House
Proud - DECEMBER 2017 ISSUE -
HOT MERIVALE’S Monique Bishop in Sri Lanka.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
• GENERAL NEWS
• REGIONAL ROUND UP
• FAMIL S
• H OT S T U F F
• C E L E B R AT I O N S
MOD’S FOREWORD
Well as I always say at this time of the year its amazing to have another year nearly behind us. It has certainly been one of our biggest years in HOT’s history too. We celebrated 30 years of enriching people’s lives through travel, we had a number of special birthdays of our founding outlets, we hit over a billion dollars in sales for the first time and bade a farewell and a welcome to a number of Owner Operators as well. We squeezed in a Top 30 trip to Vietnam midyear and continued on our winning way at the NTIA’s again picking up the top awards for Retail and Corporate across the group. All in all its been a pretty good year really!
The last few weeks as I mentioned in a recent note have seen a huge lift in competitor activity and a drop in retail pricing which I know makes life challenging. Remember we are in a business that everyone loves and is interested in and that is way better than selling baked beans! It just means at times like these we need to work even harder for our money. 2018 will be another year of change and challenge, the Orbits have a change of booking tool for all their customers, we have new stores opening and new owner operators coming through to lead them. We are in great shape and in our prime in our 30’s!
H OT N E WS
Finally a shout out to Penny Hayes who we feature in this edition, she represented HOT in the travel section of the Queenstown marathon and did us proud, well done Penny! All the best for the festive season, travel safe and enjoy your time with family and friends, I know I will. See you in 2018 and I hope you enjoy a wee Xmas surprise from us too later in the month… Ho Ho Ho - MOD
A TRIBUTE TO
HOPE
IN THIS ISSUE:
0 3 H OT N E W S
1 6 H OT S H OT S
07 REGIONAL ROUNDUP
1 8 W H AT A H OT T I E & H OT S O C I A L
1 1 S TA F F U P D AT E S
1 9 C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S & C E L E B R AT I O N S
14 FAMIL S -2-
A special tribute to a dear friend and colleague, Hope. She lost her battle with leukaemia on the 10th of October 2017. I remember the first time I met Hope around 2 ½ years ago for her interview, she was sitting in reception dressed in a lovely corporate outfit looking absolutely terrified. I remember her shaky voice answering my questions as best she could and looking very unsure of herself. Despite this I felt Hope had maturity beyond her years and was a truly good person with a heart of gold that shone through. Throughout Hope’s time at House of Travel I watched her grow from a quiet, timid young girl to a very capable confident consultant who was truly a pleasure to work with and a valuable member of the Australia Team. Nothing was ever a problem for Hope, she just knuckled down and got things done, all in her quiet natured way while still having a huge presence within the team. She formed some great friendships with many in the office and I know all of us will cherish those memories of lunch dates,
looking at cute animal pictures, secret Santas, or planning what we were going to wear to conference! Of course we did do a little work too… those that knew her well also managed to unlock her witty humour from time to time. Hope was able to travel to various places ticking off the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Sydney, the Australian Outback & the Sunshine Coast to name a few. She always embraced these experiences to the fullest. During the whole time I knew Hope not once did I hear her say a bad word about anyone or anything, she was such a positive person. Even in her last months her outlook and nature still remained positive on her journey, and she embraced her life which I think is truly inspirational to us all. Hope is a huge loss in so many lives and I am just glad to say that we were privileged enough to have known her and had her in our team. Fly high Hope. Mel and the Australia Team -3-
H OT N E WS
H OT N E WS
House of Travel and Orbit Scoop Top Accolades at TAANZ National Travel Industry Awards 2017 marked another stellar year at the TAANZ National Travel Industry Awards, with twelve finalists across a range of categories and five award wins on the night! House of Travel was announced as the Best Travel Agency Brand for the fifth year running, as well as Billy Ballantine from House of Travel Lakers taking home the Best Travel Consultant Retail Award. Orbit World Travel, was recognised as both Best Corporate Brand across
multiple locations and Orbit World Travel Wellington was highlighted as the Best Corporate Brand in a single location. Paul Johnston from Orbit World Travel Hamilton was also awarded Best Corporate Travel Consultant for the second year in a row. Congratulations to the impressive list of business partners, consultants and managers who were finalists and winners on the night. What an achievement to be named top in the country!
BEST TRAVEL AGENCY BRAND House of Travel
BEST BRAND CORPORATE Orbit Wellington
BEST BRAND CORPORATE MULTI LOCATION Orbit World Travel
HOT - Mark O’Donnell, Leanne Geraghty, Jayne Thornley
Niall White accepts Best Corporate Brand in a single location on behalf of Orbit.
Orbit World Travel team taking home the Best Corporate Brand in multiple locations award.
HOT Te Awamutu staff - L to R: Aaron Ardern, Tania Wheeler, Maralyn Ward, Betty Wakelin & Darryl Turton
Our year to date Voice of Customer Superstars share some of their top tips - HOT Te Awamutu! As a team you have had the highest and most consistent Voice of Customer OSAT for 2017! Is there anything you do as a store that you think has led to this score?
Aaron you have held your number one status since January, some very impressive results! Congratulations to you! What do you think helps keep your customers so pleased with their interactions with you?
• Qualify, qualify, qualify your clients. You can’t get it wrong if you have all the facts right in the beginning.
I stay in touch throughout the whole process - that starts from taking the initial enquiry and following up if it’s a LUCY enquiry, to the actual quoting stage and ensuring I explain everything clearly, and thanking them for the booking once made. I like to go a bit further and stay in touch while they are travelling (eg. ‘Hope everything is going well so far and have a good flight to xy tomorrow!’) and always follow up with a welcome home card and call, and birthday and Christmas messages for my valued clients. The job is about people and like anyone else there I have those days, but most of the time I have really lovely clients who I’ll have a good chat with, there’s a few Nana’s who like a hug and listen to their travel stories and that contact and sharing excitement of travel is where the joy in the job is.
• Make a real effort to work on your client/consultant relationship throughout each meeting with them - and really get to know your clients. •
BEST TRAVEL CONSULTANT – RETAIL Billy Ballantine - House of Travel Lakers (Invercargill) Billy was born and raised in Newcastle England, and came to New Zealand in 2004 after working in casinos on cruise ships all around the world. He moved to Invercargill in 2011 and shortly after started at House of Travel Lakers. Over that time he has won a wide range of national travel industry awards, including Top Selling Consultant for Trafalgar Tours, Globus Tours, and Contiki Holidays. For the last six years in a row he has qualified for House of Travel’s elite Top Sellers Group. Well done Billy for adding this trophy to the mantelpiece!
“
Not bad for a man who lists his hobbies as ‘smoking, drinking, gambling and flirting’, and in-between he also manages to book
”
a bit of travel as well. -4-
- Tony Laker
BEST TRAVEL CONSULTANT – CORPORATE Paul Johnson - Orbit World Travel Hamilton Paul has been in the travel industry for 22 years, having also lived and worked in the UK and Australia, and having airline, leisure, ski, ticketing, and corporate travel roles. He has now been with Orbit Hamilton for 12 years, and year on year Paul has continued to deliver for the Orbit business. 2017 was the fourth year in a row that Paul was been nominated for this NTIA award, and last year Paul was inducted to House of Travel/Orbit Legends at the HOT Awards – keep it up Paul!
Be fast replying to those enquires (why give them the opportunity to look around?), be accurate and be consistent.
• Keep in touch through the WHOLE process - not just at enquiry/ payment/post travel stages and consider their emotional rollercoaster throughout. •
Yes... Future Fit actually works
AARON’S TOP 5 TOOLS 1. Retrieval dates & Status Codes in Dolphin 2. LUCY Book 3. Flagging & Colour Coding Outlook Emails 4. Excel Quote Tracker Spreadsheet 5. A detailed to do list in Dolphin notes tab.
f o e c i Vo omer Cust HOUS
TRAV E OF
EL
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H OT N E WS
HOT BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS We had quite a few special birthday celebrations this year for our stores. Some also shared with us pics from their day.
HOT Ashburton - 30 Years
Orbit Wellington - 30 Years
HOT Blenheim - 30 Years HOT Gore - 30 Years
HOT Auckland City - 25 Years
HOT Takapuna - 30 Years
HOT Masterton - 25 Years
HOT Timaru - 30 Years
HOT Hokitika - 25 Years HOT Westport - 25 Years
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
DON’T JUST GO, GO GLOBAL! Another year has gone by and Global Travel Networks turns two! GTN; a buying group for independent agencies located in the HOT AKL office in Shortland Street. Late October marks the anniversary of the GTN brand being in business for two years. This past year has seen the GTN volume increase by a whopping 270% over last year’s figures. As a result the team has now grown to a full service team of six, consisting of:
FASHION WEEK WITH ORBIT AUCKLAND Air New Zealand and Orbit hosted some key customers for the first time to New Zealand Fashion Week in September. They all attended the Resene Colour Show which featured a number of designers, it was a great event and everybody loved it.
Hug the boss?! Steve is feeling very special after being nominated for Mike West In The Morning’s “Hug a Boss”! Thanks Mike, Gareth & Johnelle of More FM Manawatu for visiting the team at House of Travel and for the great big hug. Steve was nominated by Retail Manager Belinda Sixtus’ daughter, Paris.
ROB BEECHER - DIRECTOR
JENI WHAREPOURI - OPERATIONS MANAGER
HOT Auckland City Brendan Drury and the team celebrated their 25th year as House of Travel Auckland City, Holdings recognised this achievement with a delicious chocolate cake as well as a commemorative engraved silver plate.
Jenny Nilsson’s store had a great hour with the Ferns. A good number of people came to see them, and the BBQ outside raised $200 for their local Hospice.
The Waikato House of Travel stores teamed up with Silver Ferns, Maria Tutaia and Grace Rasmussen, to help brighten up children and their families day staying at the Rainbow Place (part of Hospice Waikato) during a visit. The Silver Ferns talked about how they tackle challenges and shared some insider tips for up and coming players.
TANIA GOMES - SENIOR AIRFARES CONSULTANT TONI PALTRIDGE - MARKETING Their presence is ever increasing with now active Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. As well as an always developing website found at gtn.co.nz Look out for the team in their branded black t-shirts. Don’t just go... Go Global!
HOT Lakers in Gore The House of Travel Lakers Gore team celebrated 30 years since they first opened the doors on Main Street in October 1987! Susie, Kelly, Haleigh, Charlotte and Jackie had this amazing delicious cake on offer in-store.
The Silver Ferns took some time out to visit a few HOT stores while they were on tour.
Tony Lakers’ daughter and her friends had fun posing with the netballers, while the Northlands team also greeted a lot of fans who turned up to their event.
ALLEN BELL - DIRECTOR SONIA FRANCIS - BUSINESS ANALYST
Orbit Christchurch - 30 Years
SILVER FERNS HAVE HOT STOP WHILE ON TOUR
Allen Bell - Director
Rob Beecher - Director
COLOURFUL DIWALI Orbit Auckland and HOT Parnell celebrate diversity with a show of colour by a number of team members celebrating Diwali. Great food and amazing costumes to celebrate the Hindu Festival of Lights.
Airpoints winner at Stephen Parsons Stephen Parsons presents Ming Gann of Palmerston North a 1000 Air Points Dollars as one of 14 winners nationwide in the recent House of Travel North America Air New Zealand Airpoints promotion (29 May – 07 July 2017).
HOT WAIKATO
HOT HASTINGS
Sonya Francis Business Analyst
HOT Westcoast In good West Coast tradition, Kelly, Michelle and Brydie celebrated 25 years in the Westport community with a drink at the pub! Jeni Wharepouri Operations Manager
HOT Masterton
Toni Paltridge - Marketing
New HOOT Cruises Accredited agent
Sam and the team celebrated 25 years in the Masterton community (prettiest town in NZ!) on 13 October. Lisa Southon has worked in the business for 23 of those years.
HOT Ashburton Maxine and her team had a lovely function in their store to celebrate their 30 years, complete with a yummy cake, wine all around and flowers.
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Tania Gomes Senior Airfares Consultant
A huge congratulations to Fraser Cann of HOOT Cruises, the latest CLIA Master accredited consultant in the group. Fraser recently completed his Masters course on board Genting Dream out of Hong Kong and followed this up with his Masters Assignment. Watch out for some innovative new Hoot packages as we test out his new ideas in the market. Check out the CLIA website to see how you can become Master accredited www.cruising.org.au.
Milestone Anniversaries down South
Red Nose Day with Calders
HOT NORTHLANDS
HOT LAKERS
PENNY FROM LAKERS TAKING ON THE QUEENSTOWN MARATHON
Both Nicola Deane from HOT Richmond and Jim Mallory from Orbit Nelson are celebrating 10 years with the HOT family this year. We love everything they do for us!
Calder & Lawson celebrated Red Rose Day in style on the 29th of September. They held a mufti day and purchased red noses to support the Cure Kids annual appeal for child health research. It was great to see everyone getting involved and donating to such a great cause.
Penny (Chubs) Hayes from Lakers was selected to represent House of Travel as a guest of Air New Zealand, at the Queenstown Marathon on 18th November. Penny was competing with other staff members from First, Helloworld, Flight Centre, Quantum and Air New Zealand,
and did an amazing job beating them all across the finish line! Penny’s time was time 3 hours 46 minutes, 12 minutes ahead of the second travel trade contender. She said Air New Zealand did a fantastic job hosting the weekend, and it was topped up by the fantastic weather.
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REGIONAL ROUNDUP
BOOMER TRIP TO JAPAN Anthony Boomer took a group of 47 players which included 20 under 12s and their parents, from Dunedin Technical AFC to Tokyo for the World Junior Soccer Challenge. Tony shares his group’s adventure. In July last year a team of under 11s from Dunedin Technical AFC who I assist coaching, journeyed north to compete in the Christchurch International Cup which they duly won. As a result, a couple of invitations came from Australia and a particularly enticing one from Tokyo inviting the team to participate in the 2017 under 12 World Soccer Challenge. This was no ordinary invite, the tournament has been regularly won by Barcelona and attracted participants from around the world. This year’s tournament included Arsenal and Barcelona, teams from the USA and China, and local Japanese teams most notably the Tokyo under 12s. This team which was selected from 750 clubs in the Tokyo area, went through an arduous and protracted trail process. Fair to say the end product was mightily impressive. Anyway such invites could be merely placed in the realm of dreams but a super motivated coach decided, ‘Why not?’ The parents were up for it, so the group winged their way to Tokyo, into 40 degree heat and literally the chance to play against the best 12 year olds in the world.
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Stephen Parsons sponsors 2017 School Sports Awards Stephen Parsons was very pleased to become the naming sponsor of the 2017 Sports Manawatu Secondary School Sports Awards in October. With its 30th year of operation and organising travel for local sports teams both in New Zealand and overseas, it is a significant part of the store’s business. The team pride themselves on meticulously handling every aspect of group travel.
“
We not only provide support for these
prestigious awards but also for ongoing
secondary school sporting competition through our impressive technology which seamlessly
”
helps to organise the events. MANAGING DIRECTOR, STEVE PARSONS
Event sponsor Stephen Parsons with Manawatu secondary schools sports awards supreme winners Mya Rasmussen and Jack Lewer.
end but given the quality Tokyo had to select from, it wasn’t too bad. Our second game was much tighter, a 2-1 loss in a game that could have gone either way, we were beginning to find our feet. A heart breaking 1-0 loss in our final game meant we would progress no further. However, the kids had grown into the physicality and pace required at this level. We had a post tournament trip planned to Odawara, south of Tokyo where we destroyed a couple of teams we would have struggled against prior to the tournament. All in all a fabulous experience with everyone coming away with a great impression of Tokyo and Japan - despite missile warning sirens blaring away across Tokyo early one morning! I was really pleased with the concern shown by one office emailing me with the advice to ‘duck’.
LATEST NEWS ON OUR HOT BAZAARS Waikato Bazaar The Waikato Bazaar held on the 3rd of September saw a large number of the general public through the doors at the Claudelands Events Centre. There was a fantastic turn out with more than 50 exhibitors on display and six of the Waikato stores present (Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Morrinsville, Matamata, Hamilton City and Calder & Lawson). The
Travel
Bazaar
was
great day for all involved and wonderful feedback has been received. The highlight of the day was awarding the Ultimate UK Package to Alan and Penny Clarke who were over the moon! The Waikato stores have already started planning for next year’s event and have locked in the date for Sunday 02 September 2018.
Hawkes Bay Bazaar Jenny Nilsson’s stores had their annual Travel Bazaar in September which was a fun, informative and busy event. The HOT staff and suppliers dressed up in costume from
a country they represented which was a nice additional touch to the evening.
a
It would be churlish to say that we expected to win but after a 0-0 draw with FC Barcelona Escola Japan in a pre-tournament, dreams of glory were kindled! They soon came crashing to earth as we met the Tokyo under 12s in the first game of tournament. 5-0 down at half time, the players gave everything they had in the harshest conditions they may ever experience, things looked grim. However the kids pulled it together in the second half. A 7-0 loss in the -8-
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REGIONAL ROUNDUP Success at Browns Bay Quiz Night HOTBB put together a quiz night to raise money for Foster Hope Charity. Foster Hope supports 25 foster agencies around Auckland, they ensure that children arriving into foster care have a few personal belongings by filling backpacks with goodies such as PJs, toys, books etc. for the children to take into their new foster homes. The quiz night was held at the Browns Bay Bowling Club on the 16th August, our clients and friends supported this event by buying tables and the local shops and travel partners helped out with products and services to auction off. We are extremely proud to have raised $5501 for this little local charity.
S TA F F U P D AT E S - M E E T O U R N E W O O ’s
HOT Blenheim’s makeover
Danny Hooper
Nikki Platt
What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator?
What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator?
I enjoy the freedom and real ownership of being an OO, so I can really get out into the community and try some new stuff.
The people. It is great to work as part of such a great team both in store and behind the scenes as well.
What’s your advice to a new travel consultant just starting in the industry?
Do you have a hobby outside of travel?
Owner Operator HOT Johnsonville
Check out the smart new store in Blenheim - mostly completed over a weekend! Trudy and the team love their refit and get lots of positive comments from customers.
Owner Operator HOT Kerikeri
Focus on the relationships with people and asking great questions. Systems will come but systems don’t sell travel.
HOT Masterton relocates
Do you have a hobby outside of travel? Love food and craft beer, hence why living in Wellington is awesome – Craft Beer capital of NZ!
Sam and the Masterton team can’t believe how lucky they are in their new home further down Queen Street. They’re loving the new look and their new location!
HOT Ferrymead’s 1st anniversary The HOT Ferrymead team celebrated their one year anniversary on 26 September. The team love working in this concept store where all the elements of Future Fit learnings can be put into practice. Customers love the more
informal and collaborative feel of the layout of the store – it’s really quite different to most travel agency experiences. The Ferrymead team recommend everyone should give it a go!
What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator?
What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator?
The opportunity to lead an incredibly talented team through the day to day challenges that being in a dynamic evolving industry brings, while inspiring and delivering on our brand promise of enriching lives through travel - encouraging our customers to see and try different things.
The variety of the work and being able to provide great experiences for my customers. I also enjoying watching my business grow and also my people.
Owner Operator HOT Ferrymead
Owner Operator HOT New Lynn
Do you have a hobby outside of travel? I love music, snowboarding, gardening, camping, fishing & generally being outdoors.
House of Travel cleans up at the DNSW quiz nights. DNSW hosted 3 quiz nights in CHC, WLG & AKL and it was a trifecta for HOT! The winning teams won a beautiful bottle of NSW wine each. There was also a single winner from each team that won a trip for 2 to NSW!
AKL: HOT Product: Overall winner: Laura Hill Congrats to all the teams that participated. - 10 -
Owner Operator HOT Browns Bay CHC winners - Scream if you want to go louder 2.
WLG winners - The Fantastic Five
AKL winners - Desperately need some wine with Sam Cameron (DNSW).
What’s your background with HOT? I started with HOT Product as the team leader for UK/Europe in 2007. From there we merged the Asia and USA/Canada teams to create one Longhaul team which I managed for a further 4 years. From there I moved into the role of Assistant Product Manager UK/Europe and worked alongside Anne Graham until the start of 2016 when I became the new Owner Operator of HOT New Lynn.
What made you want to become a HOT OO? I really love working for House of Travel and was looking for my next step in my career within the group. My store was looking for a new Owner Operator and I took the opportunity up as I believe a positive customer experience is really important and I felt I brought a lot of knowledge from my 16 years in wholesale. Together making a great experience for HOT customers.
What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator?
Kelda Cawood
WLG: HOT On Hunter: Overall winner: Rebecca Noble
Without a doubt, Africa. The colours, the feelings, the sights and the sounds, I found it to be absolutely magic and I look forward to exploring it more in the future.
Jacqui Harvey
I just genuinely believe in the company vision and love the fact that we are 100% Kiwi Owned and Operated. I read the book ‘What Colour is your Parachute’ a number of years ago (after being recommended to after an unsuccessful job interview) and identified that in order for me to feel fulfilled in life I need to work for an organisation I believe has a passion and a purpose – I certainly found it!
CHC: HOT Upper Riccarton. Overall winner: Gaylyn Murdoch
Where is your favourite holiday destination?
Mel Hubber
What made you want to become a HOT OO?
DNSW QUIZ NIGHTS
In the summer my family and I love to go boating and we are lucky enough to have the beautiful Bay of Islands in our back yard. In the winter I can be found on the side line of the football field cheering on my two young sons.
Seeing the HOT Browns Bay team work together to achieve goals and keep our customers coming back time after time.
What’s your background with HOT? I’ve been with HOT Browns Bay for 10 years, starting as a consultant, then manager and then onto OO.
Where is your favourite holiday destination? I have many favourite holiday destinations, but have come to love the Yasawas for its laid-back atmosphere, beaches, snorkelling & friendly locals. - 11 -
S TA F F U P D AT E S
Sarah Crowe
Owner Operator HOT High Street Lanes What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator? I love a challenge, learning new skills, as well as being successful! I have my work cut out for me. Learning to be the best manager I can be, to build a successful business, and utilising those business management skills I studied in my uni days is what gives me great pleasure. As well as creating a happy and enjoyable work environment to be in.
What’s your advice to a new travel consultant just starting in the industry? It’s hard to learn the new systems even for the dinosaur consultants around, so don’t panic if it feels like it’s taking forever to learn. It does for everyone. Get your head around one system at a time and practice practice practice.
What’s your background with HOT? 7 years as a senior consultant at HOT Merivale. I managed to get into the Top 20 working on part time hours for three years in a row.
S TA F F U P D AT E S
MEETING T H E R E TA I L PA RT N E R S H I P TEAM What is the purpose of the Retail Partnership Team? Ensure mutually beneficial relationships between shareholders based on HOT Values.
How do you do that? We work collaboratively with retail business partners on the commercial outcomes of our businesses to ensure that together, profitability provides a return on investment to all our shareholders. To ensure that the Management Team are kept abreast of key issues within the retail partnerships enabling them to respond and provide appropriate leadership to their areas. Identify and grow talent (new business partners), ensuring retail succession plans are in place and ownership transfers in outlets our successfully lead and implemented.
Tracee Buckenham RETAIL MANAGER SOUTHERN
Years at HOT: 11.5 years Describe your role at HOT in 5 words: The Holdings Business
Partner (missing) link.
What did you want to be when you grew up? A Policewoman some might say that’s what I’ve become the way I poke my nose into everyone’s business! What’s something many people don’t know about you? I still hold the high jump record at Inangahua Finishing School for Ladies.
Gaynor Morrah
RETAIL MANAGER NORTHERN
Trudy Geddes
Years at HOT: 5.5 years. Describe your role at HOT in 5 words: A little bit of everything. Where are you going on your next holiday? Quebec. What did you want to be when you grew up? Taller! What were you like in high school? Sporty goodie goodie.
Owner Operator HOT Blenheim
Laura Hill
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP COORDINATOR Years at HOT: 9 years. Describe your role at HOT in 5 words: Chief organiser/Event
planner extraordinaire.
What did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut, who knew you had to be good at physics. What’s your hidden talent? I can do the caterpillar/worm backwards, but not for very long and not without hurting myself.
Andrew Downey
COMMERCIAL MANAGER BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS Years at HOT: A few months. Describe your role at HOT in 5 words: Provide commercial input
to Partnerships.
What’s something many people don’t know about you? I was
born/raised in Canada despite sounding like a Kiwi!
What did you want to be when you grew up? Fighter Pilot.
What do you enjoy the most about being an Owner Operator? For me, although I still have my consultant hat on (it is hard to take off ) being an OO is a leadership role – I enjoy helping the girls, inspiring them to be amazing consultants but also ensuring that HOT BHE is a fun place to work. I still have a lot to learn about budgets, marketing etc but I have great contacts within the organisation that are helping me with this.
What’s your advice to a new travel consultant just starting in the industry? My clients would never know that I have 10 urgent quotes, a cancelled PNR and a client who just missed their flight – always show enthusiasm and be genuine. All travel is exciting for leisure clients, no matter the destination.
What made you want to become a HOT OO? During my first job interview with Ian Welsh he asked me where I saw my career progressing with HOT - I said into the OO chair… With his retirement last year it was a natural choice for me, the next challenge.
Jayne Thornley RETAIL DIRECTOR
Years at HOT: 8.5 years. Describe your role at HOT in 5 words: Business Partnership,
HR, identifying new OO’s (and I can’t count!) What are you known for? Shopping – if this was an Olympic Sport I would be on the podium every time! What were you like in high school? Hmmm I would like to say brilliant and well behaved, however...!! Favourite Quote? “A business partnership is like a marriage, and as with any marriage, at times you’re going to have conflict. We found a way to work together that worked out through this whole situation.” - Peter Feinstein
Lauren Walsh-McDonnell HR ADVISOR
Years at HOT: 5 years Describe your role at HOT in 5 words: People, family, fast-paced,
developing, fun.
Where are you going on your next holiday? Whitianga – nothing beats NZ summer at the family bach.
What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to own a
sweet shop, there is still time! - 12 -
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FAMIL S
HOT Girls take on Europe with Tauck April 2017 Katrina Cole, Karen Murphy, Ali Kearney and Cheryl Edwards were lucky enough to cruise onboard TAUCK’s MS Grace on their ‘Rhine and Swiss Alps’ cruise from Amsterdam to Bern for 9 nights in April. Cheryl said it was a fantastic experience gliding
FAMIL S
Bhutan Adventure
September 2017
past fairy-tale castles, visiting the windmills of Kinderdyke and picture-book villages, cycling along the riverbank, and a Tauck Exclusive evening of dinner and music at Schloss Ehreshoven. They took some amazing shots along the way!
Gary Harley from the HOT Dunedin office recently visited the Kingdom of Bhutan. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the iconic Tiger’s Nest Monastery. You can’t just pop in here for a quick tour as access to the monastery is a steep three hour uphill climb.
The Sri Lankan famil group.
This might seem a walk in the park to some but believe me that at that altitude we all found that breathlessness soon became an issue (no we were not unfit).
Sri Lanka
Janette Holder (HOT Takapuna), Monique Bishop (HOT Merivale) and myself (Shane Ogg – HOT Ponsonby) were fortunate enough to win a spot on the famil to Sri Lanka with On the Go Tours, hosted by the effervescent Craig Squires.
Once you reach the monastery the spectacular views and incredible structure are well worth the climb, a very spiritual place. Of course the best part is the sense of achievement that you come away with from completing this challenging trek.
Northern Territory Steve Edwards shares his NT adventure - courtesy of Northern Territory Tourism, with support of Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia. Our trip caught the end of the dry season, which meant it was a balmy early 30s every day. Down south in Katherine and Kakadu you can add on another 4-5 degrees. On the way to Katherine we stopped at Litchfield National Park, taking in the peculiar cathedral and magnetic termite mounds. The following morning we headed out for our Nabilil Sunset Dinner Cruise through the Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park. For me the gorge cruise was the highlight of the trip, magnificent scenery and a superb dinner on board ship. The following day we headed just up the road to Top Didj & Art Gallery for a “cultural experience”. I made a very poor attempt at - 14 -
September 2017
painting and starting a fire, but redeemed myself in the spearchucking.
At 8.30pm it was decision time. Return to the hotel, behave and get an early night OR hit Mitchell Street.
of icy cold Carlton Draught and a band blaring out Cold Chisel tunes….bliss.
From Katherine we made our way to Kakadu, with a stop for a swim at Maguk. Not a bad spot actually, and the dip is worth the walk.
After an intensive three days on the road, I needed a beer…or three. So, we dropped the nondrinkers and headed around the corner to the bar precinct. Think Whangamata or Mt Maunganui on a summer’s evening in the 1980s… shorts, jandals and singlets. Anyone in shoes was overdressed. Jugs
It was a good-natured crowd in Monsoon, the most popular place in Mitchell St, well-behaved and just out to enjoy their Sunday evening in Darwin. The city is very cosmopolitan, with a heap of backpackers, inter-state and overseas visitors.
We were up bright and early the next day for our Yellow River Billabong Cruise, taking in the magnificent flora and fauna of the area. Our Kakadu adventure then took us to Ubirr, featuring a group of rocky outcrops and Aboriginal art before heading to Spectacular Jumping Crocs to see…well… spectacular jumping crocs in the safety of a river cruise boat. Back in Darwin we headed out to Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, which run on Sundays and Thursday from April to October, and are something of a Darwin institution. The markets featured a plethora of food stalls, plus arts and crafts, and entertainment.
Lily pads
September 2017
To sum up the trip in one word – UNFORGETTABLE!! We experienced the ‘Colombo, Caves & Kandy’ tour where we discovered all the sights of Sri Lanka’s famous cultural triangle, making stops in Dambulla, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Udawalawe, Ratnapura & Colombo.
my photo. This is definitely one of Sri Lanka’s most iconic and famous sites, viewed from miles around. Other highlights would be bargaining with the locals in the busy streets of Kandy (got some really good deals – clothes GALORE), and sipping tea on board the infamous scenic train passing kilometre upon kilometre of flourishing tea plantations that hugged the winding mountain passes.
The biggest highlight for me would be making it up to the top of Sigiriya (known as Lion Rock), which clearly you can see in
I would definitely recommend this On the Go tour for clients who are wanting to explore a different country, experience a culture they know nothing of, in such a limited amount of time. You can spend as big or as little as you want. Everything is reasonably priced
Shane chasing his waterfall
Shane on top of Sigiriya (Lion Rock)
and the food is just DELECTABLE - gym here I come! All in all, such an EXCELLENT trip with a fantastic group of people and I can’t thank Craig Squires enough for making this trip a very memorable one.
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H OT S H OTS
H OT S H OTS
Check out some of our favourite travel shots from HOT staff.
BOW LAKE, BANFF, CANADA
FREEDOM TOWER & OCCULUS NYC
Cheryl Edwards - HOT ALBANY On a recent trip to the USA & Canada, Cheryl took these stunning images.
SUNSET CRUISING
BEAUTIFUL POT TERY
LUNCH VIEW IN AITUTAKI
CAMELS IN MOROCCO
SICILY
Angela Taverner HOT MATAMATA Camel convoy on the Sahara, Merzouga, Morocco.
Helen Jackson HOT REM UER A The breathtaking Ragusa Cathedral in Sicily.
LONDON, ON HER WAY!
Ian Wolfe HOT NEW PLYM OUT H Ian Wolfe’s granddaughter London Green, about to depart on her first travel experience!
TAKE ME TO AITUTAKI
DS AMONGST THE CLOU WITH JETSTAR
THE HAVANNAH, VANUAT U
Nicole Chitty - PRODUCT AKL Wanderlust inspiring photos from Nicole’s recent South Pacific jaunt.
GO PRO NIUE
HEILALA FALE, TONGA
LITIA SINI BEACH FALÉS, SAMOA
SNORKELLIN
G
Chris Fifield - HOT EVENTS Enjoying the beauty of Taormina, Sicily and a Mediterranean sunset aboard a Royal Princess cruise.
PRET TY LILYPAD S
BEAUTIFUL
STREET VENDORS
RICE PAPER LANTERNS
HORSE TREK
INTRICATE WORKMANSHIP
FEEDING THE CROCS
Susie Bernard - HOT LAKERS GORE Stunning Vietnam. - 16 -
FELLOW FAMIL-LERS
COZUMEL, MEXICO
S WATERWAY
TERMITE HILL
SELLING FLOWERS
NEW ORLEANS
Steve Edwards HOT MATAMATA Amazing shots from Steve’s recent Northern Territory famil
HOGWARTS CASTLE, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, LA
SANTA MONICA PIER
Teri Campbell - HOT GREYMOUTH Iconic photos of the US of A
PALACE?
Gary Harley - HOT DUNEDIN More amazing photos from Gary’s recent Bhutan famil.
Do you think you have an awesome photo or even a great selfie from your travels? Email us your prized shot and we’ll feature it in the next House Proud - email houseproud@hot.co.nz
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W H AT A H O T T I E
Laura Hill
Business Partnership Coordinator Laura is a very familiar face around Holdings in Auckland. Having first started out in the Ticketing Team nine years ago, Laura moved into Asia then UK Europe reservations. After a stint in Res it was time to give Product a go, where she took on four different roles during her time here including two within the Australia Product team, Asia Product Executive and working with the Tactical Team. Laura has recently moved to the other side of Shortland St to start her new role as Business Partnership Coordinator where she has hit the ground running, and definitely lightened the load for Jayne Thornley!
What is the funniest or strangest thing that has happened to you at work? MOD announcing to HOT Shortland St that I was heading to Ireland to meet my potential in laws so they can size up my child bearing hips.
What is your all-time favourite destination? Galway, Ireland.
H OT S O C I A L HOT STEPtember Challenge HOT Shortland St & HOT Roydvale were up for the STEPtember challenge, with a HOT twist! For the entire month of September both offices were in competition with each other to see who could take out the first annual HOT STEPS trophy! TOP GROUPS 1st Place: Sh*t Picker, Karate, Cyclist with a group total of 1,624,728 steps. Team: Rick Zawodny, Nikki Van Groen, Ajay Ahuja & Andy Brannen (average of 13,539 steps pp p/day). 2nd Place: Light Walkers with a group total of 1,567,288 steps. Team: Sapphire Lukupa, Linda Halliday, Bridget Fogarty & Danni Jones (average of 13,060 steps pp p/day). 3rd Place: These Boots Are Made For Walking with a group total of 1,558,369 steps. Team: Lesley Grant, Kathryn Bowler, Tricia Paterson & Mark Leadbetter (Average of 12,986 steps pp p/day). TOP INDIVIDUALS 1st Place: Linda Halliday a total of 716,805 steps. (avg 23,893 p/day) 2nd Place: Thomas Hobson a total of 625,897 steps. (avg 20,863 p/day) 3rd Place: Nikki van Groen a total of 572,908 steps. (avg 19,096 p/day) CONSISTENCY AWARDS - lowest standard deviation across 30 days of walking
If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?
Auckland Telesia Fonoti
Three big strong men to build me shelter, find food, keep me company and perhaps build a boat?
WINNER OF THE HOT STEPS TROPHY - CHRISTCHURCH!
What is your favourite car karaoke song? Hands down, Westlife – Flying without wings.
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S & C E L E B R AT I O N S
Christchurch Allie Nichols Total Auckland steps
11,345,743
8645km
Total Christchurch steps 18,463,165
14,069km
Grand total steps
22,714km
29,808,908
JAC Q U I H A RV E Y - H O T N E W LY N N -
C H R I S E DWA R D S - H OT E L L E RS L I E -
CAROLINE LEAPER - H OT E V E N TS-
SA R A H G LOV E R -AKL TICKETING-
Jacqui Harvey and Ansfrid Brophy got engaged in New York during a helicopter ride over the city in July. Ansfrid popped the question whilst flying over the top of the Statue of Liberty. Congrats guys!
Chris Edwards got engaged to Toni Robins on 9th September. He proposed on one knee at Juliet’s Balcony in Verona Italy The crowd of tourists all cheered when she yelled ‘Yes’ down from the balcony.
Caroline Leaper in the HOT Events team planned her own event with no help from the team… her and her boyfriend Tim went to the states on Holiday and got married in Vegas.
Sarah Glover from Ticketing tied the knot with Pete Hendriks in Rarotonga on 27th July.
If you were 80 years old, what one piece of advice would you give to your grandchildren? You only have one life to live, so love what you do!
We all had bets on her coming home with a ring on her finger, but we didn’t think she would jump the engagement and go straight for the wedding!
BABIES! BABIES! BABIES!
Ajay Ahuja, Thomas Hobson & Allie Nichols
Thomas walked so much he made a hole in his shoe.
CLAIRE HARRÉ - H O T S H I R L E Y-
K AT I E S E A R L E -PRODUCT AKL-
JULIA BOZICH -PRODUCT AKL-
KYLA STRAHL - H OT O N V I C TO R I A -
Claire & Paul Harré welcomed baby James on 29 August weighing a wee 5 pounds. He arrived 5 weeks early, Claire had been busy in the garden and hadn’t even finished up work!
Katie Searle from HOT Product Adventure and her partner Kyle welcomed wee Stella to the world on 28th July. Both Mum and Stella are great and have already received a few visits from team mates.
Julia & Jeff Bozich welcomed Paige Kristina Bozich 2 weeks early at the end of May.
Kyla Strahl had Ava Maria King on the 6th October at 5.45pm. Both are doing really well.
G AY N O R B E N N E T T - H O T P O N S O N BY-
Who do you want to find out more about? Send us your nomination of who should feature in the next ‘What a HOTTIE’!
Bridget Fogarty, Linda Halliday, Sapphire Lukupa & Danni Jones
The winning region trophy awarded to Christchurch
After a calm and relaxed arrival by c-section, Daniel and Gaynor Bennett welcomed baby Dylan to their family weighing 7pd12oz. Big sister Tamsyn is his biggest fan and a great help!
Email houseproud@hot.co.nz with the heading ‘What a HOTTIE’. - 18 -
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