Spencer Travel toasted its trade partners at a gathering on Tuesday [28 June 2022] evening at a Thank You event held at Pullman Sydney Airport.
The celebration followed the first-ever Spencer Travel Showcase for consumers [which had been previously postponed four times due to the pandemic] that was also held on-site at the Pullman, with more than 110 eager beavers keen to discuss their future travel plans with Spencer’s luxury travel advisors, alongside representatives from preferred suppliers.
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The showcase saw an assembly of staff all under the one roof following the merger of Spencer Travel’s leisure retail brands – Spencer Travel Southside, Spencer Travel Eastside and Shire Travel – 12 months ago this week.
Close to 50 travel partners participated in the show, including an extensive list of ground operators, cruise lines, hoteliers, wellness travel companies and airlines. They included Abercrombie & Kent, Baillie Lodges, Belmond, Chiva-Som, COMO Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons, Club Med, Leading Hotels of the World, Ponant, Delta Air Lines, Hurtigruten, Rocky Mountaineer, Celebrity Cruises, Journey Beyond, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Uniworld, United Airlines, Spicers Retreats, Vomo Island Fiji, Viking and many others.
Another 20 key partners joined the Thank You event, which included free-flowing beverages and delicious hors d’oeuvres.
Commenting on the luxury travel resurgence after a two-year international pandemic pause, Penny Spencer, Managing Director of Spencer Travel said the rebound was very long-overdue but graciously welcomed.
Spencer told LATTE consumer confidence is riding high, with bookings flowing for 2023 and into 2024. She said the only obstacle now to a robust second half of 2022 was premium international airline capacity constraints on key Europe and North America markets, in addition to the severe shortage of experienced travel experts who left the sector during the pandemic.
“We all know the past two years haven’t been easy. The problems that we had were problems that we’d never, ever encountered before,” Spencer said of the pandemic wreaking havoc on the industry.
“Tonight is about saying thank you to each and every one of you for your ongoing support and problem solving ability to help our team and our clients.”
“You go through tough times and it’s your good friends that always show up. And that’s everyone here tonight,” Spencer said.
“We’re looking so forward to the next year, two years, three years where we are having lots of parties like tonight, creating lots of bookings – and we’re making a profit. Won’t that be nice,” Spencer quipped.
Pictured at the event from left are: Leanne Ralston, Carissa Johnson, Lucy Vieira, Margaret Hudspeth (slightly hidden), Debbie Collins, Lisa Maddox, Susie Duff (in front), Yvette Kari, Heather Del Vecchio (next to Yvette), Vicki Adkin, Lisa Rayner, Louise Brown (in front), Vera Pajovic, Denise Gilfeather (centre), Penny Spencer, Stewart Petersen, Joanne Watson, Tina Killeen and Giselle Pennington.