Flight Centre Travel Group’s home-based network of travel advisors will be counting on consumer confidence to thrive and holiday bookings to flow under the TransTasman Bubble initiative.

Travel Associates is bedding down its alliance with luxury travel network Virtuoso, increasing its number of agencies in Australia from the current 16 to 50, effective 1 January 2021.

The surprise announcement by Western Australia that it would open its hard borders to residents of New South Wales and Victoria from next week, coupled with the reopening of the Queensland/NSW border earlier this week (see more below), has been applauded by travel groups.

Flight Centre Travel Group has partnered with technology platform Livn to streamline the booking process for global Day Tours & Activities across its leisure and wholesale brands.

The battered global cruise industry will “come back stronger than ever”, with seasoned cruisers eager to board a ship and sail away, says Flight Centre Travel Group’s GM of Premium Brands, Danielle Galloway.

Nicole Costantin has been appointed as the General Manager of Travel Associates’ new brand and product platform, ASPIRE. Costantin, who has a strong history in the leisure, travel and tourism industry, will be responsible for developing, launching and managing a comprehensive range of curated luxury leisure products and client benefits under the newly-created ASPIRE brand.

Travel Associates has announced its 2020 inaugural Advisory Board, comprised of 10 experts, selected to represent their State and Territory stores, with each member having clocked up a minimum of 15 years’ experience with the Travel Associates brand across domestic, international or cruise travel.

Ten Travel Partners agents recently returned from a week-long reward trip in Thailand, including Bangkok and Phuket. It was the inaugural Club Verve trip for Travel Partners. Club Verve recognises and rewards the highest selling top 10 mobile and member agencies in the Travel Partners network for their excellence. A famil trip is just one of the benefits of the year long program. Other elements include free of charge attendance at the annual conference, attendance at the FCTG expos, and select invitations to preferred supplier events.

Flight Centre Travel Group’s Travel Associates brand this week officially launched its Travel Associates Cruise Boutique concept, a business specialisation designed to offer clients cruise expertise, curated cruise and travel experiences, and unrivalled service.