Travel Counsellors Annual Conference

Where do I start??

Sorry, this is a long but appreciative post….

Firstly, thank you Travel Counsellors for hosting such an amazing conference celebrating our 30th anniversary. Travel Counsellors and our amazing?partners always put on a special event.

This year’s event was held at the Manchester Central.?Most TC's meet up on?Friday evening but for those early arrivals there’s events laid on throughout the day comprising of guest speakers and other activities. I headed to the ?Corporate Hub, a space set up to enable interaction with the Corporate Team, the chance to mix with likeminded colleagues and a space to work – knowing I could still work but mingle without affecting customer service is key to me.

Friday night is where the play hard starts, hosted for the 10th year running by Vernon Kay, the theme was Après Ski and there were some great outfits on display. Along with some great food and entertainment it was brilliant to catch up with friends I’ve not seen for a year and those I’d been lucky enough to meet this year.

Saturday didn’t disappoint with a packed agenda carefully crafted to inspire:-

Tony Walsh – Poet.?Has written a beautiful poem to celebrate our anniversary.

Mo Gawdat – Entrepreneur and previously served as Chief Business Officer for Google X.?Hosts a popular podcast and is the author of 4 International bestselling books. Mo’s story is fascinating and I took so much from listening to him. Learning to turn negatives in to positives and to benefit from failure. I'm looking forward to read and educate myself some more from his books.

Tom Cheesewright – An applied Futurist.?Tom helps global brands and industries to see what’s next and Tom gave us his version of what travel could look like in the future, Fascinating and there were certainly some great insights on where to potentially focus on.

Jo Malone – Entrepreneur and founder of Jo Malone and Jo Loves.?What a story on how she set up Jo Malone, sold it, survived cancer and then set up Jo Loves – she has unrivalled passion for life and it was a privilege to have the chance to listen and learn from Jo.

Saturday night is Gala Night.?Hosted by Vernon Kay, its the chance to dress up, celebrate and recognise our Global & UK Colleagues that have won awards.??The main event - a surprise music act is a closely guarded secret and we’ve had some A list artists in the past and this years didn’t disappoint – the legend that is Nile Rodgers and his band Chic.?They mesmerized us with so many hits and tunes.

Sunday morning and more inspirational guests lined up and if last night wasn’t enough was we got to hear in person from Nile with a Q&A session hosted by Global Sales Director Jim Eastwood.?What an amazing journey and life Niles has led and a genuine honour to hear it first-hand.

We then got to hear from Bruce Poon Tip OC, the founder of one of our key partners G Adventures, the author of Looptail, Unlearn and the documentary the Last Tourist.?Bruce has made me think about travel and how we can change the world by going on holiday – more about this at a later date, it’s certainly a great topic to debate.

Last but not least Sara Davies MBE, founder of Crafters Companion and Dragon on Dragons Den.?Sara is one of Travel Counsellors biggest advocates and I'm delighted is going to help entrepreneurs like myself over the next 12 months alongside Travel Counsellors.

We also got great sessions on the past, present and the future from Steve Byrne, Jon Bauer, Kirsten Hughes, Karen Morris & Karina Fox-Andrews.

Sincere apologies if I’ve missed anyone or anything but a huge thank you to all those that have spent so much time over and above their day jobs to provide this motivational and rewarding weekend for Travel Counsellors like myself.