page five
AOT INBOUND OPERATIONS
Tanya Bitomsky
General Manager
Inbound FIT Opera-
Angela Failla
Heather Barling
Team Leader
Customer Service
Laura Newman
Team Leader
Ulrike Boegle
Team Leader
Kelly Beaver
Tom Burrows
Documentation
Emily South
Future Team Leader
(FTL)
Future Team Leader
(FTL)
Customer Service
Co-ordinator
Sara Henry
Customer Service
Co-ordinator
Future Team Leader
(FTL)
Reservations
Reservations
Team 1
Team 2
Snr Res Consultants
Team 3
Snr Res Consultants
Snr Res Consultants
Res Consultants
Overseas Implant
Reservations
Res Consultants
Res Consultants
Overseas Implant
Overseas Implant
A SPECIAL HELLO TO YOU FROM AOT INBOUND OPERATIONS
Above is an updated version of the Operations Department organizational chart, just
to keep you in the loop as to who is who.
We have amended the titles of staff to
bring it more into line and make them
more appropriate to the role at hand.
we continue to strive for perfection and
efficiency. Your support in assisting us
achieving this is of paramount importance!
We have been auditing our turnaround
times to ensure that we provide our overseas clients the service they expect. In a
world of immediate confirmation and
online capabilities, it is essential for us to
be able to turn around on request bookings the same day we receive them.
They are bracing themselves for a bumper
booking season, commencing in January
and continuing until the end of March
(normally!) Considering the excellent
number of bookings we have been receiving in recent times, we could be in for a big
We appreciate that the nature of our busifew months - so get ready for our onness is a relatively long lead time, however,
slaught! AOT Inbound is proud to continue to be the leading ITO in Australia and this does not mean that we can wait longer
an itinerary only, which will detail all services and inclusions such as date of service, room type, meals, pick up & drop off
Just a friendly reminder about voucher less of tours and supplier contact details. It will
travel. We advised in the September edi- also be noted that the services are booked
tion that we would be rolling this out and and payable through AOT Inbound. Open
three major clients, DUA, Travelbag and
dated services will continue to be
Pleasant have gone voucher less, so please vouchered. The itineraries will include the
ensure that all of your staff have been up- AOT Booking Reference number at all
dated on this. Here is a brief ‗rendition‘ of times.
what we advised in September:
―These passengers will be travelling with
AOT will accept liability for these book-
VOUCHERLESS TRAVEL
for the reply. We ask for your support in
putting a system in place whereby our ON
REQUEST reservations (which we start
sending out as early as 7am each morning)
are actioned and responded to by 4pm the
same day. Your cooperation in assisting us
to deliver this service to our common clients is greatly appreciated.
Please do not hesitate to contact our General Manager Operations FIT Inbound
(Tanya Bitomsky) if you have any questions
or if you‘d like to discuss the best ways to
work through achieving a faster turnaround.
ings and no voucher is required when
sending through your invoice. The AOT
Booking Reference number remains a
compulsory reference to action payments.
Can you please pass this information on to
your front line staff to ensure passengers
have no issues when checking in/joining
tours. Please advise us
(product@aot.com.au) if your company
has any other requirements for voucherless travel.‖
AOT Inbound News
page six
GO AUSTRALIA AND HOLIDAY HOUSE ARE EXCITED
ABOUT EUREKA SKYDECK!
The excited groups above are from Go Australia (left) and Holiday House (right) along with John Murphy (Sales and Marketing Manager—Eureka Skydeck 88)
Go Australia, located in South Africa, recently completed a 10 day famil visiting Far North Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne (29SEP08OCT). Angela Cooper the Product Manager for Australia & New Zealand brought out 7 agents. These pictures were taken from
Eureka Skydeck 88 in Melbourne. The worlds only edge experience! A glass cube which projects 3 metres out from the building, with
you in it - suspended almost 300 metres above the ground! The participants were: Angela Cooper, Michelle Smith, Amadea Groenewald, Jeanette Jordaan, Karen Adams, Lorraine Potterill, Angela Cawood and Althia-Leizle Damons
Holiday House are located in Canada There were 10 participants on the famil from a variety of Travel Agencies involved with Holiday
House (note, not all participants are shown in the photo) - Alicia Berlinger (Calgary Coop Travel), Julie Bekdashe (AMA Travel), Renee
Herman (AMA Travel), Bonnie Kamstra (Port Coquitlam Travel), Janice Duval (Advantage Mountain City Travel), Naomi Yahav
(Uniglobe Whytecliff Travel), Ellen Vanderkooy (Vision 2000 Travel Group), Lesley Howlder (Carol Marshall Travel) and Carol Vahlbruch (Directo) Holiday House South Pacific. The group spent 4 days in Melbourne visiting all of our most renowned sites, including a
full day tour to Ballarat, Phillip Island. the Yarra Valley and a dinner on the Tram Car (just to mention a few!)
MY
PLANET
WINS OZCAR!
My Planet (Denmark) recently won the OzCar
award in the category of
best Nordic catalogue.
The Judges concluded that
the brochure has an excellent use of detailed maps,
is vibrant, colourful and
appealing. They obviously
liked the first hand experiences and testimonials
given by staff throughout
the brochure, along with the
strong use of experiential imagery
and excellent use of engaging language. Well done My Planet!
Pictured left is Bente Hammer
(Product Manager My Planet) receiving the award from Mary
Mourgelay (Tourism Australia)
MEET THE TEAM OF
DREAMTIME TRAVEL
On September 01 Dreamtime Travel celebrated it's 10th anniversary with an Open Day for clients and a party with friends in
the evening. Pictured here from left to right are:
Stephanie Mohn (Sales), Dominic Eckert (Managing Director),
David Meier (Junior), Martina Gäumann (Product Manager) and
Chantal Jetzer (Sales)
AOT Inbound News
page seven
UPDATE FROM HOTELPLAN ITALY
Well, we‘d like to think that our friends at Hotelplan Italy (Milan) are a
happy bunch, but this photo (above) doesn‘t seem that convincing! It
was sent to us from Paola Broggini (Product Department) and she advised that on this particular day, they had a Sicilian Party in the office,
eating cakes from the best cake shop from Palermo and drinking (in
Paola‘s words) ―a very flavoured wine‖, otherwise known as ‗Passito di
Pantelleria‘. I don‘t know about you, but I‘m not rushing out to get this
wine, it didn‘t seem to leave a good impression on everyone!
Pictured in this photo are: Elio Casati, who had been working with
Qantas for 32 years. Sonia Palmeri, VIP Department. Chiara Perazzoli,
the new Reservations Supervisor who will take over from Carla Falomi
when she goes on maternity leave in February 2008. Carla Falomi
(Orange Sweater), the current Reservations Supervisor and Assistant
Product Manager. Laura Morelli, a new member to the team who came
to the department after working in the South Africa Reservations department. Nunzia Curro, VIP Department and Elena Carpinella, Reservations.
Pictured left is an invitation
Hotelplan Italy recently sent
out to their major Travel
Agents in Rome to talk to them
about the benefits of the Aussie
Specialist program. They put on
a breakfast workshop in collaboration with Tourism Australia, Tourism Queensland and
Tourism Victoria and the event
was a success. 13 of the Top
Top (as advised by Paola!) attended this two hour presentation and they found it to be
very beneficial.
INTRODUCING - Mr. Emmer Guerra
Mr Emmer Guerra is a new area Manager for Australia, New
Zealand, French Polynesia and South Pacific at Hotelplan Italy.
He is not new to the industry, prior to his current position he
was in charge of Australian Product Department at Viaggidea.
He will be working together with Paola Broggini who remains
the supervisor for the Product Department. The team is excited to have Emmer on board, considering his knowledge on all
destinations. This appointment will only reinforce the role of
Hotelplan as a key player in the Italian market for the Australian
and Pacific destinations.
REASONS TO DREAM ABOUT AUSTRALIA AND LEAVE THE ITALIAN AUTUMN BEHIND
Below is an extract from an article in the
Corriere Della Sera (Italy‘s most important
newspaper) from Journalist Beppe Severgnini. - who is one of Italy‘s most popular.
6.
Thanks to Paola for sending this through
Leave behind the sad and complicated Italian
Autumn. Here are the things I liked about
Australia:
1.
Sydney Harbour from the Hotel
room. It‘s like a postcard
2.
Indian-Pacific train. I would never
have thought that it would be so nice
to look at an empty landscape changing colour.
3.
Cook, an outback town with 2 inhabitants. I saw two signs
there…‘Closest petrol station and
grocery shop 850 km‘ and ‗Our hospital needs you, please get sick!‘
4.
Melbourne - Luna Park (St. Kilda).
It‘s like you‘re in England without the
English!
5.
Canberra‘s new Parliament house
designed by a young Italian architect
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Aldo Giurola
Canberra (Australia‘s capital city).
Australian people make fun of it, but I
spent 3 nights there and liked it.
Most likely no Italian has ever stayed
there that long before.
Italian Australians. They arrived to
Australia in the 1950s, worked hard
and are now well respected
Little Creatures in WA. Sauvignon
Blanc in SA
Thongs, the Aussie interpretation of
formal!
The west Australian coast and the
Pinnacles
The lush green colour of Eucalyptus.
It matches perfectly with the red
earth and the blue sky
Aussie, Oz, Down Under, Wallabies:
Australian people like to give everything a nickname. They have got
their own expressions such as instead of saying ‗you are welcome‘ or
‗not at all‘ or ‗please‘ they say ―no
worries‖. It‘s more than an expres-
sion, rather it‘s a way of life!
13.
The sun pointing north at midday
14.
Vegemite
15.
16.
Aboriginal paintings and maps.
Saloon Bar in Kalgoorlie. Skympies
(waitresses) serve clients wearing
almost nothing at all. Miners are very
excited about this, but Italians aren‘t
very impressed, it‘s just like watching
Italian television!
Politics. Politicians speak about facts
and projects for the future rather
than talking about people and their
past
Fatalism. A sign on Cottosloe beach
read ‗If there are sharks you see their
fin. If you do not see fins around you
can swim‘. Australians are lucky because sharks in Italy have 2 legs instead of fins and they smile at everyone but you would never suspect
who they are. (Translators note: referring to Mafia!) So by the time we
Italians realise who they are we are
already in trouble!!!
17.
18.
AOT Inbound News
page eight
UPDATE FROM TRAVEL 2 & TRAVELBAG
TRAVEL 2 AND TRAVELBAG May 2007 (which means that travel agents
can now call Travel 2 at no cost to themSTAFF CHANGES
selves); new account managers on our travel
We‘re sad to announce the departure of
Robin Russell-Pavier, who many of you will
have spoken to during the last few months.
Robin had been assisting us on a temporary
basis and was invaluable in keeping with rest
of the team happy (and sane) during our
busy brochure production period! Julian
Lawman has recently joined the team as
Product Manager for Australia, New Zealand
and The South Pacific, and will be working
closely with Emma Viney (Assistant Product
Manager) and Anna West (Product Executive) in order to further develop our programmes to the region. He brings some
fantastic experience to the team, having
worked at Travel 2 for five years already most recently covering a maternity leave
position as Senior Product Manager and
prior to this as Product Manager for the
USA and Canada. He‘s looking forward to
working with you all and to meeting you in
the near future. The product team wouldn‘t
be complete with a mention of our Ground
Product Support staff in Glasgow, who provide us with fantastic support for all our dayto-day operational and administrative issues
- our team ‗north of the border‘ comprises
of Neil Redpath, William McQuade and Eileen Donn. Finally, our e-mail addresses
have changed in line with our new parent
company ownership and so we can now all
b e
r e a c h e d
o n
firstname.lastname@stellatravel.co.uk
agency sales team; and the huge improvement in our on-line booking capabilities and
instant availability - following the development of host-to-host systems technology
with AOT.
NEW AUSTRALIA BROCHURE 08/09 OUT NOW!
Pictured above, Julian Lawman with the winning trophy at the Star Awards - for Best
Independent Operator to Australasia
TRAVEL 2 - TRAVEL AGENT
AUSTRALIA WORKSHOPS
Travel 2 is organising one of the most comprehensive travel agent events of the year,
four full-day workshops aimed at improving
our travel agents‘ knowledge of Australia.
The workshops will be held in early December in venues across the country - with
events planned for London, Birmingham,
Glasgow and Manchester. Attended by a
number of key suppliers from Australia, representing tourist boards, destinations, hotels
and attractions, the events aim to offer a
comprehensive introduction to Australia,
together with the chance for each supplier
to speak with every agent for 15 minutes.
Mantra Hotels will be sponsoring free massages for any agents that arrive stressed to
get them into that chilled Aussie frame of
mind and fantastic prizes on offer will include places on an exclusive 2008 fam trip
being put together in conjunction with our
partners, Qantas Airlines. We‘ve had a
great agent response to the workshops
(some events are looking like they will be
over-subscribed) and so we will be planning
to run these again in 2008. We know that
many of you would like the opportunity to
take part, so to register you interest now
please e-mail Travel 2‘s very own Training
Events Co-ordinator, Rachel McKay at
Rachel.mckay@travel2.com and copy in
julian.lawman@stellatravel.co.uk
Travel 2 and Travelbag have recently
launched our first ever dedicated brochure..
Please make a note of this.
Kind regards - Dagmar Marrocco, Senior Just for Australia! With all due respect to
our Kiwi friends and suppliers, we felt that
Product Manager (Australasia & Asia)
the two rival destinations should no longer
have to share the limelight (hey, we know
how well you guys get on with each other!!)
TRAVEL 2 and more importantly both countries are
AWARD WINNERS!
now so well established on the UK market
that they can easily justify having their own
brochures. The new 164 page brochure for
Travel 2 may only be celebrating their ‗silver‘
Australia is packed with great holiday ideas
25th anniversary year, but we‘ve scooped
including new properties in Kings Canyon,
the ‗gold‘ prize at this year‘s Star Awards,
Port Douglas and Hamilton Island and new
winning the title of Best independent Operatouring ideas across the country including
tor to Australasia! The award is voted for
Fraser Island and the Great Ocean Road.
by the readers of ‗Travel Bulletin‘ magazine,
To see how your product is presented in
which is aimed at UK travel agents. It‘s a
the new brochure, visit the website
fantastic achievement for Travel 2 and great
www.travel2.com and then on the brochure
recognition that the many changes we have
download page for each relevant geographic Kind regards, Julian Lawman
implemented this year have been well received by our agency partners. Some of the area.
most popular initiatives have included the
launch of ‗freephone‘ telephone numbers in
AOT Inbound News
page nine
NEWS & ‘GOSSIP’ FROM AUSTRAVEL
Nikki Venning, Product Executive
(Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific &
Japan) has sent us this update from the UK.
in Harlow and we hope to spend a lot more
time with her now we have the brochure
production out of the way!!
Alison Hampton
had her baby
(Oliver Mark) on
the 23rd September, weighing
in at 6 pounds &
8 ounces - here
is a photo of the
cute little guy!
And finally, Liz Lunnon, Karen Joyce and I
are now looking forward to a break at
Christmas for some much deserved time off
to rest and rejuvenate and gear ourselves up
for 2008!
At Austravel, we have been very busy over
the last few months with brochure production and we are now awaiting the delivery of
our brochures which will be launched on the
6th December. Here are the fantastic fresh
looking brochures that will be promoting
Australia and New Zealand.
Karmela Rapata - the AOT Implant currently
working at Austravel, is doing a brilliant job
Pictured above, cutting the
‗brochure‘ cake is Karen Joyce
(Orange top), Nikki Venning (cutting
the cake) and Liz Lunnon
UPDATE FROM DOWN UNDER
ANSWERS
Here is the latest news from Kerryn
Cook at Down Under Answers!
DOWN UNDER ANSWERS CELEBRATES OUR 15TH ANNIVERSARY
This year Down Under Answers is celebrating our 15th Birthday. To help celebrate we
have organised a special 15th Anniversary
celebration in Seattle - 25 - 27 January 2008.
This invitation is open to any of our supplier
partners to come and celebrate our success
with a Seattle Weekend of fun networking.
Our top 25 travel agents and all of our staff
will be in town for the weekend and we‘ve
got plenty of wonderful events planned including a welcome cocktail party at the Seattle Art Museum, open marketplace training
session, top motivational speakers from the
creators of ―Fish‖ and a gala dinner on the
Saturday evening. There are several levels of
sponsorship available and we‘d love to have
you here to help launch our new 2008/2009
Travel Planner and celebration of our 15
years! - email Kerryn Cook for details - Kerryn@duatravel.com or Jillian Barrow
jillian@duatravel.com
STAFFING
As you may have read in the last edition of
the AOT Supplier Newsletter, Amber Cum-
mings (ex Product Executive at AOT) has
joined the DUA team as Product Manager
and is settling in nicely to Seattle. She has
her first ski trip planned in January. Amber
can be reached at amber@duatravel.com
Sue-Ann Hime recently celebrated her 10th
year with Down Under Answers - we organised a surprise afternoon tea party for
her and to say thank you have given her a
trip to Europe and some nice spending cash.
Most of you would have met Sue-Ann over
the years, she is a dedicated, loyal hard
working team player and we look forward
to another 10 years together. See our November Insights newsletter for a quick interview we did with Sue-Ann.
INSIGHTS - Our monthly travel trade
e-newsletter
We hope that you are receiving our newsletter each month. Insights offers product
updates and highlights, specials, special
newsworthy stats or events and much
more. If you would like to submit information to the newsletter or you would like to
be added to our database, please contact
Kerryn Cook - Kerryn@duatravel.com - we
love hearing from you!
TRAVEL PLANNER 0809
Our new Travel planner will be out midDecember and for our supplier partners that
are listed in the brochure, a copy will be sent
to you by February. The Travel Planner is
our biggest ever - with 162 pages of wonderful city stays, boutique hotels, touring and
itineraries to inspire our travellers.
NEW CAMPAIGNS & INITIATIVES
Just a quick recap on some of the stuff we
have on:
Aussie Week campaign - to start in January,
these 7 night packages focus on the gateway
cities of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. A
marketing budget of over $2 million will be
spent on print/tv/online media
New Zealand campaign - focuses on the low
season of April and May. Each wholesaler
involved in the campaign will develop their
own packages based on themes such as food
and wine, outdoor adventures, nature &
scenery and culture. Campaign starts in
January as well.
AOT Inbound News
page ten
THE LATEST FROM FTI
As advised by Dietmar Schulz (Senior Product
Manager), FTI has commenced a strong Australian Marketing push with top agents, that incorporates a specific flyer (see left) and also shop
front decorations. It‘s created great interest
and as advised in December, there had already
been 434 orders for the FTI decorations! Way
to go FTI!
FTI offers this as a free service to those who
order the ‗Decoration Package‘ and it is to be
delivered to the travel agencies for them to
have in shop windows by Christmas time. The
main supporters of this promotion (who are
also included in the flyer) are listed below.
The Flyer provides the agent / customer with
travel and itinerary ideas, information on
camper hire and specials to North Queensland
and the Northern Territory.
though, it is noted that the biggest
danger is becoming addicted to
Australia!
There are a number of driving
tours that are suggested (that incorporate their main theme of
either Nth Queensland or the
Northern Territory) along with
selected hotels and day tour opThe information provided covers the basics on tions. Such a brochure and proweather, best time to travel, the Australian motion could only have success in
people and dangers such as snakes etc - al- getting more Germans to Aussie
shores!
FACES OF FTI GERMANY
We also welcome to the world a new ‘FTI’ Baby - Baby
Sophie is daughter to Verena Heigl (FTI Austria).
Sophie was born on the 18th November, weighed in at
3800 grams and was 51.5 cm tall. Both Mother and baby
(and father) are doing well, as this lovely photo shows.
Pictured above are our FTI Germany Product friends - it‘s always
great to get an update of the people we are working with and see
their faces. Here we have (from left to right)
Sonja Grether (Product Manager), Alexandra Reich (Assistant
Product Manager) Karin Schuldes (Product Manager) and Dietmar
P Schulz (Senior Product Manager)
AOT Holidays News
page eleven
NEWS FROM
AOT HOLIDAYS STAR NIGHT
Our last STAR night for 2007 was recently held at The Fox Hotel in Brisbane, where Santa and
his helpers made a guest appearance. Our Star Nights recognise our top performing Reservations Staff. Special thanks to our sponsor, Stella Resorts Group. Pictured here are:
(Above left) Santa and his Helpers aka The Three Amigos – Paul Wilcox GM Operations, Leanne
Chard, GM Product Development, Hugh Houston, GM Sales & Marketing – AOT Holidays
(Above right) Hayley Metcalfe, Carissa Stagg, Paz Murillo (Product Development), Richard
Greaves (Operations) at the Star Night.
(Left) Naughty looking elves - Taryn Flint and Bianca Willams
AOT HOLIDAYS SHINES AT THE HWT CONFERENCE
Steve Voakes, Susan Haberle, Hugh Houston,
Mary-Anne Guest
Hugh Houston, GM Sales &
Marketing, AOT Holidays
Hugh Houston, Mary-Anne Guest, Susan
Haberle, Steve Voakes
AOT Holidays were out in full force at the recent HWT International Conference held in Adelaide. Hugh Houston, General Manager
Sales & Marketing and Susan Haberle, National Sales Manager, were joined by Account Manager Steven Voak (NSW) and Maryanne
Guest (SA) in promoting all AOT Holidays brands to the HWT network. Our simple message was there is money to be made in booking Domestic Holidays, so embrace. HWT also had a strong focus on Domestic Travel in their general presentations to the Franchisees. Along with some key partners, the traditional AOT Holidays not to missed dinner was held. Key agents were invited as a thank
you for their ongoing support. A great night was had by all.
Note - some of us are still coming to terms with the choice of outfits selected by the team - but at least we can all agree that they go
all out to make a statement!!
Australian
Travel
News
AOTOnline
Holidays
News
page
pagesixtwelve
THE 2008/9 AOT HOLIDAYS BROCHURE RANGE
The AOT Holidays Product Team is putting the final touches on the 2008/9 brochure range. The first of the range to be released
were our Queensland Rail Tours, Queensland for Couples and Spa Holidays brochures, in September and October respectively.
The rest of the Sunlover Holidays brochure range will be released in mid January, while the New South Wales Holidays, Western
Australia and Northern Territory brochures will be released at the end of January. The remainder of the Travelpoint brochure
range will be released in February. Below is a sneak peek into our new and fresh looking brochures!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Suppliers and industry partners for your co-operation and support in contracting our 2008/9 range
MOVERS AND SHAKERS!
Paz Murillo has been promoted to the role of Marketing Co-ordinator in the Marketing Department and will commence in January.
Carissa Stagg has been promoted to Contracting Assistant in the Product Development Department, commencing in January.
Belinda Burris-Scott has recommenced her role as Customer Relations Co-ordinator.
Nicky Keay has joined Phil Allen in our New Zealand team. Nicky comes to us from Flight Centre and will provide much needed
support to our lone ranger in this market, Phil. Flight Centre is a major client in this market and Nicky‘s experience with this group
will prove invaluable. It will also mean that Phil may actually get to spend some time at home!!
Danielle Cramp has joined as Account Manager in Queensland, much to Deb Cox‘s relief. Danielle comes to us with a wealth of
experience, including time at Flight Centre, Jetset Travelwold and Harvey World Travel. Her most recent position was as a Tourism
Trainer with Sarina Russo Training College.
10 YEARS YOUNG!
Congratulations to Richard
Greaves and Kym Crawford,
two of our Operations Team
Leaders, who just clocked up 10
years. This dynamic duo started
as Cadet Travel Consultants
back in 1997 and have made a
fabulous contribution to the
Reservations Centre during
their 10 years service.
TASSIE ROAD SHOW
Vic/Tas Account Manager Sharon Hobbs recently organised
and co-ordinated our annual Tassie road show, with agent
functions in Devonport, Launceston and Hobart. The week
long road show was a great success and a big thank you to the
suppliers who participated in this event – Hayman, Stella Resort Group, Voyages, Dreamworld, Accor and Queensland
Rail.
AOT Holidays News
page thirteen
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CHANGES
Due to the recent departure of Paule Clarke, Contracting Co-ordinator for
Gold Coast, we have reshuffled responsibilities for
Destinations within the
Product
Development
Team. Here‘s a reminder
about who does what.
Contact
Destination
Phone
Karen
Holloway
/Jodie Home
Gold Coast
07 3535 4503
Brian Forsyth
Sunshine Coast to Capricorn; Victoria
07 3535 4332
Michelle Lauchlan
Queensland Islands; Whitsundays; Cruise &
Sail; Sydney and New South Wales
TNQ Accommodation (Cairns to Townsville) and
Touring; Northern Territory; South Australia;
Tasmania
TNQ Accommodation (Cairns Beaches to Cooktown); Western Australia; Cape York; Outback
Queensland
Brisbane; Rail Tours
07 3535 4351
Nicole Broadfoot
Kaitlyn Coombes
Sarah Drewe
07 3535 4350
07 3535 4005
07 3535 4403
Congratulations to
Paul Wilcox, who recently married his
beautiful wife Michelle
on the beach at Mauri-
MASSAGING IN THE
CHRISTMAS CHEER
The Account Management team are
currently busy spreading xmas cheer
amongst their agents. Deb Cox (right)
from Queensland has once again embraced the xmas spirit conducting
sales calls in her resplendent xmas
tree costume.
CHRISTMAS BOOKINGS
Our busy Christmas period is fast aphours of operation during the Christmas/
proaching and we often face a lot of chalNew Year period are as follows:
lenges at this time of the year with booking
problems or issues when our customers‘
expectation are not met. We need your co Supplier Helpline - 1300 – 730038
-operation when these instances do occur.
Helpline. We ask that you only email non
urgent issues. This will allow us to resolve
the issue straight away and ensure critical
email is not missed amongst our other
emails – we usually get 1500 emails per
day!
24 Dec – 8am-6pm
A united approach at this time is the best
25 Dec – Closed
approach with everyone focusing on re26 Dec – 9am -5pm
solving the problem first before any investi31 Dec – 8am-6pm
gation or allocation of blame occurs.
1 Jan – Closed
Specialist Team wishes all our suppliers a
very Merry Christmas and look forward to
developing stronger friendships in the year
to come.
So whilst we hope it is all smooth sailing, if
a problem does arise please call us. Our
If the matter is urgent, please phone our
AOT Online News
page fourteen
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TEAM AT
A very Merry Christmas from our staff to yours and we look forward to a successful, safe and Happy 2008!
Needitnow.com - Holiday Hours
The Needitnow office will be open over the Christmas /
New Year break - following are the hours:
Christmas Day:
Tuesday 25th December, 2007
8am - 4pm EST
Boxing Day:
Wednesday 26th December, 2007
8am - 4pm EST
New Years Day:
Tuesday 1st January, 2008
8am - 4pm EST
Normal hours of operation apply for all other days:
Monday - Friday 8am - 7pm EST
Saturday & Sunday
8.30am - 5pm EST
Please let your Reservations / Front Office teams know
we are here to help!
January, 2008
If January is traditionally a quiet time for you, contact
Danielle and talk to her about additional exposure under
Hot Deals on the home page and in our weekly Newsletters. If you have availability we are happy to sell for you
- all we need is rate parity!!
Staff updates / Presentations
We have already started to book presentations and updates - so
why not start the New Year with your product front of mind.
Contact Robyne Robyne@travelmate.com.au or Danielle
Danielle@travelmate.com.au
Christmas cheers has
definitely arrived at
the AOT Online office, pictured right are
Ann (Res Manager),
Danielle (Business
Development Manager) & Robyne (GM
Product and Contracting)
Secret Stays
If you haven‘t heard about it yet, it‘s because it is a secret!!!!! But it is Chrsitmas and we are going to let the secret out….. You
can list your property on Needitnow as the ―Secret Stay‖…… we have these in all major gateways and, of course, you need to
be extra nice to Danielle Pagano to ensure a gig!!!! Secret Stays have been locked in to cover the Christmas / New Year period - so if you want to get in early for 2008, Danielle will be back and raring to go from Thursday 3rd January 2008.
Danielle@travelmate.com.au
AOT People
page fifteen
QANTAS HOLIDAYS HAS BEEN BOWLED OVER!
Yes - we have a big Trophy sitting on the reception desk - and yes, we are proud of this big
beauty. Monday the 10th December marked a
new success on the AOT Ladder, in that we defeated Qantas Holidays at the inaugural bowl off,
put on by Crown Hotels.
The build up was huge, but with the great AOT
Team spirit, the team fired up with the specially
commissioned AOT King Pins uniform and additional support and distraction (for the competitors) was aptly supplied by none other than our
very own Barney Johnstone and Anthoney
Woodyard (pictured right, with Cinzia).
Whether the role of these two charming Angels
bought us over the line, is probably going to depend on whom you talk to, but never the less WE WON (by 23 pins...a close margin, as the
total score was 2240)
Our team consisted of mostly Inbound Reservations and Groups staff,
who are still telling their stoic stories of moves and bends that got
the pins we needed! The smiles on their faces tell the story
Andrew Burnes, CEO, has kindly offered all AOT staff therapy to
assist in getting some images of frolicking pink angels out of our heads
(will quite possibly be taken up by most staff).
In reference to heads, there were quite a few sore ones on Tuesday
morning at the AOT ‗World Headquarters‘, but all managers (CEO
included) were more than understanding!
To see more pictures….
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/cinzia6/AOTBOWLOFF02?authkey=RYyts74ZpEQ
WHERE IS HE NOW??
Can you actually believe that the owner of this photo has let it leave his hands?
He has come a long way since posing in this kitchen, and we must admit - the
wardrobe selections have dramatically improved (headwear excepted!) He has
become a senior mover and shaker with the AOT Group and was last seen riding
a camel in India! (With Meeko Tien from Metro Hotels, no less) He is occasionally in the office, in between flitting between China, India and back to China.
AOT People
page sixteen
EXTENDED FAMILY AND NEW FACES
INTRODUCING LUCA…
This little bundle of cuteness is the baby boy of Brigitte
Lederer, Senior Account Manager (Inbound Reservations).
Luca Heinrich Benton was born on the 30th November
at approx 22.30, weighing in at 3.42 kilos and 51 cm
long. Luca is the newest addition to the AOT family but there are plenty more to come in the new year!
Remember this little guy?
This is Ahipene - as featured in our
May 07 issue. Ahipene (Grandson
of Lorraine Kaihau (Product Denow!! He‘s going great!! I‘m
velopment Executive, NZL) was
thinking potential Rugby
born 2 months prematurely in
World Cup?!
April of this year - but look at him
MEET ISAAC
Yes, another boy to the fold,
this little lad is Isaac Turney,
son of Jennifer Yang (AOT IT
Systems Administrator).
Isaac was born on the 11th
November, 51 cms long, 3.46
kilos (almost the same stats
as young Luca!!
Pictured right are two
new members to our
ever expanding Asia
Department.
Jenny Teo (Asia Department Supervisor)
and far right is Khoby
Rowe (GM China based in Shanghai)
Yes, it‘s important you know
the faces in the
accounts department! New
members are:
Some ‗Returnees‘ who Levina Wijanarko
(right) and
are now working in
Mahesh Puttaraju
the Inbound Product
Department. Far left (far right)
is Robyn Guernieri (ex
Marcia Pollington (left) has also returned to the AOT fold after spendGM Inbound Operations) - back on board ing over 1 year at Pleasant Holidays in the US of A. Marcia was previpart time after 1 year‘s ously in the Contracting department and is settling back into Aussie
life very well.
maternity leave.
MELBOURNE OFFICE
Level 8, 420 St Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 3004
Phone:
(03) 9867 7233
Fax:
(03) 9867 4855
BRISBANE OFFICE
Level 8, 30 Makerston Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
Phone:
(07) 3535 4000
Fax:
(07 TBA
SYDNEY OFFICE
Level 4, 18—33 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2001
Phone:
(02) 8248 2357
Fax:
(02) 9247 8473
NEW ZEALAND OFFICE
Suite 5, Level 8, 300 Queen Street
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
Phone:
+64 9 309 2565
FROM ALL OF US
AT THE AOT
GROUP WE
WOULD LIKE TO
WISH YOU, YOUR
STAFF AND YOUR
FAMILIES A VERY
MERRY CHRISMAS!
YOUR SUPPORT THROUGHOUT
THE YEAR HAS BEEN WONDERFUL
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO
SHARING WITH YOU A PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL 2008.