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ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVEL COMPANY
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- What a good idea!.. A specialist UK based Australian Travel Information Service for UK travellers to Australia and NZ!
Based in Surrey, UK, just outside of London, the Australian Travel Company is fully owned and operated by experienced Australian travel professionals. We are an enormously knowledgeable & professional travel information services business specializing in travel information for Australia and the SW Pacific. That’s all we do - Provide up to date information for Australia and the SW Pacific to UK travellers.
We are NOT a travel agency nor are we a tour operator, we DO NOT sell travel services - nor do we sell airline seats. What we do - and we think that we do it very well - is we provide and maintain a comprehensive travel and tourism services directory (portal) specifically for UK travellers to Australia, enabling you to contact and book direct “do it yourself” (DIY) travel arrangements with Australian travel and tourism operators. Not only do you save - in most cases - quite a considerable amount of money by buying direct from the owner or principal thus avoiding paying commission, you generally only pay when you arrive in Australia (accommodation in particular) and pay in Australian dollars converted at the bank buying rate of the day to UK pounds. Result = no currency surcharges as are often applied when buying through a tour operator in the UK. You also usually have access to the most up to date ‘last minute’ special rates (if applicable) that are offered by the principal.
We understand travel and travel distribution implicitly - particularly for Australia - as after all - we created the very first Australian online travel company back in 1995 specifically for promoting Australia to overseas visitors - and collected quite a few awards along the way ..!)
We are also a hard working, vibrant and fun company - and we believe that you should have access to ALL travel information sources possible - as your holiday to Australia should be the most important (and fun!) thing in the world to you - and to us as well!
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Important - Your Financial Security when booking direct with Hotels and Tourism Operators in Australia
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In today’s fast paced online information age DIY travel arrangements have become the norm with booking your travel arrangements direct online. Of course, with most major airlines to Australia your monies are safe due to the sheer financial size of the airline. For land arrangements and tours in Australia, by booking and paying direct with Australian travel and tourism operators most of them only require payment on the day the service is utilized. In the case of accommodation, this is usually at check out with check in payment of usually a 1 - 3 night credit card deposit guarantee. Also, by using a credit card, most credit card companies (check with your bank or credit card company!) will refund your payment if you can prove that the service you paid for was not delivered or not substantially as advertised.
And last - but the most important - is to have VALID and comprehensive travel insurance to cover ALL of your travel arrangements. Be VERY careful here - as many policies do NOT cover all eventualities you could encounter. REMEMBER - READ THE SMALL PRINT!
So what’s our track record - and why should you consider using our directory for your trip to OZ?? (Or for that matter NZ - at least we can beat them at cricket!? (C’mon Aussie C’mon - But - the Ashes did return to Australia in 2007!) For you to better decide on using our services - here’s our background and pedigree. The founders of The Australian Travel Company ( that’s us! ) are Australians/Kiwis with over 50 years of combined expertise and skills within the global travel & tourism field, particularly in online travel and tourism sales to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
(*The Australian Travel Company is a fully owned operating division of Travel Match Ltd)
The following abbreviated resumes provide an overview of the Travel Match founders.
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 Graeme Archer
Managing Director
After selling his shareholding as co-founder of the multi award winning online Australian travel company (Travel Online), Graeme moved back to the UK in 2002 to co-found Travel Match Ltd (and its associated operating entities, including the Australian Travel Company) with his wife Nikki. As Managing Director of Travel Match, Graeme holds the overall responsibility for all Travel Match operating divisions including the Australian Travel Company, UK Travel Search and Ancestor Travel. Graeme's tourism career spans over 25 continuous years, including extensive managerial online travel management experience. Graeme is a very proud born and bred Aussie and knows his country - as well as the South Pacific Region - inside out!
Executive appointments held include senior managerial and executive positions in Australian Airlines (now Qantas) Manager Australia and NZ for United Airlines (Australia) Travel Division (United Vacations), Owner/Managing Director of Pacifica Holidays (Australia), Director of Marketing for Sheraton Mirage (Australia), and co-founder and Managing Director of Travel Online (Australia & UK) (1994-2001) Graeme has an extensive senior business background in both the UK and Australian travel & tourism markets, as well as being a global pioneer of specialised online travel services.
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 Nicole (Nikki) Archer Waring
Executive Director: Operations
As Co-founder of Travel Match in 2002, Nikki has recently returned to the company to head up the new Travel & Tourism Representation division. Her areas of specialty include strategic marketing, online marketing and sales, brand positioning, training and promotions. Nikki’s extensive experience and key contacts in the travel industry spans over 24 years on three continents: the UK, Australia and Canada with management appointments in sales & marketing, tour operating, wholesale, events and hotels.
Personal achievements include co-founding the multi award winning online travel company Travel Online in 1995 and co-founding Travel Match in 2002. Nikki has occupied various key industry positions in the UK including Head of The Travel Collection (a fully owned travel division of Kuoni) and Leisure Marketing Manager EMEA for Sabre Holdings UK. Her significant international experience in the travel and tourism industry both online and traditional off-line sectors (B2B and B2C) include project ownership of 57 websites. Nikki has served and currently serves on several industry boards and bodies and is a full Member of the UK Institute of Directors (IoD) * Nikki is also a Certified Aussie Specialist!
As Executive Director of Operations for Travel Match, Nikki combines her passion for travel with her strong sales and marketing background and extensive online travel and tourism skills in both ‘above the line’ and strategic marketing.
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 Tony Gurnick
Director of Development
Tony’s career in IT spans over 15 years. He is an experienced and senior project developer with an extensive background both with the Internet as well as many other corresponding technologies, and also has a keen interest in learning and experiencing new technology disciplines. He has also worked in a variety of public facing industries including Special Events, Travel and Tourism, Advertising, Publishing and the Dairy industry. Tony founded and ran a very successful Internet Web Hosting and Web design business in NZ, before moving to the UK and London in April 2005 to take up the position of Development Director with Travel Match Ltd.
Tony has extensive network and administration experience having scoped, designed and built various web projects including large intranets and web sites, as well as being an expert in the development of database driven web based applications. Tony also has experience with the following applications: Object Oriented PHP, CGI, MS SQL, mySQL, JavaScript, J2EE, C, HTML, CSS, ASP.NET, T-SQL, & VBScript, as well as Cold Fusion, Dreamweaver, Homesite, Front Page, NOF and Photoshop.
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