The ‘next great idea’ that started at TREX

Buyers and sellers conduct an abundance of appointments at Travel Exchange. The seven-minute business meetings provide enough time for participants to either introduce themselves and their organizations or to renew an acquaintance and update each other.

So when Nayaz Noor and Fraser Neave sat for a one-on-one in San Antonio five years ago, neither knew exactly what the appointment would lead to. They were strangers, after all, paired by the computerized matching system that NTA pioneered in 1974 and has continually refined since. They’re also half a world apart. Nayaz (pictured above, at right) is the CEO of 39 Degrees South, a ground operator in Australia, while Fraser (above, left) is product development director for Wells Gray Tours in British Columbia.

“I had never met Nayaz before and had never heard of his company (formerly Safir Tours) before the appointment scheduling system opened,” Fraser says, adding that he typically requests an appointment with every receptive tour operator from outside of North America.

The appointment was considered a perfect match by the computer system because Noor had also requested an appointment with Fraser.

“As a seller, my focus is to get tour operators to include Australia as a new destination,” Nayaz says. “I check every company’s website to see what kind of tours they are promoting. If they are packaging, say, Asia or Africa, then I’ll target that operator for an appointment at TREX. I also try and meet operators who offer only domestic tours, in case they’re thinking of expanding their portfolio with an international destination.”

Wells Gray Tours had conducted pre- and post-cruise touring in Australia before but had never put together a longer land tour, so Fraser was eager to meet with Noor, who had plenty to talk about.

“I was very enthusiastic about meeting him and spoke about the iconic train journeys that I was trying to promote to North America,” Nayaz says.

In the months after Travel Exchange, Nayaz sent follow-up emails to Fraser and other operators he had met with, and he included sample itineraries with The Ghan, a luxury train journey through parts of Australia not often explored by other sightseeing companies. He also sent Fraser a link to a 2018 Courier article about his then-company.

“We had a great appointment at TREX, and I came home with Australia as one of my top new tour ideas,” Fraser says. “Nayaz followed up by email and we had some further discussion on a two-and-a-half-week itinerary featuring the top highlights of Australia and a trip aboard The Ghan. We called the tour 'Amazing Australia,' and it sold out instantly."

“That was the most exciting day for me—when I got that email from Fraser giving us the nod to go ahead with the program,” Nayaz says.