One of the world’s great transcontinental trains – The Indian Pacific – traverses Australia between Sydney and Perth, and its owner and TravelManagers’ partner supplier, Great Southern Rail, recently treated a select group of Personal Travel Managers (PTMs) on a fabulous two-day journey, on part of the 4,352km route, from Sydney to Adelaide.
Bianca Sargent, Business Development Coordinator-Domestic for Great Southern Rail hosted the group of ten PTMs –
Joshua Faddoul representative for Adelaide, Judy Gillings representative for Bateau Bay, Cathy Moir representative for Gymea Bay, Phil Kimberlee representative for Chelsea Heights, Heather Taylor representative for Mornington, Simone Fraser representative for Wandin East, Hillary Packer representative for Morphett Vale, Anne-Maree Selmo representative for Edithvale, Sarah Harington representative for Maroochydore and Maria Pandalai representative for Townsville.
The inaugural Indian Pacific journey was in February 1970 and the entire trip, between the east and west coasts of Australia, takes three nights and four days, from the Blue Mountains of NSW across the Nullarbor Plain. Both berth compartments and reclining seat accommodation options are available, with meals served in the dining car, and The Queen Adelaide Restaurant carriage for Platinum and Gold Service guests.
“Every meal we had onboard in the Queen Adelaide Restaurant was exquisite. Everything is prepared fresh onboard by chefs. Everybody on board was friendly and the service faultless,” said Sarah Harington.
Off-train excursions for the group, all included in the ticket price and many exclusive to the Indian Pacific guests, proved to be memorable experiences for the PTMs. Maria Pandalai said she found the visit to the Pro Hart Gallery in Broken Hill “… most enjoyable, and the Barossa Valley tour which is simply amazing.”
For Judy Gillings and Anne-Maree Selmo, the Barossa was also a highlight, capped with a beautiful dinner at Yalumba Estate, made even more special, according to Selmo, following pre-dinner tasting plates and matched wines at Seppeltsfield. Both the Seppeltsfield and Yalumba experiences are exclusive to Indian Pacific guests.
Simone Fraser says the whole experience was invaluable.
“The Indian Pacific is famed for travelling on the longest stretch of straight railway track in the world, and experiencing the train myself has really helped to understand the product; it’s one thing to become familiar with a high interest experience via training updates but nothing compares to the real thing. This famil experience has been so beneficial and I can truly sell this product with first-hand knowledge and absolute confidence.”
“Our partner supplier relationships have been built over many years and support of these products is absolutely key to our business model. The ability for our PTMs to experience dedicated famils is a large part of this support,” says Executive General Manager, Michael Gazal.
“TravelManagers prides itself on providing exceptional and personal customer service which comes from first-hand knowledge and experience. Educationals that allow first-hand experience of products, such as our co-created dedicated supplier famils, are so important and why we proactively work to provide as many educational opportunities as possible.”
IMAGE:L-R: Sarah Harington, Maria Pandalai, Simone Fraser, Heather Taylor, Hilary Packer, Josh Faddoul, Phil Kimberlee, Anne-Maree Selmo, Judy Gillings and Cathy Moir
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