The team from The Travel Brokers — Janine Mallon’s office in Dunedin — have recently been globetrotting in the quest to find exciting new adventures for their clients.
With 40 years’ experience in the industry between them, broker and owner-operator Janine Mallon, travel consultant Jenny Galliven, and office manager Lauren Macshane have a vast amount of knowledge.
A member of Helloworld, The Travel Brokers New Zealand was launched in 2002, with Janine establishing her business in Dunedin in August 2010.
''Jenny and I have worked together on and off for the 15 years since I started in the industry,’’ Janine says. ‘‘She’s been with my team since September, and Lauren joined me in July 2015.’’
Part of one of the largest Approved Travel Broker networks in New Zealand, The Travel Brokers hold both TAANZ and IATA accreditation, meaning protection for their clients. And being under the umbrella of Helloworld Limited gives them big-brand buying power and access to great deals.
The Travel Brokers work with their clients on all kinds of travel, including family and individual holidays, culinary tours, safaris, river cruises, business travel, weddings, honeymoons, and groups. With no street-front office, they pride themselves on customised service, and taking care of the little details that make travelling more enjoyable.
''Things are more personal,’’ Jenny says. ‘‘They can deal with us from the initial inquiry right through, rather than being passed around. And we’ve got 24-hour backup for after-hours emergencies, which is one of us, not some anonymous person overseas.’’
Although it doesn’t happen often, stressful issues such as lost or stolen credit cards and tickets can be dealt with swiftly at any time by one of the trio.
Being able to dedicate more time to clients than most street-front agencies means that The Travel Brokers will attend to seating and baggage requirements. They also take care of Airpoints and ensure clients gain maximum benefit from them. And as they spend a lot of time travelling and researching destinations, there is a lot more personal knowledge to draw from than can be found elsewhere.
The staff at Travel Brokers take the time to get to know their customers properly, so they can customise and tailor-make an itinerary to suit them perfectly.
Lauren is the research guru, making sure that a hotel which had a four-star rating six months ago is still up to that grade after a change of management, for example. In recent times she has travelled in Australia, exploring the Bendigo region near Melbourne, as well as a Western Australia trip. W.A. is increasingly popular for New Zealanders, who may have family there, and also as a holiday destination.
It’s a good option for Otago travellers, as good flight times via Christchurch seasonally and Auckland year-round mean the journey can be done in a day.
Jenny has been further afield recently, experiencing two different European river cruises on the Danube, the Rhine, and the Main.
''It’s a fantastic way to see Europe at a leisurely pace,’’ she says. ''You see something different from the perspective of being on the river, places that were designed and built around the river. There’s lots of history and scenery.’’
Janine fitted a lot of travel into 2016. As well as taking in the state of Tennessee, and the Christmas markets of Switzerland, she did a Southern Africa trip to see the wildlife — one of her key passions. Another travel highlight to add to her list was a two-week visit in 2014 to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.
''It was on the bucket list, but I didn’t know if I’d ever get there,’’ Janine says. ''It included a cruise around the Southern Galapagos, and we spent nights in a lodge as well. I liked the cruising component most, because it meant you got to some pretty remote islands.’’
All these experiences add to the already enviable knowledge held by The Travel Brokers — Janine Mallon’s team in Dunedin.
It’s no wonder then that they’ve got a strong and expanding base of clients within the Otago region, and also all around New Zealand.
❑ THE TRAVEL BROKERS: Call (03) 453-1455, or visit www.thetravelbrokers.co.nz/janinemallon for more information.
