ANTON LOEB

Carnival Cruise Line Australia director of sales

“NEVER, ever, allow anyone to convince you to try a “tequila omelette,” is Anton Loeb’s words of advice for up-and-comers.

For those who aren’t clued in, a tequila omelette involves placing a raw egg, complete with its shell in your mouth and chewing, before adding a shot of tequila.

This rocker started out with a plan to go into advertising but like many, a holiday – for Anton, a backpacking trip to Australia – changed it all. “I decided I wanted to work in the world of travel and I’ve never looked back,” he told travelbulletin.

The journey began with Contiki in South Africa as a BDM and after “a couple of insanely fun-filled years,” he moved into the national sales manager role.

Opportunity then saw Anton temporarily out of the travel industry and to Australia, where he soon returned to his roots as a BDM with the Globus Family of Brands. Across a five year period he jumped to a state manager role and then onto national sales manager before deciding to venture into the mystical world of travel insurance with Cover-more, first as a national account manager and then head of sales.

In 2013 Anton says he found his “long lost family of fun at Carnival Cruise Line”, where he joined as director of sales. In his 16 years in the industry, the biggest lesson he has learned is “listen more than you talk. And to not fly to London with a one year old!”

He has seen constant advances with technology and social media adding exciting new dimensions to the industry. “Everyone now has far more information easily available and accessible at any time of the day and the ability to share experiences across a wide number of platforms,” he says.

Aside from the ability to forecast the future and advise if the sun will be shining on a specific date in two years’ time, Anton believes the most valuable trait in the industry is having a genuine passion for what you do.

“This is something that can’t be taught, faked or done in half measures.”

Another handy hint is to “have clear goals on what you want your teams to achieve and communicate them openly and regularly and don’t sweat the small stuff or get distracted by things you can’t control”.

First thing you do when you get into work: In the interest of public safety and for the benefit of those around me, I drink my coffee.

The next hot destination: Anywhere that’s in Game of Thrones or the Walking Dead.

How you unwind: Catching up with friends, listening to music (preferably heavy and loud) Most memorable moment: Being called a young gun after all this time in the industry!