The third iteration of the showcase rolled into Sydney last night following a successful hosting in Melbourne before heading to Brisbane.
The event has quickly become a marquee B2B event on the travel industry calendar, with more than $140,000 in prizes on offer over the three days.
The inaugural showcase in 2024 hosted 35 exhibitors and attracted some 600 attendees. This year’s event will see 65 exhibitors front up to more than 1,o00 travel industry professionals with the 2027 version expected to hit 80 and more than 1,200 respectively.
“We started with an idea that we wanted to highlight our niche status and make a statement to the industry that didn’t perhaps understand how many niche products Entire Travel Group work with,” said Greg McCallum, Sales & Marketing Director (pictured far left).
The showcase format is designed to maximise value for both sides.
“The whole travel agent industry at large is here,” added McCallum. “There’s Virtuoso, Travel Associates, Flight Centre, Travel Managers, etc. This offers more bang for buck from an exhibitor perspective – they really enjoy that aspect of our program.”
A notable shift this year has been dropping the traditional passport‑stamp incentive used at many industry functions.
“We’ve kind of bucked the trend,” McCallun said. “We don’t think that’s necessary… we’re now backing on the maturity and the professionalism of our travel agent partners.”
While the showcase has exploded in scale, ETG is clear about capacity and direction. The company is comfortable with 1,100–1,200 agents as a ceiling and the focus now is on quality, not size.
That focus is mirrored in the company’s product strategy. Managing Director Brad McDonnell said Entire used the pandemic pause to completely rework its offering around fully packaged, high‑value itineraries.
“Our average transaction is now more than four times greater post‑COVID than pre‑COVID,” he added, noting that Entire now offers more than 600 pre-built packages on its website.
McDonnell also revealed that the wholesaler is leaning into niche product and curated experiences under its new ‘Locally Made’ banner.
These might include wine tasting in a French cellar, a cooking class in Italy, truffle hunting or having an intimate experience with an Indigenous guide in Canada.
“We’re talking about our hand-picked local experts. We have an incredible range of suppliers and this is what I like to call our best of the best,” said McDonnell.
“If you want that unique, boutique, memorable experience – not getting off a coach with 40 other people and looking at a monument – but actually spending time with someone locally who is passionate – as it says, locally made – then this is our offer.”
Locally Made also taps into Entire’s broader sustainability and regenerative tourism goals.
The company partners with One Tree Planted, prints brochures on FSC‑certified paper and encourages “regional and seasonal disbursement” to get travellers out of overcrowded hot spots and into local communities.
“Our role at Entire Travel Group is to assist agents to deliver high value client service. The way we do that is through all we do in terms of the processes that we have in place and the packaging that we do.
“That’s where we see our role and that’s where we see our role growing – and it is growing. We see our focus for agents in the industry to make the hard easy.”
https://www.entiretravel.com.au/
