Eclipse Travel Key Account Manager & Travel Designer, Luke Glenday, works with clients to tailor make their ideal itineraries for travel in Latin America & Africa.
This week we caught up with Luke to discuss the industry, trends and more in Talking Travel.
What does your job involve?
Working with clients to tailor make their ideal itineraries for travel in Latin America & Africa. We also do a lot of polar cruising so finding the right itineraries, ships or special offers for clients in Antarctica or the Arctic. I also work as a BDM so work with a lot of travel agents around the country to help develop their business to our destinations through training, joint presentations and offering places on our small group famils to South America & Africa.
What do you enjoy most about your profession?
I love the destinations that we work with, so I really enjoy helping clients plan their trips to these incredible places. It’s very rewarding to hear about their amazing experiences when they get back. Working with the industry to identify opportunities to promote our destinations and deals also allows me to meet some of the amazing agents we have out there. I really enjoy developing those relationships and seeing both businesses grow, seeing the tools that we design with them being put into place and delivering results for them is really great.
What are the biggest challenges for you in your profession?
There are always challenges working in places like South America, Africa and Antarctica. People are often apprehensive about travelling to these places for the first time, as they often aren’t that familiar with them. I think one of the great things about being a specialist tailor-made company is that we know our product inside out, and can truly match our offering to suit any client needs and set their expectations up front – this is a great help if they have a particular apprehension about visiting a certain area or participating in a particular activity.
What do you think are the biggest challenges the industry faces?
There are so many challenges, I mean who saw coronavirus coming, or Ebola and SARS before that? Economic instability is a big one, travel is a luxury for most people so it’s one of the first people cut back on when times are tough. The last 12 months have clearly been tough on many companies, too tough in a number of cases. In difficult times it is even more important to support our trade partners, and through the strong partnerships we have developed over the years we are proud to have been able to always find solutions for clients when the unexpected has happened.
What do you think will be the biggest game changer in the travel industry in the next 12 months’?
Would be nice to know wouldn’t it? Things are moving quickly in the expedition cruise market, so many new ships are beginning operations. Clients have access to more information and endless options when choosing their holiday, and I think that specialisation is becoming more important. We will see some pretty big advancements in technology and products that will allow customers to feel like their holidays have really been designed for them rather than just something off the shelf. Whatever the next big thing is, let’s hope it’s a positive thing.
What destination/travel trend do you think is the next big thing?
I think Antarctica is becoming more and more popular and also more attainable for a lot of people, there have been and are some incredibly good deals around recently. It’s a destination unlike any other, one that I am very grateful to have been able to recently experience for myself.
We have already seen a big move by big hotel chains, cruise operators and other suppliers to include local suppliers & authentic experiences you may not have expected from a chain 5-10 years ago. I think this will increase as customers demand more authentic product & experiences, focus more on sustainable & responsible aspects of their holidays and traditional companies continue to deal with the sharing economy and the likes of Uber, Airbnb etc.
What are your thoughts on responsible travel and how do you try implement this in your workplace?
I think responsible travel is incredibly important, environmentally and socially. It can be a difficult line to walk, we help people travel to remote and untouched destinations such as the polar regions, Amazon or the national parks in Africa, but you have to be aware of issues like over-tourism, pollution, water use etc.
We are selective with our service providers and only work with locally owned companies who have a similar ethos. It was great to see on recent trips to Africa and Antarctica how companies we work with are doing everything they can to cut out single use plastics, use sustainable water sources and minimize the impact of tourists in these sensitive environments.
We have also identified a range of not for profit organisations across our key destinations and make a donation of US $25 for every passenger that travels to those destinations. This money is spent on conservation, animal welfare and community development.
Who inspires you most and why?
I’ve always been a huge David Attenborough fan. He’s still going strong well into his 90s and he’s someone people listen to when he talks about climate change and environmental preservation. We need more people like him.
What is your must pack travel item(s)?
A universal power adaptor and a good book. I don’t get much reading time in day to day life so travelling gives me that rare opportunity.
Who would you invite on your next holiday if you could choose anyone and where would you go?
I’d take my wife Jo, she’s missed out on some of the unbelievable trips I’ve done the last few years. It would either be East Africa or a South Georgia and Antarctica cruise.
Contact Email – luke@eclipsetravel.com.au
