NTIA Champions! Christian Hunter, MD of Most Outstanding Travel Agency Network, Travellers Choice, on the (not so) secret to the group’s success

 

At the recent NTIAs (National Tourism Industry Awards), Christian Hunter, the Managing Director of Travellers Choice, discussed the significance of the group winning the Most Outstanding Travel Agency Network award.  A win for the fourth consecutive year!  He emphasized that this achievement reflects their commitment to excellence and the importance of customer loyalty in their success. Hunter also highlighted Travellers Choice’s dedication to empowering Australia’s independent agents, showcasing how they strive to foster a supportive environment within the industry.

What does winning this award mean to Travellers Choice?

It’s immensely rewarding for the entire Travellers Choice family because it means the broader travel industry recognises and respects our efforts to set the benchmark when it comes to supporting Australia’s independent travel agents.

To what do you attribute the group’s success?

The fact that Travellers Choice is so dedicated to supporting its members, and our relentless push to find new ways to enhance that support.  Our entire focus is on ensuring our members have everything they need to succeed. That’s why this year we achieved an astonishing Net Promoter Score of 90.  This puts us in the upper echelons of companies globally when it comes to customer loyalty.

What are you most excited about that’s coming up for Travellers Choice and the sector more broadly?

We’ve got our conference this weekend, so we’ll have a great opportunity to celebrate as a group. At the same time, we’ll be announcing new initiatives to help our members address some pressing challenges.  As to the sector more broadly, ATIA, which I chair, has just released some great initiatives that will also help the entire travel agency community thrive – and I’m really excited to see those rolled out.

What does the future look like for Travellers Choice?

In a word… bright! Recognition at four consecutive National Travel Industry Awards [2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024] is a great endorsement of the products and services we offer, and we’ll be working to capitalise on that by inviting other successful, independent members to our group.

What do you love most about Travellers Choice?

The camaraderie and the passionate desire among our members to see Travellers Choice succeed.  We have a culture of support that goes beyond our corporate office and extends to every member of our network.  They will do anything to help their colleagues.  I think that’s a unique and special aspect of our group.

Care to share a fun travel tip that you swear by when exploring new places?

Do your research, but be prepared to wander and get lost because, in my experience, finding your way home can lead you to stumble across some amazing hidden gems.  If all else fails, you’re bound to find a few bars to stop in.

Similar to our mantra here at TravLin Travel – “get lost on purpose, just have your hotel name handy”.  Congratulations Travellers Choice … we are very proud to be members of such an incredible and supportive network agency group.  Watch out 2025… we’ll be knocking on your door for our 5th!

Linda Forster – TravLin Travel