Dennis Basham is the managing director of Exoticca in Australia. Dennis reminds us that we work in an awesome industry; we are so lucky.
“You are so valuable and knowledgeable and have a broad range of skills. Never second-guess yourself. Try to find a good work-life balance and always remember what attracted you to our industry, and seize every opportunity to travel and experience new products! You never stop learning.”
Find out what else they had to say in this week’s Talking Travel.
What does your job involve?
Exoticca launched in Barcelona, Spain in 2013. Since then, Exoticca has launched into B2B markets in 12 countries. Australia is the most recent, so my role mostly involves the promotion of Exoticca’s small groups tours to the Australian travel advisor community. With a focus on training and education, and constantly working on ways to ensure we make it easy for travel advisors to promote us, offer us to their clients and to book us. It needs to be seamless with no fuss.
What do you enjoy most about your profession?
It has to be the awesome people I get to meet, talk with, travel with – many whom, over many years, in various roles, have become good friends. We also work in an industry where we can be strong competitors, however there is a mutual respect that there is room for us all and each product has it’s differences and unique selling points.
Why do you think the travel industry is the best place to work?
What other industry do you get to not only talk about all of the amazing places you promote, sell and have visited, but it is also with a bunch of amazing colleagues, travel advisors and customers who also have a passion to travel, a passion to explore the world, different cultures, while connecting with locals and people from all walks of life. Everyone has a story I’ve found!
What are the biggest challenges for you in your profession?
The perception that touring is only for the 60+ age group. The new way of touring with flexible itineraries, small groups, and the ability to turn any trip into a private tour with Exoticca has an appeal to a much wider audience.
What do you think are the biggest challenges the industry faces?
Definitely attracting new talent. As an industry we need to focus on how to attract new blood to look at travel, tourism, aviation and even hospitality as a career path, not just a short term, interim role. We know it is a very rewarding career with many opportunities for continued growth and we need to ge this message across to a wider audience.
What do you think will be the biggest game changer in the travel industry in the next 12 months?
Technology is always improving, this has to be our focus. Making it easier for travel advisors to deal with you as a supplier, so they can focus on servicing their clients. There is lots of great work being done in this space from Exoticca and many other operators which is exciting. Work life balance continues to be a challenge for our industry, so we must continue to work on systems and processes for continued improvement.
What destination/travel trend do you think is the next big thing?
We know Australian’s continue to travel no matter that is happening around the world or financially, maybe just closer to home. I see South East Asia is continuing to be very popular, and really affordable. I believe we will continue to see operators want to continue to be a one-stop-shop, offering all inclusive options. Making it easy for travel advisors and customers.
What are your thoughts on responsible travel and how do you try to implement this in your workplace?
I’ve always travelled with the idea of trying to leave a destination and it’s people in a better position that when you arrived. This can be as small as ensuring you only use what you need, take with you items that are not easily and properly disposed of, and to think about the bigger picture and your impact on visiting – good and bad. Being responsible when travelling ranges from doing what you can to support local businesses, health and education of the locals through to ensuring you are doing all you can to protect wildlife, the oceans, the people, right through to observing local cultures and customs. If we all do a little more, we can make a real difference.
Who inspires you most and why?
My partner and daughter (including my new grandson) are the ones who inspire me the most. All very good humans who work hard, play hard and are truly kind and generous people, who think of others always, well before themselves.
What is your must-pack travel item(s)?
Hat, glasses, sunscreen, moisturiser, iphone and charger! As a fair skinned Aussie, I need to do all I can to keep a youthful appearance! And stay up to speed on the socials!
Who would you invite on your next holiday if you could choose anyone and where would you go?
I guess most people here would suggest some famous person, celebrity, politician etc however I am never really star-struck by such people, to me they are just like us, just have more of a profile and should always be doing more to use their voice for good! For me, I value time with my partner and close family. I’d invite my partner to visit the Maldives with a stop-over in Singapore. A relaxing, all-inclusive island in the Maldives doing very little with a pre-Sinagpore stop for chilli crab, cocktails and a very cold Singha at the Hawker Centre.
