Christian Hunter

It’s the dream: jetsetting to a far-flung, exotic destination without having to worry about anything more taxing than packing your suitcase. You don’t have to search for flights online, or spend time trying to ascertain whether your hotel has good reviews—all of these finicky tasks have been done for you. Furthermore, if anything does go wrong with a booking—touch wood—someone else fixes it for you. This streamlined simplicity is what travel agent with a difference Travellers Choice aims to achieve by offering a proactive service for its customers.

What started as a cooperative buying group formed by a band of independent travel agents is now a countrywide chain connecting agents over Australia. CEO of Travellers Choice Christian Hunter says that the company has grown significantly since the group first formed and now has more than 150 agents as part of its network.

"The organisation started out in Western Australia as a small cooperative buying group for independent travel agents," Christian explains. "It’s evolved over the years to become what we are today, which is a national, unlisted public company representing travel agencies in all states around Australia. So it’s a very different organisation to what it was, and the focus has changed from being purely a buying group to being more of a marketing group."

Travellers Choice has a unique structure as a retail travel group. Its members own their own businesses, and are the only shareholders in the company. According to Christian, this ensures Travellers Choice travel agents are completely committed to the business and its customers. "I think what really sets us apart is how absolutely focused we are on the customer. As a company, we are really focused on our members and making sure that they have the best possible customer experience from Travellers Choic