Travel suppliers gathered at the Datacom premises in Auckland last week to hear more about new travel distribution company, Travel Lab. Chief executive officer Simon Mckearney told the audience that Travel Lab needs product for its front end distribution but ‘would rather do it as a collective. ‘And we can bring our friends in the tech world to this community.’

• Simon Mckearney, CEO of Travel... Simon Mckearney, CEO of Travel...
• Mike Hogan, Hogan and Associates;... Mike Hogan, Hogan and Associates;...
• Mark Turner, the Travel Corporation;... Mark Turner, the Travel Corporation;...
• Marija Kapiteli, CTTravel; Amaan Khan,... Marija Kapiteli, CTTravel; Amaan Khan,...
• Anne Dromgool, Datacom; Chris d’Anvers,... Anne Dromgool, Datacom; Chris d’Anvers,...
• Vanessa Traille, Cathay Pacific; Preeya... Vanessa Traille, Cathay Pacific; Preeya...
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Reputational damage to the travel industry in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis is a major hurdle that will need to be overcome, according to respondents in a ‘strawpoll’ of New Zealand based suppliers last week.

In the lead up to a workshop on Thursday, Travel Lab asked members of the supplier community how severe they felt reputational damage has been to suppliers, with 20% saying extreme, 50% moderate and 30% unsure.

Travel Lab’s roll out of products and operations will begin in the next couple of weeks with the launch of a new guided tour business.

Chief executive Simon Mckearney gave travel suppliers a snapshot of Travel Lab’s plans at a roundtable workshop in the Datacom building, Auckland yesterday. He emphasises that a major focus is to form a front-end travel distribution platform, much of it designed for a seamless online-offline connection.

Travel suppliers and media at the Travel Lab Christmas get together in last week were introduced to TRUE Kiwi – a New Zealand-based consortia intended to have a voice around the government sector as New Zealand pushes forward for a relaunch of travel.

‘The public sector really doesn’t know who the travel community is, and they don’t understand the balance between outbound and inbound. Even the inbound sector does not know the connection,’ says Simon McKearney, Travel