TravelManagers’ Clients Become First Members of Crooked Compass Lunch Club
Australians who are looking to indulge their travel habit somewhere exotic, but don’t want to wait for international borders to reopen, are rediscovering the concept of immersive, luxury holiday experiences at home.
To meet the growing demand for this type of getaway, tour company Crooked Compass has just launched a selection of itineraries that whisk travellers away to some of the most remote, fascinating and beautiful parts of the continent – for as long as ten days, or, for those who have a little less time on their hands, for the ultimate extravagant lunch.
Personal travel manager (PTM) Tanya Tyler, who has been with TravelManagers for eight years and is based at Riverview in NSW, is the first travel agent ever to have booked a client on one of Crooked Compass’ newly minted “Lunch Club” fly and dine day trips. Customers have four curated itineraries to choose from, but Tyler’s clients opted to work with Tyler and Crooked Compass to design a bespoke lunch experience.
Tanya Tyler, PTM Riverview NSW
“I think it’s such a fabulous idea that you can simply hop on a plane and go somewhere special for the day, so I put it out to my clients on social media and within days I had my first booking,” she explains.
Crooked Compass founder and managing director, Lisa Pagotto, says she came up with the “Lunch Club” concept after witnessing the astonishing success of Qantas’ ‘Flight to Nowhere’.
“When I saw the incredible demand to sit on a plane for eight hours and go nowhere, I thought there had to be a more creative way to cater for these people who were so keen to get on a plane and simply get out,” she explains. “I thought, ‘why not offer a range of unique experiences that sit outside the self-drive market?’ There are plenty of people whose holiday plans for 2020 have been thwarted by COVID who are quite happy to spend their travel budget on something a bit splurgy, and we think our unique combination of stunning location, private aircraft and long lunch has just the right degree of ‘wow’ factor.”
Pagotto says the response to the initial release of three Lunch Club experiences has been very positive, and with Tyler’s $9,000 sale hopefully just the beginning, Crooked Compass is already making plans for more with a Long Lunch on Lord Howe released late last week. Their sales support for travel agents include regular webinars, providing pre-recorded training sessions and offering content such as social media tiles and image galleries.
“They even offer a concierge service so that you can tailor an experience that’s just right for your clients,” Tyler adds. “Many clients are really missing their holidays this year, and the Lunch Club concept is an excuse for them to do something a little bit special. Many of the experiences would not be able to be co-ordinated by independent travellers doing it for themselves, so it’s great that Crooked Compass makes it all so easy.”
With four fly and dine experiences currently on offer with Crooked Compass, Tyler says she is hopeful that the Lunch Club experiences will appeal to more of her high-end clients and to those looking for something special to mark a big occasion.
“Personally, I’d love to treat myself to lunch on Whitehaven Beach, but as this departs from Brisbane, I’m going to have to wait a bit longer,” she concludes with a smile.
