Shannon Styles with Rail Plus’ Brisbane-based account manager Larry Burrows
Shannon Styles from Flight Centre Townsville Fairfield Waters has beaten more than 800 travel agents to be named the smartest rail expert in Australia for 2016.
Styles said the secret to her success was intense study before taking the Global Rail Expert exam. The reward for all her hard work is a return journey to Europe flying Qatar Airways and a Eurail Pass, both of which she hopes to enjoy in early 2017.
For the first time in its history, this year’s Rail Plus’ Global Rail Expert program was open to every travel consultant in Australia. The response was extraordinary, with more than 1000 agents across Australia and New Zealand completing the course’s 10 training modules, which covered topics such as Amtrak, VIA Rail, Rocky Mountaineer, Qatar, Swiss Travel System, Eurail, France-Spain High Speed, France rail pass and TGV.
The top three graduates were chosen based on the number of questions answered correctly and overall time taken to complete the course. This year’s runner up, Claire Scolyer (Flight Centre Townsville Fairfield Waters), took home a $750 Coles Group and Myer gift card, while third placed graduate, Anthony Hoang (Escape Travel Highpoint), was rewarded with a $250 gift card.
Rail Plus chief executive James Dunne said there was “an enormous desire among consultants to enhance their understanding of international rail” and that every graduate was now better equipped to find the right rail solution to meet their clients’ needs.
“It goes without saying that the success of this year’s program would not have been possible without the assistance of our partner sponsors, and on behalf of Rail Plus and every travel agent who took part, I thank them sincerely for their generous support,” said Dunne.
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