At 550 hectares, it’s set to be one of the largest safari parks in the world and it certainly sounds like it will be a one-of-a-kind, highly immersive experience. Think Marula, the new premium daytime spa; up-close-and-personal animal encounters right from the balcony of your lodging; dawn and dusk experiences with guides in custom-designed vehicles; and enjoying a drink at the sundowner deck over the watering hole, where animals gather.
Journey Beyond may be well known for its rail adventures like The Ghan and The Indian-Pacific, but its operations spread across four areas: rail; touring and lodges; marine and aviation; attractions and dining.
However, its partnership with the Ryan family, the owners of Monarto Safari Resort, is its first meaningful management agreement and off the back of my chat with Group CEO Chris Tallent today, it sounds like there may be more to come in the future.
“We will continue to expand. We have a strong growth agenda, both organically and inorganically, through acquiring further businesses that align with our strategy and the types of experiences that we deliver,” he said.
“We’ll be seeking further management agreements to partner with owners of experiential lodging and experiences. They could be cruise businesses or a variety of other businesses, but relate to delivering an incredible experience.”
A highlight of my week was meeting with the Disneyland Resort team on not one, but two occasions, first during a delightful brunch to celebrate its 70th anniversary and second at the Disney Days event, where we listened to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Director Andrea Robinson and other industry experts share insights into the business and current travel trends.
We heard about some of the spectacular festivities taking place right now to mark seven decades of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, like incredible night-time and day-time parades, as well as the rise in multi-gen travel and the AWOK demographic (that’s ‘adults without kids’).
However, the team also addressed the elephant in the room – travelling to the US in the current geopolitical climate.
Robinson was adamant that travelling to the US is safe right now and that it is up to agents to cut through the “negative news” and help fulfil their clients’ “Disneyland dreams”.
“Your knowledge, your expert advice, your insider tips are so important right now, and there are headwinds out there that we can’t control,” Robinson said.
“Travelling to Disneyland Anaheim is safe. It’s secure, it’s magical,” she said.
“Right now, clients really need your reassurance; there is a lot of negative noise out there and we need to cut through.”
Onto other news, we sent out a breaker on Wednesday morning about Web Travel Group’s latest financial results for its first full trading year as a standalone entity. Results were mixed with lower revenues, margins, EBITDA and net profit, but MD John Guscic declared it was “an exceptional start”.
“We are targeting record EBITDA in FY26 and remain committed to delivering $10 billion TTV in FY30 at circa 50% EBITDA margins,” he said.
Cruise Weekly Editor Myles Stedman had a chat with Lyn Ormiston, Luxperience’s Event Director, who revealed in an exclusive interview that the event may expand beyond Sydney in the future, as it seeks to become the flagship platform for luxury travel across the Oceania region.
My colleague Travel Daily Editor Adam Bishop has just returned from a week-long trip on board Carnival Adventure, where he chatted with Carnival Cruise Line Hotel Director Melissa Yates about how the cruise line’s rebrand is going, since P&O Cruises sailed off into the sunset. You can check out their video interview on our LinkedIn.
Adam also had an exclusive interview with Agentivity CEO, Riann van Schoor, who revealed his concern with Finnair’s recent decision to adopt Amadeus’ Native Order distribution technology – without actually engaging advisors on what the new changes mean.
“The fact that these bookings can be made on [Finnair’s] B2C website suggests they are using NDC in their direct channel, which apart from not being the norm, or indeed what we have been told the intention was, adds to my worry about the lack of inclusion of the travel sellers.”
Into the skies, Boeing has managed to dodge criminal prosecution relating to two fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing actually admitted to obstructing the Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into the crashes, but according to the US Department of Justice, the company will be handed a fine instead of facing a criminal trial.
Obviously, not everyone is happy with the decision, including Senator Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut.
“This special deal for Boeing is an outrageous injustice to victims and their families, whose losses resulted from Boeing’s unforgivable failures,” he said.
Meanwhile, there were a few major industry shuffles this week, with AmaWaterways CEO and co-owner Rudi Schreiner transitioning to the board and President Catherine Powell taking over from him. Across to the South Pacific, Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljoen is returning to Air Mauritius as CEO, a carrier he once led for several years during the 2010s.
On that note, I’m off to do school pick-up and start my weekend.
