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Helena O’Neill talks with Pukekohe Travel directors Damian O’Connor and Craig Boyt about the best travel spots and what 2026 has in store for Franklin travellers.
How long have you worked at Pukekohe Travel?
Damian has been here for 13 years, and Craig for 23 years – we’re a completely family-owned, New Zealand-owned business in Pukekohe. We have 15 other staff, all from across Franklin.
We have a mix of longstanding staff, with Linda being the longest-serving at 32 years, and our office manager, Lisa, has been here for almost 15 years. We’ve also got some new staff who joined this year. We have new, enthusiastic, fresh eyes here, but also very experienced staff.
What sort of travel do you offer?
Half of the business is everyday retail travel. So you can come in and ask us for a flight to London, a cruise around the world, a Gold Coast holiday, or something in Fiji. You might want to go to Antarctica or on an African safari, or off to Bangkok, whatever is on your mind, we will do that for you. The other half is boutique, escorted tours to the far corners. We’ll go everywhere – the Galapagos, India, Sri Lanka, Tahiti, and a lot of products in Australia.
How do escorted tours work?
We take people to places they’ve often wanted to go, but want to go with someone. It’s amazing for someone who is solo, or their partner doesn’t want to go for some reason. We have widows, or people who are quite active, who don’t want to travel alone. We escort them from the beginning at Auckland International Airport until the moment they come home.
The escort’s role is to look after them, make sure things go well, answer the queries and questions, and just take out those speed bumps that sometimes come along the way.
What is so appealing about using an escorted tour?
People are attracted to our escorted tours because they provide a hassle-free experience, and our tour escorts are with them all the way, which provides both a great feeling of safety but also companionship as our groups quickly become like family. The organisation is done for our clients, even down to luggage labels and ordering foreign exchange if required.
What are the most popular international destinations for Franklin holidaymakers in 2026?
All our escorted tours are once-a-year departures, and many sold out in 2025; repeat tours in 2026 are proving popular too. A very popular tour is our exclusive tour to the Five Stans of Central Asia, and an in-depth land tour of Japan, combined with a luxurious cruise, is always a sell-out. Our inaugural tour to South Korea departed fully booked this year, and Craig was recently on a sold-out Antarctic Adventure. European River Cruising is hard to beat, too.
What’s the most popular domestic destination?
Damian: We have been planning and operating tours to the Chatham Islands for 20 years, and it still remains very popular with mainland New Zealanders. In addition, we operate several Garden Tours which continue to sell quickly and our Ultimate New Zealand Train Journey from Auckland to Bluff always sells out.
Craig: I really enjoy visiting the Chatham Islands; it’s a special place.
How do you keep your travel options fresh?
Craig: Things have changed a lot. A lot of people are no longer doing one ‘trip of a lifetime’, they’re doing it two or three times a year now. The world is getting so small now that Damian and I are coming up with two or three places we haven’t been, to keep it fresh.
We get a lot of our ideas when we’re on tour, talking with our clients and listening to where they would love to go. As long as it’s a safe place to travel, then we will look at it.
It’s really important for us to check out these locations firsthand, make those connections with local staff in-country. Damian and I always take the first tour to these places ourselves to make sure it all runs smoothly.
What is your top travel tip or hack?
Damian: Always take twice as much money and half as much luggage.
Craig: Don’t wait to do it next year.
