Jane McLoughney pats a cheetah as part of the groups “Walk With The Lions” excursion

A lion enjoys a friendly back rub from Lee-Anne Talbot Blue Bay, New South Wales

Relaxing at the Royal Palm right to Left are: (Back) – Erryn Morris, Jill Wilkinson, Carl Lemnell (Air Mauritius), Lee-Anne Talbot, Julie Napier, James Trotter, Jane McLoughney (Front) – Jeff (White Sand Tours), Marietta Mandl, Gail Hughes (Beachcomber).

Mauritius is fast establishing itself as the destination for 2012 with suppliers hosting a second exclusive famil with TravelManagers. It’s TravelManagers’ fifth exclusive educational for 2011 and its twelfth since they commenced their own dedicated famil trips in October 2009. Six personal travel managers (three each from Western Australia and New South Wales) and James Trotter from TravelManagers’ national partnership office, Gail Hughes  from Beachcomber Holidays and Carl Lemnell from Air Mauritius enjoyed a busy but fun time over six days.

Erryn Morris, representative for Gooseberry Hill, Western Australia says one of the highlights was staying at Beachcomber’s five star Shandrani, Paradis and Trou aux Biches Resorts.

“Beachcomber treated us like movie stars. It was complete luxury with each of us having our own rooms or suites. The restaurants had an incredible range of cuisine and we all took time to explore the facilities personally including the gym/health centres and spas. We were very impressed.”

Julie Napier, representative for Illawong, New South Wales says Mauritius is on her list as a top destination for clients.

“It is so exotic and has that wow factor which is completely justified. The shopping, spas and hotels were mind-blowing but then there were activities to back that up which I know my clients will just love. If you are into nature this is the place. We snorkelled, went on a relaxing cruise where we saw two whales breeching as the sun went down from the catamaran and the ‘Walking with the Lions’ experience – well that just topped it all.”

Marietta Mandl, representative for Hillary’s, Western Australia agrees.

“It was such an amazing interaction walking with the two large lion cubs through their natural habitat and seeing firsthand what amazing animals they are climbing trees with their claws to reach food which had been placed there. There were also cheetahs and tigers, it was exhilarating, emotional and educational - I loved every minute.”

Darren Partridge, sales and marketing manager from Beachcomber says he was told the personal travel managers from TravelManagers were an excellent group who were true professionals.

“Our tour leader, Gail, was most impressed with the calibre of the TravelManagers’ group and their attitude to learn more about Mauritius and Beachcomber, they were a pleasure to have. They showed their professionalism and dedication to their clients continuing to work hard during the trip – checking emails and even requesting quotes for Mauritius whilst over there – very impressive.”

Mr Partridge says Beachcomber is looking forward to future opportunities with Travel Managers.

“We are very interested in working more with them to grow both our brands and business models which we believe complement each other extremely well.”
 
The TravelManager personal travel manager participants were:
Erryn Morris, Gooseberry Hill, Western Australia
Jill Wilkinson, Hamilton Hill, Western Australia

Marietta Mandl, Hillary’s, Western Australia
Lee-Anne Talbot, Blue Bay, New South Wales
Julie Napier, Illawong, New South Wales
Jane McLoughney, Elrington, New South Wales