Hello and Welcome to our April Newsletter!

Incredible India! That is the tourist board's slogan, and having just returned from my first trip organised by our DMC partner Creative Travel, I have to agree. Most people have a vision of India in their minds, if nothing else from Slumdog Millionaire, but I thought it would be useful to give you my "top 10 things I didn't know about India until I visited". You can also see my pictures on the SLC facebook page. Enjoy!

GILL'S TOP TIPS FOR INDIA

Incredible India! That is the tourist board's slogan, and having just returned from my first trip organised by our DMC partner Creative Travel, I have to agree. Most people have a vision of India in their minds, if nothing else from Slumdog Millionaire, but I thought it would be useful to give you my "top things I didn't know about India until I visited". You can also see my pictures on the SLC facebook page. Enjoy!

• Delhi is actually really green! New Delhi was built as the first garden city and has vast tree-lined boulevards and open parks that rival many of the grand European cities

• The main religion is thought of as Hindu, but many of the most famous monuments including the breath-taking Taj Mahal were built during the Muslim era, and India remains a melting pot of many religions

• The Mughal emperors built some of the most lavish palaces on the planet! My favourite was Fatephur Sikri, where each wife had a different palace, many encrusted with rubies, sapphires and other precious gem stones, and whole areas were reserved for Jacuzzis and bathing pools to cool off in the Indian summer

• India is one of the best places to see tigers in the wild – and yet only 50 tigers remain in Ranthambore National Park so you have to be very privileged to see one of these creatures. Alas, we just saw footprints this time!

• The roads are extremely hectic and you will see everything from market stalls, tuk-tuks and animals sharing the streets! But there are also major developments such as the new highway between Delhi and Agra which are dramatically reducing travelling time and are very comfortable and quick

• The food doesn't have to be spicy! It is easy to select mild curries is one of the best places in the world to be a vegetarian

• Indians are extremely welcoming, and it is not uncommon for children who have never seen white people before to want to take your photo

• Kerala is at least 50 years more advanced than the rest of India, with great roads, an advanced education system and the highest number of females in employment. With its lush greenery, sleepy backwaters and laid-back beach resorts, it is fast catching up with the likes of Thailand as a sought-after beach destination

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any clients looking to travel to India – Creative Travel will be happy to assist.

 We are delighted to announce that we have been appointed to work with Orientis-DMC, a ground operator based in Beijing offering services in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Tibet.

For further information,do not hesitate to contact Lee on lee@sandraleach.co.uk if you are interested in discussing a partnership with Orientis-DMC.

Click here to view Orientis - DMC's 'China and Hong Kong Landscape Itinerary'.

Hello and welcome to the March newsletter!

I'm Lee the newest member of the team here at The Sandra Leach Company. I joined the team a week ago having travelled extensively across Thailand, Australia and Canada since graduating from university four years ago.

The first week been a busy one, getting to grips with the Thailand portfolio of resorts, and getting to know my colleagues and fellow industry contacts.

Amongst the hustle and bustle of office activities, Rebecca, Gill and I have been out and about with Danny Sukomol from Santhiya Resorts and Spas on sales calls across London. It's been great to meet both Danny and the various travel operators we have seen this week. I look forward to working with you all in the future!

Another busy month is forecast for March, kicking off next week with ITB in Berlin with Sandra, Gill and Ashley attending from SLC, it promises to be a very productive few days.

We hope this finds you all in good spirits, knowing that Summer is not too far away now!

                               Lee and the SLC team.

Hello and welcome to our February newsletter!

January was a busy month for us here at SLC whilst we make the most of time in the office to plan our diaries for 2013 – I'm sure it will Christmas again before we know it! I've been getting into the swing of things and I'm learning more and more about the job and the travel industry as the days go by. Something I've particularly enjoyed is getting to know more about Fiji and all it has to offer – I'm lucky to have some great clients over there (Sonaisali Island Resort & Tadrai Island Resort) and visitors to the resorts always rave about the fantastic hospitality and relaxed way of life.

Over in Australia temperatures have been soaring, and whilst we're all wishing we were enjoying sunnier climes at the moment we send all those who have been affected by the bush fires and flooding our best wishes. Australia Day is always a big social event here in London, and we all raised a glass to our friends down under – we hope you all managed to enjoy a beer and a barbie to celebrate.

Elsewhere at SLC, Josie has been busy planning New Product Workshop for Tourism Western Australia and Rebecca has been preparing for ITB in Berlin, and for her Thailand clients' planned visits to the UK over the next couple of months. Ashley has been helping Creative and Karavan develop their relationships here in the UK, and Poppy has been doing a fantastic job of getting all of our training sessions organised for the rest of the year.

With Spring just around the corner we're excited to see what 2013 will hold and we hope it's started as well for you as it has for us.

Clare and the SLC team.

The Sandra Leach Company are recruiting for an Account Executive! Read more to view the full job description, and we’ll look forward to receiving your applications. Closing date: 7^th Feb 2013.

Hello and Welcome to our December Newsletter

Hi Everyone!

With the UK winter setting in, it was a real treat to get a dose of southern hemisphere sunshine in Australia's sunniest city, Perth! I've just returned from escorting the lucky winners from our Extraordinary Western Australia Roadshow events in April on a fam trip to Western Australia. Our first day was spent taking in the city sights before cruising along the Swan River to the port town of Fremantle for a Brewery Tour at Little Creatures – the perfect place to soak up the local atmosphere whilst enjoying a pale ale. We then joined the eerie Torchlight Tour at Fremantle Prison – a great way of bringing WA's convict history to life and having a few chuckles (and screams) along the way!

In complete contrast the next day involved meeting the local wildlife at Caversham Wildlife Park, where you can feed the 'Roos and chill out with koalas and, before heading north and wandering amongst the limestone pillars of the lunar-like landscape of the Pinnacles Desert. After the fun-filled sand boarding at Lancelin sand dunes, the drive back to Perth offered us the perfect opportunity to sit back and relax as we watched the sun set over the Indian Ocean.

Swimming with the local bottlenose dolphins in Rockingham was one of the group's highlights; a truly amazing experience. We also had chance to ride the waves at one of Margaret River's world class surf beaches – okay, so we may not have caught the waves like the pros, but with our instructor's enthusiasm and determination to get us standing, we gave it our best shot! After the exhilarating (and exhausting!) surf, we were treated to Margaret River's other boast – its fine wines and gourmet delights!

Click here to see pictures of Josie's fam trip.

2012 marks the 21st anniversary of Shark Bay's World Heritage status.

Shark Bay was the first area in Australia to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and is located adjacent to Australia's newest World Heritage Area, Ningaloo Coast, which was inscribed last year.

Tourism Australia recently recognised the international appeal of the area from Shark Bay to Ningaloo by naming it as one of the nation's 15 National Landscapes. Australia's National Landscapes are promoted heavily to international markets by Tourism Australia.

Welcome to our November newsletter.

Hello everyone

I have been lucky enough to spend most of October travelling and have had some wonderful experiences that reminded me of why I joined the travel industry all those years ago.....

We started by spending a week in Myanmar, followed by a couple of nights in Yangon, seeing the Shwedagon Pagoda is worth the trip on its own, before heading North to the ancient city of Bagan. Over 2,200 temples and pagoda are spread across the river plain and most can be visited by car, bicycle, horse cart or on foot. You are often the only people there and feel as though you are in a different world. We finished with two nights on lake Inle. The local population live in stilt houses in the lake, and grow gardens and crops on floating 'mats' in the lake. There are rows and rows of floating tomatoes - a sight definitely worth seeing. The locals were delighted to see us and certainly international visitor numbers are slowly growing. If you have been considering visiting I can definitely recommend it.

After Myanmar we had 4 nights in one of our client hotels, Rayavadee. What a special hotel. It is the only 5 star hotel on a beautiful 26 acre peninsula, has 3 beaches, an enormous pool and beautiful gardens. The two storey pavilions provide luxury and privacy, the food and service are world class - I can't recommend it enough. www.rayavadee.com

We then flew on to Sydney for a weekend, one of my favourite cities in the world, and then spent a couple of weeks in Noosa - another of the world's special places.

I am now back, fully rejuvenated and ready for WTM - bring it on.

See you Excel

Sandra and the SLC team