All Aboard! Personal Travel Managers Experience the Indian Pacific
A select group of personal travel managers (PTMs) recently experienced an exclusive TravelManagers famil on the Indian Pacific hosted by partner supplier Great Southern Rail.
The ten PTMs, Joshua Faddoul representative for Adelaide, Judy Gillings representative for Bateau Bay, Cathy Moir representative for Gymea Bay, Phil Kimberlee representative for Chelsea Heights, Heather Taylor representative for Mornington, Simone Fraser representative for Wandin East, Hillary Packer representative for Morphett Vale, Anne-Maree Selmo representative for Edithvale, Sarah Harington representative for Maroochydore and Maria Pandalai representative for Townsville were hosted by Bianca Sargent, Business Development Coordinator – Domestic, Great Southern Rail
“Having the opportunity to learn all about the Indian Pacific, the destinations and its history was invaluable – The Indian Pacific is famed for travelling on the longest stretch of straight railway track in the world and experiencing the train myself has really helped to understand the product; it’s one thing to become familiar with a high interest experience via training updates but nothing compares to the real thing. This famil experience has been so beneficial and I can truly sell this product with first-hand knowledge and absolute confidence,” says Fraser.
Linking the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the aptly named Indian Pacific offers an insight into the contrasts and endless vistas from the Blue Mountains to the barren expanse of the Nullabor. The entire journey covers 4,352 kilometers across Australia from Perth to Sydney over three nights and four days. The PTMs experienced the two-day Sydney to Adelaide itinerary via the historic Silver City of Broken Hill.
The off-train excursions, all included in the ticket price and many exclusive to the Indian Pacific guests, proved to be memorable experiences for the PTMs.
For Pandalai it was the excursion to the Pro Hart Gallery in Broken Hill she found “most enjoyable and the Barossa Valley tour which is simply amazing.”
The Barossa Valley wine tasting was a real highlight for Selmo.
“The highlight for me was Barossa Valley wine experience. We enjoyed tasting plates with matched wines at Seppeltsfield before dinner in the cellar at Yalumba – both unique experiences only offered to Indian Pacific guests.”
Similar sentiments were shared by Gillings.
“The day trip off the train from Two Wells to Adelaide took us to the Seppeltsfield Winery where we experienced a wonderful tasting of food and wine. Hearing the history of this place was fascinating topped off by a beautiful dinner at Yalumba Estate.”
The Indian Pacific offers both berth compartments and reclining seat accommodation options with meals served in the dining car, The Queen Adelaide Restaurant carriage for Platinum and Gold Service guests.
“Every meal we had onboard in the Queen Adelaide Restaurant was exquisite. Everything is prepared fresh onboard by chefs. Everybody on board was friendly and the service faultless,” says Harington.
Selmo does offer a piece of advice regarding cabin choice.
“If your client’s budget allows I would recommend upgrading to the Platinum service from Gold. It provides a more spacious cabin without bunks and exclusive access to their own dining and lounge carriage with bar.”
TravelManagers attribute the exceptional, strong and effective business relationships with key airline, cruise, rail and wholesale suppliers with providing PTMs the ability to experience exclusive educationals, to a variety of destinations and products.
“Our partner supplier relationships have been built over many years and support of these products is absolutely key to our business model. The ability for our PTMs to experience dedicated famils is a large part of this support, says Executive General Manager, Michael Gazal.
Gazal further adds that “TravelManagers prides itself on providing exceptional and personal customer service which comes from first-hand knowledge and experience. Educationals that allow first-hand experience of products, such as our co-created dedicated supplier famils, are so important and why we proactively work to provide as many educational opportunities as possible.”
