In this special episode we present a live session from ATIA's 'Beyond Borders' summit held at the ICC in Sydney. 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 industry towards 2030. The project is called A30, and you'll hear from ATIA CEO Dean Long, Ch…

Offloaded is back for Season Three! To kick things off, Richard and AC are joined by possibly the most senior industry leader to appear on Offloaded thus far in the shape of James Kavanagh, Flight Centre Travel Group’s Global CEO of Leisure. We begin by covering leadership, change and the importance of having mentors and good people around you, bef…

The final episode of Series 2 broke the mould before we change things up again for Series 3 that's coming in September. Erina Pindar, COO and Managing Partner of SmartFlyer, became our first international guest, our first live in-person podcast held at a luxury hotel, and the first guest who hijacked our Offloaded section with an Offload of her ver…

Andrew Young is the General Manager Sales for TTC Tour Brands Oceania, and the only person we know that performs a demanding industry role while living and helping out as the only son on a working farm. That topic is worthy of a podcast all by itself, but the reason for asking Andy to join us on this occasion was to talk about travel industry sales…

"Get the country open". These were the suggestions from the Fijiian Prime Minister, Attorney General and Chair of Tourism Fiji to Brent Hill , the new CEO who had taken up the role at a time when the island was closed for visitation. AC and Richard quizzed Brent about this interesting life and career choice, before moving on to discussing Fiji's un…

A packed episode that includes AC howling at the moon. Parris Fotias, Regional Sales Director APAC for Dorchester Collection was our guest for this episode, interviewed by AC and stand-in presenter Sonia Jones. Our interviewers were very excited to get a hotelier onto the podcast in Richard’s absence, and immediately set about discussing some of th…

Part TWO! Listen to part one first! Michael Gazal and Tania Myles of TravelManagers Australia return for Part Two of a 2024 travel industry take on the famous book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey. Working daily with a network of 450+ travel advisors (or in their terminology Personal Travel Managers), Michael and Tania …

Michael Gazal and Tania Myles of TravelManagers Australia were our guests this week to discuss a 2024 travel industry take on the famous book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey. Working daily with a network of 450+ travel advisors (or in their terminology Personal Travel Managers), Michael and Tania are brilliantly positi…

With AC away, Richard was joined by Nicola Strudwick to interview Isabel Limn, Key Partnerships Manager for Intrepid. Issy (she insists you call her this because it’s ‘Issy to remember’ – her gag not ours) is the most recent arrival to the industry among Offloaded guests thus far, having begun her journey in 2016. This is an episode that’s a break …

From Contiki tour guide to General Manager of the Luxury Travel Collection Member Portfolio, Nikki Glading has had quite the travel industry career. In a frank and introspective interview, Nikki talks about her leadership journey that has included healthy doses of vulnerability, honesty and self-awareness along the way. Now in what she calls her “d…

Quentin Long is known to millions for his TV and radio work, during which he discusses travel and the industry that powers it. In this interview Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones speak to Quentin about how he became such a powerful voice in explaining complex travel matters to the public, and how he himself keeps informed. The screens and micr…

This week Richard and AC are joined by Nicola Veltman, CEO and Co-Founder of 1000 Mile Travel Group. Nicola’s thousand mile journey began with a single step, around her kitchen table with her partner Ben. Their vision was to create a global network of agents that had access to corporate tools and sales pipelines that allowed members to run their ow…

In our first episode for 2024, Richard and AC meet man of many titles Anthony Goldman. He's the Joint Managing Director of the Goldman Travel Corporation by day, but is also a director of Link Travel Group and Chair of the Global Advisory Board for Virtuoso. He also serves on other advisory boards, ensuring there is never a dull moment. This episod…

Series 2 is here! In this first episode Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones were joined by Sonia Jones and Shelley Brice, in their first appearance since featuring in multiple episodes Richard's Travel Community Hub webinars back in 'those times'. Their advice during those webinars helped many hundreds of advisors and assorted travel people keep…

In the final episode of the first series Richard and AC were joined by Tamara Kobiolke, to discuss hotel representation and why everyone should have a 'hero in their back pocket.' TK illuminated us on how advisors can best utilise her and folks like her to 'sprinkle the fairydust' onto a booking to make magical things happen, and in turn ensure cli…

Richard and AC were joined by journalists Myles Stedman and Honida Beram to discuss the rightful place of influencers within the travel industry. Myles started all this off with an article entitled "Why The Travel Industry Should 'Cancel' Influencers", which led to Honida - aka Honey, of Cruising With Honey and an influencer in her own right - resp…

"If you don't do it, it just does not get done". Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones were joined by Nicola Strudwick for this episode that talks about the unique needs of regional travel agents and advisors. Nicola's job title is General Manager Sales at Travellers Choice, a national retail travel group whose independent member travel agencies a…

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones meet Travel Agent Achievers (TAA) founder Roslyn Ranse about elevating the profession of the travel advisor. As the first frontline travel advisor to come onto the show, we were interested in Ros’ take on the current state of play in the industry and the new dominant force that is the mobile travel advisor. Ro…

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones speak to CLIA's Head of International Training & Development , Peter Kollar. We wanted to get Pete's take on the cruise industry and his rather large influence on how cruise is positioned and sold to consumers. Whilst doing that we found out he is a former primary school teacher than ended up traversing the gl…

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones are joined by travel industry doyenne Fiona Dalton for a discussion on, well, a great many things. Fiona is the General Manager Australia & New Zealand for Virtuoso Travel, the 'leading global network of travel agencies specializing in luxury and experiential travel', in their own words. For all our episodes, …

"A Problem Shared" Richard Taylor and AC Jones speak to Platinum Travel Group CEO Andy Buerckner, for very frank discussion on the trauma the industry is still carrying, and how he's rebuilding his business after the pandemic. In June 2020, Andy made a post on LinkedIn entitled 'It's Time To Say I'm Struggling', that received huge feedback and led …

"There IS such a thing as a free lunch" Richard and AC are joined by the founder iFlyFlat, Steve Hui, to uncover the secrets of his unique business that helps travellers effectively collect and use airline and credit card points to fly in business class. Steve gives us an industry insider lesson on both status and points, and explains why he has th…

Offloaded is a new podcast for the Australian travel industry, presented by Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine "AC" Jones. Leadership and Love - Part 2 Richard and AC are joined again for Part 2 of the interview with AFTA (Australian Federation of Travel Agents) CEO, Dean Long. In Part 2 we discuss our industry's impact on government and how that mig…

Offloaded is a new podcast for the Australian travel industry, presented by Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine "AC" Jones. “Leadership and Love” In this opening episode Richard and AC are joined by AFTA (Australian Federation of Travel Agents) CEO, Dean Long. With the arrival of 2023 and the prospect of the first full calendar year of travel since Au…

Richard Taylor and Ann-Catherine Jones present Offloaded, the podcast launched in 2023 that charts the progress of a recovering Australian travel industry. This is the trailer episode to get things going. AC and Richard introduce themselves and explain the concept of the podcast, to avoid boring you at the start of every episode :) Offloaded is a T…