Educational tour operator Golden Compass has expanded its portfolio of Australian and New Zealand based tour leaders to include industry experts Hugh Morgan and Dianne Harlow. Hugh Morgan will lead tours through Eastern Europe whilst Dianne Harlow will lead tours covering England, Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
(TRAVPR.COM) AUSTRALIA - February 6th, 2014 - Educational tour operator Golden Compass has added the services of Sydney and Auckland based travel experts Hugh Morgan and Dianne Harlow to lead its small group programs covering England, Eastern Europe, Spain, Portugal and Morocco in 2014. The UK based travel operator now has a portfolio of 6 Australian and New Zealand based tour leaders as it continues its focus on developing educational and cultural tours aimed at the Australian and New Zealand mature adult.
Hugh Morgan holds a BA in European History, German, Italian and Spanish from the University of Sydney and has also studied German at the Goethe-Institut in Lueneburg and Berlin, Italian in Perugia, Spanish in Salamanca and Russian in St Petersburg.
Hugh joined Qantas in 1966 and his twenty-five year career with the airline was primarily spent in sales and marketing. He was posted overseas a number of times, escorted groups and travelled widely. As Product Manager for Qantas Connections for UK, Europe and Africa, Hugh scoured his area to compile directories featuring interesting hotels, tours and attractions. His skills were recognised formally with the presentation of a bronze medal by the British Tourist Authority for exceptional services in the promotion of Britain - the first time an Australian has received this coveted award.
After leaving Qantas Hugh completed his BA whilst running a travel consultancy and has led over fifty small groups to various parts of the world. Recent tours have included Mongolia, Siberia, Russia and the Baltic States; Iberia and Morocco; the islands of the Western Mediterranean; and various journeys through Italy, the Alps and the Adriatic.
Hugh is a member of the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society, the Art Gallery of NSW and the National Trust.
Hugh will lead the Golden Compass Discover the Baltic States and Eastern European Discoveryprograms in 2014.
Dianne Harlow holds a BA degree in Anthropology, History and Politics and an MA(Hons) in Anthropology.
After working as a Program Leader for inbound visitors to Australia and New Zealand, Dianne now leads tours further afield. She has led groups to Malta, Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia), France (including Corsica), Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Montenegro and Croatia. She has also led specialist gardening groups in England and more adventurous tours to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Oman, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Central America.
Dianne has travelled across Asia on the Trans-Siberian Railway and from London to Asia by van, as well as through Canada, the United States and South America. Further, her travels have taken her through the Caucasus, North Africa, the Middle East, China and South East Asia and countries once under the communist umbrella of the USSR and Yugoslavia.
She met her husband, a New Zealander, while travelling in Iran and now lives in Auckland. While not travelling, she works as an archaeological consultant and operates her own heritage consultancy. Among her other interests are interior design, which she taught for several years, textiles, landscape gardening, theatre and music.
Dianne will lead the Golden Compass Britain's Treasures tour in August, and Iberian Discovery and Moroccan Discovery tours in September and October.
“Hugh and Dianne add a wealth of experience to our stable of tour leaders who are based out of Australia and New Zealand. Their passion for Europe coupled with their understanding of the needs of Australian and New Zealand travellers make them ideal leaders and we are proud to have them on the Golden Compass team”, says Golden Compass CEO Mark Goodwin.
“All tour leaders assigned to our 2014 educational travel programs covering the UK, Europe and North Africa are based here in Australia or in New Zealand. Our customers benefit from a combination of the expertise that the UK and European based team provides on the organisation and planning of small group travel to those regions, whilst being led by people who understand the needs and interests of Australians and New Zealanders. Simple things like the time people like to eat meals and foreign language abilities can differ enormously between cultures and it’s important to the enjoyment of the group that the tour leader understands this. In addition, an Australian or New Zealand based tour leader will understand the significance of, say, the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux that a French tour leader could miss,” Says Head of Australian and New Zealand Marketing for Golden Compass, Sean Burns.
Hugh and Dianne join Melbourne based tour leaders Carolyn Burns and Dr Jone Gaillard, and Auckland based George Dibley and Louise Shave to cover Golden Compass’s 2014 British, Irish, European and North African educational group tours specifically marketed to Australian and New Zealand mature travellers.
Golden Compass was founded in the UK in 1995 by Mark and Caroline Goodwin and has been successfully operating for over 18 years.
Golden Compass are now pleased to offer their unique, fully guided UK and European small group educational travel programs directly to the Australian and New Zealand active mature adult, with all tours priced in Australian and New Zealand dollars.
Golden Compass is fully bonded in the UK by the Civil Aviation Authority and is an Off-Shore Member of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA).
###
