Hotel Industry

Position: Hotel Receptionist

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• Scandic Sunnfjord Hotel & Spa

• Nordseter  Hoyfjells Hotell, Lillehammer

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Travel Agency Manager

Position: Manager

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• Coolangatta Travelworld, Gold Coast Australia

• STA Travel, Gold Coast, Australia

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International Group-Tour Coordinator

Main Destinations:

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• Egypt

• Peru & Bolivia

• Mexico

• Myanmar & Cambodia

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Travel Agencies:

• Meridien World Travel

• Lifestyle Travel & Cruise Centre

• All About Travel

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International Tour Operators:

• Travco, Egypt

• Blue Sky Egypt

• Minerva Travel & Tours, Egypt

• Coltour, Peru

• Crillon Tours, Bolivia

• Explora Mexico, Mexico

• Golden Asia Vacation, Cambodia

• Myanmar Voyages, Myanmar

TOUR DESIGN

How Travellers Experience a Destination Comes Down to Tour Planning

Tour Development is a very specific discipline. A Tour product is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific centre of interest which represents the core of the destination. A tourism product that exceed the expectations of travellers, requires creativity, research, planning and preparation. When the package is priced and sold through distribution channels, we know that it has a life-cycle. My speciality is creating themed journeys and experiences that leaves lasting impressions. I have been designing tours since 1996 and I know from customer feedback that a destination can transform you. It can change your life forever.

Tour design achievements include privileged access to the spiritual and historic sites in Egypt. "All Exclusive" private accesses inside the Great Pyramid, ancient temples, and tombs in the Valley of the Kings. This, to allow our groups to enjoy crowd-free explorations of the archaeological zones outside opening hours. In Cambodia there were back-in-time adventures with a Buddhist Monk in the ruins of Angkor. Same arrangements were made in Bagan, Myanmar. Every itinerary I designed included at least one off-the-beaten-track excursion. 

MARKETING

I have been selling holistic group tours online since 2003. Marketing is a critical part of my job. Especially the supply of visual and written content to help make marketing easy and effortless for holistic teachers and tour leaders who distribute the material through their social and professional networks. In addition to the published itinerary,  tour conditions and booking form, I create ads, brochures, web-design elements & content that sell trips. Infographics, teasers and mini-stories for social media is another way to attract attention.

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Graphic Art Designed in Corel Draw 

Graphic Art Designed in Corel Draw 

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Besides booking deadlines and getting the seasons right, I keep and eye on sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, starlight and full moons. Sometimes, a trip is dated to coincide with the full moon at a specific site. Subtle light throws a beautiful blanket of soft colour over landscapes, temples and archaeological sites. It produces the kind of magical atmosphere that every traveller dream of.

Beyond that, the timing of each excursion is carefully planned and so is the pace of the overall journey. 

 There must be time to absorb and linger. Every place has a story to tell. Some stories are silent. It could be the moon skirting the tip of an obelisk. Or it could be the visual speech of  light and shadow dancing over ancient columns. These are very personal experiences, not to be missed.

AUSTRALIAN TOUR LEADERS

For the last 22 years I have created and arranged group tours for many holistic practitioners. Some of them became close friends, like Jo and Marianne.

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Jo Buchanan

Jo Buchanan is a published author of four books. Before she retired she worked as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Meditation Teacher. Prior to that, she was a school teacher in Australian primary and secondary schools, onset tutor for child actors in television and films and she has also taught creative writing and meditation inside maximum security prisons as well as conducted workshops in creative writing for people living with a mental illness and their carers.

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Her love of Egypt is infectious! She recently published a book called "The Final Mystery: A Quest for Identity and Belonging" by Animal Publishing.

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The Final Mystery is the story of Jo Buchanan's exploration of the notion that our destiny is not set in stone and that we are all capable of creating the changes we wish for. The book goes into details about our working relationship and the tours I created for her.

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Jo and I worked together from 1998 to 2011, when she decided to retire.

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Jo Buchanan's last tour to Egypt in 2011 with a group of seventeen happy camel-caravan nomads.

Marianne Winter

Marianne Winter has formal training in Bowen Therapy, Professional Counselling, Breathwork, Reiki, Bush-flower Essences and Assessment & Workplace Training.

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In recent years she has been giving lectures at the University of Southern Queensland and is currently volunteering at CQ University, Bundaberg.

I began working with Marianne Winter in 2005. She is a passionate traveller and has taken tours on a regular basis to Peru & Bolivia, Egypt, Mexico, Myanmar and Cambodia. I am currently organising a tour to Uluru for her. She keeps her tour groups small and intimate with a maximum twelve tour participants. 

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Marianne Winter's group in Mexico

TOUR DIRECTORS & LOCAL GUIDES

To coordinate an international group tour requires team work. My team is made up of talented and passionate travel professionals. Travel Agents in the office, handling enquiries, bookings and payments. On the ground I have a dedicated network of professional guides, tour operators and ground managers. In Peru, Bolivia and Mexico - I use indigenous guides who offer the kind of life changing, immersive, spiritual experiences that transform a great itinerary  into a legendary itinerary. Indigenous guides can uniquely offer personal insights into their ancient traditions and spiritual homeland. In Myanmar and Cambodia, I use Buddhist monks from nearby monasteries to demonstrate timeless methods of meditation.

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Bunuba Land Hand Over Ceremony 2012 in Danggu Conservation Park, Fitzroy Crossing (Photo by Janne E Salo.)

THE PLACES I HAVE LIVED

From 2003 - 2016 I lived on a remote indigenous community just outside Fitzroy Crossing. My hubby worked for an indigenous company called Bunuba Inc. I stayed connected with the travel industry on the Gold Coast and overseas with the blessings of email and dial-up internet. These were happy and productive years and I successfully designed and arranged the tours listed above without being affected by the remote location. The years in Fitzroy Crossing were some of the happiest years in my life and the Bunuba people are now my family.

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FAVOURITE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES

Graphic Art by Janne E Salo

SECRETS OF THE ANDES TOUR

This tour was escorted by Marianne Winter in May, 2016