About italktravel & cruise The Junction
Our business, Hunter Global Travel is a family owned and operated. Everyone within our business and our closest stakeholders are passionate about people, service, & of course travel!
We are part of The Express Travel group, partnering with other like-minded, progressive travel agents within our own local area and around the country who are young at heart, locally owned and operated travel businesses, who together form Australia’s newest and most exciting retail travel network!
Established in 2006, italktravel & cruise The Junction have been a proud member of the local community through not only our role as experts in travel, but our continuous support of many local clubs, groups and businesses in the area. We are long-time supporters of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, and have collaboratively raised more than $300,000 towards their cause and will continue to proudly support this great organisation.
Jointly owned by Karen, Julia and Mark van Huisstede the Hunter Valley italktravel & cruise cluster (italktravel & cruise Maitland and The Junction) are proud to have combined more than 200 years of travel industry experience across the business. Our team of consultants have traveled far and wide across a range of travel styles to bring you the very best first-hand knowledge and expertise. We use modern and efficient platforms to access our product and only deal with suppliers that are carefully sourced to ensure you travel hassle free and that your experiences are everything you had hoped for.
italktravel & Cruise The Junction champion environmentally sustainable travel and partner with some of the best suppliers in the industry to ensure we can reduce the environmental footprint and have our world available to explore for generations following us.
We believe that we have the best hand picked staff in the travel industry and that everyone who experiences the customer service of our amazing team members are getting the most highly experienced and professional customer care on offer.
We thank you for choosing italktravel & Cruise The Junction as your preferred travel agency.
Meet the Team
Karen, Julia & Mark van Huisstede – Business Owners
We are a family business, and have been operating Hunter Travel Global Services PTY LTD (Trading as italktravel) for over 17 years now. Karen has been in the travel industry for 31 years and Julia has been in the travel industry for 25 years. Our combined industry experience along with Marks business acumen separates us from many other retail travel business's.
We not only own the business but all work within it in a full time capacity so we have our finger on the pulse and can keep on top of industry trends and movement.
Karen and Julia form part of the management team but we do and always have, worked on the front line selling retail travel and dealing with our clients first hand. We love retail sales, we love curating the perfect holiday for our loyal client base and this allows Mark to do what he does best which is to ensure the business is stable, seeking marketing opportunities, supporting the local community and contracting the best rates and deals for our clients.
italktravel & cruise consultants are proud to be able to use their expertise to bring you a more personalised travel buying experience."
Meet the Retail Team
We have an exceptionally experienced team, and pride ourselves on this as a business. We are not only known for our customer service but our honesty in business, transparency and commitment to our clients.
Our senior retail team consists of (Business owners) Julia & Karen van Huisstede, and our senior consultants Johanna Anderson & Bethany Gibson
Our senior consultants bring a wealth of knowledge and an ability to ensure that you always have the perfect holiday planned. These girls are dedicated, their customer service levels exceed expectations and their loyal client base reflect this. There is nothing they cant source for you and if you trust them you will have the experience of a lifetime.
"italktravel & cruise consultants are proud to be able to use their expertise to bring you a more personalised travel buying experience. We thank you for choosing italktravel The Junction as your preferred travel agency.
Meet the Mobile Agent Team
Our mobile agent team consists of Ashley Burgess, Hayley Lyson & Ellie Amerikow. These ladies all work under our license but manage their own small business from their homes and have done for years now. These girls are highly efficient, have a repeat and referral following like never seen before and can source the best deals on the market for you! Our mobile agents are an important part of our team, accessing the enormous buying power of italktravel & the Express Travel Group and they have the full support of italktravel The Junction.
