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Managing Director Kaylene Shuttlewood, along with 20 Travel Counsellors and members of the Melbourne support team, joined more than 2,000 Travel Counsellors, business leaders, support team members and supplier partners from around the world at the annual global conference in Manchester.

This year’s global conference theme – 25 years of Moments that Matter – celebrated the Travel Counsellors’ Silver Anniversary. By day the sessions were filled with speakers from across the business and high profile guests including wildlife filmmaker Dr Chadden Hunter, boxing champion Nicola Adams, coffee entrepreneur Sahar Hashimi and adventure man Bear Grylls. Delegates also heard from various supplier partners on relevant topics including Sustainable Travel, Social Selling, Premium Travel and Entrepreneurship. The PowWow is always an important part of the conference weekend and in Manchester, more than 250 supplier partners took part giving Travel Counsellors the opportunity to discover new product and meet with supplier partners face-to-face.

Steve Byrne, CEO at Travel Counsellors, said: “Our conference theme this year celebrated the special moments we create for our Travel Counsellors and customers, with a clear focus on the future as we continue to strive to provide the best levels of support for our business owners, who in turn provide exceptional booking and travel experiences for their customers. We are constantly progressing our tools and support through increased investment in our technology platform, commitments to better sustainability and bringing our talented community of travel business owners together to share their expertise. An extremely special community spanning seven countries has been created at Travel Counsellors for 25 years, and we are committed to supporting the continued growth of our leisure and corporate travel business owners for years to come.”

Throughout the weekend, delegates were entertained by world class acts including Vernon Kay, Dara O’Briain, Only Men Aloud, Belle Voce, Paloma Faith and Gary Barlow. On Saturday evening, the memorable Gala Awards celebrated the world’s best, with four Australian Travel Counsellors recognised on the global stage as finalists for Australia’s Top Performing Travel Counsellor.

Speaking of the conference, Kaylene Shuttlewood said: “It was a real privilege to have spent time in Manchester to attend this conference with the Aussie TC’s. By providing the platform that enables travel entrepreneurs to run their business wherever they are in the world, Travel Counsellors can travel without disrupting their business. While some TC’s have taken time out to attend this conference, others continue to run their business as usual while travelling”. Following conference, 8 Travel Counsellors joined Supplier Relations Manager Megan Larsen-Smith and Globus to experience the highlights of the North of Ireland.

“Travel Counsellors are proud provide remote-based agents with the tools to be more productive, as well as offering full protection for the agent and their customers, and a global community of more than 1900 Travel Counsellors and 400 support team members to stand beside them. The scale of the global conference is a real reminder of the global community we are all proud to be part of” Kaylene said.