For Toussaint & Turner Travel Associates’ Natasha Warfield, who was named the CLIA Cruise Consultant of the Year New Zealand at the weekend, the win was a culmination of a long-term passion for cruising which started with a 2008 cruise with Carnival in the Baja Peninsula.
“I was hooked and everything blossomed from there,” she adds. says she’s completely blown away ‘and can’t wipe the smile from my face’ since the win.
“All of the finalists are incredible in my book, and I feel very honoured to be in such great company,” she adds. “By winning the award it helps to confirm that the hard work I put in over the years matters.” Turner says she has focused on upskilling via CLIA, and completed her CLIA masters last year.
Warfield says cruising is a huge part of her business. “Whether it is a small part of their wider trip or the only thing they are doing, cruising is there,” she says. “Some of my clients who cruise now were people who said, in the early days, they would never cruise, but now they love it and continue to plan trips with cruise featuring in them.”
Looking ahead she has the Douro River and Arctic on her cruise horizon.
Warfield says she’s had great support, starting with her mentor Amanda Elliott and current team leader Michael Cory Toussaint.
