ITTN’s Shane Cullen is in Killashee Hotel for the 2023 Travel Centres Conference. This weekend marks Travel Centres’ 18th annual conference, with c. 200 agents and trade partners for a weekend of insightful talks, network events, and of course, the gala evening on Saturday. Friday evening saw the owners’ forum in the afternoon followed by dinner and festivities.
Suzanne Rowe – MSC Cruises
Friday evening’s pre-drinks were sponsored by Sunway. The Owners’ and Managers’ Dinner was sponsored by MSC Cruises with dinner wines sponsored by Hertz.
Suzanne welcomed everyone in the room and thanked Bernie and Dominic with a rapturous round of applause from delegates. She praised the pair, stating “They organise such a wonderful conference every year, and I have to say, I’m sure everybody would agree with me, it’s always one of the highlights in my year and I really enjoy it”.
“What I’m here today is just to say thank you to each and every one of you… I know we don’t say it to you on a regular basis but I just want to say thank you so much for your support. We really do appreciate it. We look forward to a fantastic 2024 and let’s hope that it’s a good one for each and every one of you.”
Karaoke Kompetition – Hitting the High Right Note
Friday evening saw the “Karaoke Kompetition” bring delegates through the night to the wee hours of Saturday morning.
“And I would walk 500 miles…” proclaimed the Accident & General duo as they opened proceedings to the Karaoke Kompetition, setting a high bar and delighting the audience.
Lee Osborne channelled Morrissey with This Charming Man, a worthy party piece highlighting his talent (at charming people but he can certainly hold a note).
Don’t Look Back in Anger was sung by a very convincing Liam Gallagher and kept toes tapping.
Rebecca Kelly and Paul Manning (but mostly Rebecca) sang the iconic Cranberries song, Zombie – another hidden talent of Miss Kelly.
Mark Clifford gave an energetic rendition of “Hey, Hey, We’re the Monkeys” to an enthusiastic audience with John Barrett and Dee Sweeney giving it socks.
Mary Denton, who needed no help on stage, sang a stunning rendition of Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now”.
My hero though is the sweetheart, Jennifer Callister who saved my bacon – thanks for the head’s up!
Despite Dominic’s reservations ahead of the singing, the karaoke was a truly fantastic and fun-filled evening bonding delegates after a long year of hard work. Sequins, sparkles and singing were a perfect combination for an evening’s entertainment.
Wood for the Trees
This year’s conference, entitled Seeing the Wood for the Trees, sets out to address the uncertainties that exist for travel agents in 2023. The conference features a line-up of speakers who will discuss various ‘macro’ level perspectives for mitigating these challenges.
A Word from Dominic Burke
Dominic shared his thoughts ahead of the conference starting in earnest, “I’m tired but optimistic. Travel is back with a bang I think everybody would agree and I think you can almost measure the anticipation even in the room tonight, even before the conference kicks off properly. Tomorrow is going to be a great day. We have a great lineup of speakers. The usual funding games are set for tomorrow night. I’m looking forward to it!”. I’ll second that, it already promises to be a jam-packed agenda with a fun-filled evening of festivities. The dynamic duo, Bernie and Dominic Burke never disappoint!
