News and 'happenings'  at the Innovative Travel Company

Re-election to Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce Board

MD of The Innovative Travel Company, Robyn Galloway has been re-elected to the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce Board for a third term. Robyn said she was delighted by the vote of confidence from the members and intended to continue working to highlight the needs of the tourism and travel sectors, as well as being a voice for SME’s and the many businesses that were displaced from the CBD during the Earthquake. Canterbury has had an incredibly challenging year and it is important now to focus on moving the region forward in the plans for recovery.  CEO Peter Townsend is to be commended for his broad vision, we are starting to see progress for the business community who have been incredibly resilient, said Robyn.

Pictured Robyn Galloway with long term CECC, CEO Peter Townsend.

Innovative Links with World Class Kiwis

Middle East & Mediterranean specialists, The Innovative Travel Co. hosted a table at the prestigious KEA World Class Kiwi Awards Celebration in Auckland this week.  The wholesalers Egyptian business partner, Elhamy Elzayat, was a nominated for the ‘Friend of NZ’ category, which was won by Lord Charles Denman. The impressive 95 yr old veteran who fought in Libya during the Western Deserts Battlefields campaign alongside many Kiwi’s.  “The event is truly inspirational, said Robyn Galloway, MD “and it was a great honour for Elhamy to be nominated along with many talented and exceptional people.  It was particularly inspirational to speak with Lord Denman,  who bravely fought alongside so many kiwis in WWII  and escaped to Egypt, managing to avoid capture by the Germans”.

Pictured from Left: Robyn Galloway (MD Innovative Travel) and Lord Charles Denman (recipient of the KEA Award)

From Left : Robyn Galloway & Carol Wisker (Innovative), Sue Gartshore (United CBD), Elhamy Elzayat, Sandra Barclay-Graham (Business Travel Ltd), Anne Van Dyke (Travel Broker)

The Innovative Travel Company has been recognised by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism for its outstanding contribution to Egyptian tourism from NZ in 2010.  The ‘Isis Award’ was provided by Egypt’s Ministry to Innovative’s business partner, Elhamy Elzayat to present to the wholesaler on his current visit to New Zealand. At a celebration last Thursday Mr Elzayat (former Honorary Consul General for NZ in Egypt) gave an update on recent and current events in Egypt and presented the award to Robyn Galloway, MD of The Innovative Travel Co.

Mr Elzayat, indicated that ‘Egypt is Back’ and many improvements were on track for the country with the changes in the constitution designed to provide for a truly democratic government. He advised that we would continue to hear about events in Tahrir Square in the centre of Cairo, which his offices overlook, as it is the focal point for any issues which locals want to bring to everyone’s attention and this was part of the process to the new Egypt. He added that these events were being undertaken in a peaceful, albeit very vocal way, and this should not cause concern to travellers ... introducing some humour into his address, Elzayat indicated that the traffic issues in Cairo were still of more concern than the local peaceful protests. All tourist sites have re-opened, travel bans have been removed and all arrangements for travel are operating normally once again as more and more travellers are coming back to Egypt.

Innovative’s business partner appointed to chair Egyptian Tourism Federation

The Innovative Travel Company’s long term business partner, Elhamy El Elzayat (on the left) has been appointed Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation by Egypt’s new Minister of Tourism. He will be responsible for overseeing the election of a new board for the Federation and its five chambers and to develop the strategic tourism plan for Egypt over the next ten years. Innovative’s Managing Director, Robyn Galloway (above right) says she is delighted with the new appointment, which will be very positive for Egyptian tourism.

Egypt moving forward with positive reforms

The Innovative Travel Company’s Robyn Galloway says life is getting back to normal in Egypt. This week an unprecedented 77% of Egyptians voted in favour of amendments to the constitution, to elect a new Parliament & Senate within six months and a President before the end of 2011. This was the first transparent referendum to take place in almost 60 years. Among the changes, the terms of presidency will be limited to two terms of 4 years. In another positive move the Egyptian Stock Exchange reopened Wednesday. All historical sites have reopened and Nile Cruises are operating between the key points of Luxor to Aswan.

Jane at the Taj Mahal in Agra.
To view more photos from Janes
trip to India ... read more

MIKE YARDLEY REPORT FROM 5 DAY CROISIEUROPE CRUISE

Well known travel writer and radio personality Mike Yardley recently cruised with Croisi in France.  His itinerary covered travel from Paris to Honfleur on the Normandy Coast via the historic medieval town of Rouen (site of the burning of Joan of Arc), the fairytale village of Les Andelys and Chateau country.

Read all about his experiences on his Croisi European River Cruise - click here.
See the full itinerary and cruise map - click here.

Your Business: Celebrity hosts help pave way to success

20th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Recently functions were held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to acknowledge and celebrate the milestone 20th birthday celebrations of Innovative Travel. After visiting the Middle East and the Mediterranean for the first time in 1987, founder Robyn Galloway could see the potential for a tour business.   "These areas offered such amazing experiences, sights and people - it became my inspiration to share this with others".

Team on Tour update ...

click here to view Ancient
Kingdoms holidays to
Syria and Lebanon

Syria was like stepping back 1000 years in time to the Arabian Nights. I found the Syrian people very friendly and welcoming everywhere we went. Shopkeepers in the bazaars don’t tend to bother tourists too much,  so you can really have a good scout around the little shops and alleyways. 
Highlights for us were:
* Damascus - the souqs (especially the sweet shops), caravanserais and the Ummayad mosque inside the walled Old City
* Palmyra – looking down at sunset from the Qasr across the ruins in the desert
* Krac des Chevaliers – like a boyhood dream for my son to visit a totally intact and wonderfully preserved Crusader Castle. 

In contrast, Beirut is very modern – like a mini Sydney – with lots of modern buildings of course, partly due to the recent civil war. While we were there, the Iranian President Ahmadinijad was on a state visit which made for an interesting afternoon visit to the Place des Martyrs (the former “Green Line” separating East and West Beirut).
Highlights for us were:
* Lebanese food – fantastic variety of food in Beirut even the fast food is amazing
* Beirut – Visiting the sites made famous during the civil war such as the bullet ridden Beirut Hilton (destroyed in 1975 a few weeks before opening).

 

click here to view Ancient
Kingdoms Oman & Dubai 
holidays

June 2010 : Jenny's trip to Oman and Dubai

I had the pleasure of escorting a group of 10 NZ travel agents on a trip to Oman, via Dubai.  With stays in Muscat, Nizwa, a desert camp and Turtle Beach we gained an excellent overview of what Oman offers visitors.
Dubai is amazing – like Las Vegas but without the gambling and drinking.  The malls are fantastic – everything is bigger and better, and it’s an experience for the whole family with a huge snow ramp and an aquarium: not to forget the fantastic shopping.  Absolutely everything is catered for.
Muscat is such an ancient, interesting and mystical city  – It’s a port and natural deep harbour on the Gulf of Oman with the iron rich Western Al Hajar Mountains running through it – an unusual combination.   I loved the countryside of Oman – deserts, space, friendly people and Wadis.
The 3 highlights for me were 
* Swimming in a wadi – mainly because it was so hot, dry and sandy in the desert and the contrast of the green oasis was so welcome. 
*The Desert Camp is also a must do just because it was so different from anything I had experienced before.  It was amazing to see the stars at night in the clear desert sky.  
* Dune drives up massive sand dunes.  Such an extreme experience, and the colour of the sand is so much ‘redder’ than in photos.

June 2010: In 2010 Robyn has travelled extensively to update some of Innovative Travel's favourite and emerging destinations for both leisure and business travellers.

She has visited: Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Malta, Oman, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Ukraine.

Visiting Libya can only be described as one of the last great adventures. As the country has only opened up in recent years to tourism, there is much of history which is still very visibly intact.

Additions to the Innovative Travel Team ...

French born, Anthony travelled a long and interesting path to arrive on our shores.  Having travelled extensively in Europe, Anthony decided to explore the Southern Hemisphere.  He first joined The Innovative Travel Company in 2005 for two years, leaving us to spend 6 months travelling in South East Asia with a focus on one of our latest destinations India, before returning to work in the south of France.  Anthony brings a wealth of experience with our destinations, products and systems.  We are delighted to welcome back to The Innovative Travel Company Team as Product Manager.

Kirsty Degnan

Kirsty hails from the highlands of Scotland and has travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, North America and the Asia/Pacific region.  This gives her the advantage of having experienced many of the Innovative Travel destinations first hand  and will be a valuable asset to our team, while assisting in the planning of your holidays. Since moving to New Zealand 10 years ago she has worked in the New Zealand travel industry, adding to her already impressive knowledge gained whilst working  for UK based tour operators.