Club Med's Michelle Davies has a new and quite lengthy title of General Manager - Pacific & New Emerging ESAP Markets.

Hired in June 2020 as Marketing Manager, Michelle later took on the General Manager role with a mission to lead Club Med's Australian office out of the pandemic and into the unchartered territory of a new industry landscape.

This episode is a story of navigating new challenges and getting the very best from a dynamic team, whose collective efforts led to the brand picking up Most Popular Accommodation Group/Chain at the 2024 NTIA awards.

As AC says during the episode: " I always love to hear stories of women in leadership because we've got so many fabulous women in the industry who lift up and inspire each other, and I'm hoping that this podcast will do that for a few of our listeners."

In other news, AC offloads on hotel commisions, and a listener finds themselves even more On Notice than they were before.

You can connect with Michelle via her LinkedIn profile.

__
This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

David "Dave-o" Kolner, Virtuoso's Executive Vice President, joins Offloaded to offer what AC describes as a health check for the luxury travel industry.

"I want to be so much more than just the data guy", says Dave-o.

And he is. He most certainly is.

In this episode you'll learn about the trends that Virtuoso are currently seeing through the unparalleled sales data that the global luxury behemoth has unique access to. Richard and AC uncover why cool destinations are hot, why cancelling bookings on short term political dramas is a bad idea, how four in five travel advisors see AI as an opportunity rather than a threat that will replace them, and so much more that includes Saudi Arabia, adventure cruising, Lorazepam, 'set-jetting', thoughts on Gen X's limited time in the sun and why you'd be a fool to ignore cashed-up 80 year-old-plus females.

It's another brilliant interview that we know you'll enjoy.

Following Dave-o, AC offloads on surveys and a 'listener' joins our rogues gallery of people 'On Notice', with no obvious route to ever have that status removed.

In each episode we like to share highbrow recommendations for our listeners, and this time AC recommends the 'Pet Painter' AI app that, according to their website, 'turns pics of your pet into art'.

___

This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!

As the child of a father who was a founder of the US Tour Operators Association, it would come as no surprise for Matthew Upchurch to enter the travel industry and become one of it's iconic leaders.

The founder of Virtuoso in the 1980's, as CEO Matthew has overseen the company become the leading global network of agencies specialising in luxury and experiential travel. Today Virtuoso comprises of more than 20,000 advisors across 58 countries who between them transact in the region of $54 billion AUD.

Among his many accolades, Matthew was named to the American Society of Travel Agents Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Cruise Lines International Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

But aside from all that, perhaps his most meaningful contribution to our industry is that there has been no greater champion of the travel advisor.

In this episode we talk to Matthew about his backstory, along with Virtuoso's growth and how it operates in Australia. We discover the leading profession who are making the switch to become advisors, the increasing prioritisation of expenditure on experiences by travellers, and why the human interaction of a travel advisor can never be replaced by advances in technology.

And a lot more, including some elite-level Offloading.

However we have run out of space and what's left goes to Matthew's Book Club. He mentions the following books for you to consider:

Will Guidara: Unreasonable Hospitality - The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
Simon Sinek: Start With Why. - Learn how great leaders and organizations inspire action and create a lasting impact
Prof. Scott Galloway: No Mercy, No Malice - (podcast)

___

This episode is brought to you buy Rosewood Hotels and Interline Travel. We hope you enjoy, and if you'd like to support us you can sign up for our newsletter at www.offloaded.com.au where you'll receive insider details, first notification on new episodes, occasional competitions and much more.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. We'd like that.

Oh, and if you haven't already, subscribe to the podcast on any podcast platform!