Visit California is putting the old trade-training slideshow in the rear-view mirror and inviting Australian travel advisors to climb aboard something rather more Californian: a road trip.
The Ultimate Club California returns in September as the Road Trip Edition, with Sydney and Melbourne hosting an immersive evening of live interviews, destination storytelling, California-inspired food and drinks, prizes and Carpool Karaoke. PowerPoint, mercifully, has not been given the keys. Visit California’s live event listings confirm the new interview-led format and entertainment program.
Sydney’s event will run from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm on Monday, 7 September at Machine Hall, 185 Clarence Street. Melbourne follows from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm on Wednesday, 9 September at Half Acre, 112 Munro Street, South Melbourne. Both events are complimentary and reserved for travel-trade professionals across leisure, wholesale, corporate and entertainment travel. They are open to all agency groups.
The events form part of Visit California’s wider Australia Trade and Media Mission 2026, which runs from 7–10 September in Sydney and Melbourne. The official mission is designed to strengthen distribution, support product development and deepen California’s links with Australian travel sellers and media.
That is the serious business beneath the retro styling. Visit California’s industry material lists Australian visitor spending in California at US$1.3 billion in 2024, with US$1 million invested in the Australian market in FY2025/26. This is not simply a night of bowling shirts and beach talk. Substantial tourism business sits under the bonnet.
California training takes a different road
The Road Trip Edition deliberately moves away from traditional presentation-led destination training. Instead, California partners will appear in fast-paced live interviews and storytelling segments designed to help advisors understand how the state fits together.
The evening will travel, in spirit at least, from Southern California’s beaches and cities to the landscapes of the north. The commercial aim is clear: encourage advisors to sell beyond one gateway and create richer, multi-stop California itineraries.
That matters because the state’s famous cities can easily dominate a booking conversation. The larger opportunity is to connect them with beaches, mountain regions, theme parks, wildlife attractions, shopping, waterfront precincts and smaller destinations. More stops can mean more nights, more commissionable product and, most importantly, a more memorable holiday for the traveller.
Visit California’s own 2026 mission strategy backs that approach. It identifies expanding product range, improving geographic dispersal and strengthening sellable itineraries as core objectives for the Australian market.
A sizeable Californian delegation
The destination line-up includes Los Angeles Tourism, San Francisco Travel, Visit Anaheim, Visit Berkeley, The Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau, Visit Greater Palm Springs, Visit Huntington Beach, Lake Tahoe Travel, Mammoth Lakes Tourism, Marina del Rey Tourism Board and Visit Santa Cruz County.
They will be joined by Citadel Outlets, Disney Destinations, Hotel Zephyr San Francisco, Karmel Connect, PIER 39, San Diego Zoo & Safari Park, Simco Restaurant Group and Universal Destinations & Experiences.
For advisors, that mix gives the evening useful selling depth. It brings major gateways together with regional destinations, hotels, attractions, retail and entertainment products. In practical terms, it gives sellers more pieces from which to build a California holiday rather than simply admire one on a screen.
United Airlines puts wings on the road trip
United Airlines is supporting the 2026 Club California events and is providing return economy airfare as part of the major prize.
The event pages promote The Ultimate California Adventure, valued at approximately AUD $10,000. The prize package includes return economy airfare courtesy of United Airlines, accommodation supplied by participating California tourism partners, and attractions and experiences throughout the itinerary. Supplier conditions, availability and blackout periods apply.
Spot prizes will also be offered during the evening. The best-dressed guest will receive a $1,000 Visa Gift Card.
The dress code is Route 66 Retro. Think leather jackets, bowling shirts, denim, polka dots, bandanas, vintage dresses and boots. Presumably, the only real danger is discovering that someone else arrived in exactly the same bowling shirt.
Why the format matters for travel advisors
There is a broader trade-training lesson here. Destination education works best when advisors can remember it at the point of sale.
Facts remain essential, but facts without context can disappear quickly after an event. A road-trip narrative gives agents a simple framework: where a client can start, what can be added, how regions connect and why extending the itinerary makes sense.
That is why the Road Trip Edition has more commercial weight than its playful packaging suggests. Visit California’s broader mission is targeting airlines, wholesalers, retail agency groups, online travel agencies and specialist operators, as well as media and content creators. Its formal trade program combines appointments, training, networking and industry engagement.
Carpool Karaoke may get the laughs. The real prize for California is having more Australian travel advisors confidently selling the state beyond its best-known city stops.
Event details
Sydney – Monday, 7 September 2026
5.30 pm–8.30 pm
Machine Hall, 185 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Register: https://events.humanitix.com/the-ultimate-club-california-sydney
Melbourne – Wednesday, 9 September 2026
5.30 pm–8.30 pm
Half Acre, 112 Munro Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205
Register: https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-the-ultimate-club-california-melbourne
Both events are complimentary, exclusive to travel-trade professionals and subject to limited capacity.
For Australian advisors, the proposition is simple: come for the California product knowledge, stay for the industry connections, and perhaps leave with a major California holiday. If destination training has to go somewhere, the open road is not a bad place to start.
By: Bridget Gomez – © 2026.
Read Time: 4 minutes.
Author Bio:
Bridget has never been built for stillness. Of Portuguese heritage, she began as a nurse, tending veterans at the Repatriation Hospital, listening to stories as colourful as the life she was yet to live. It was worthy, steady work, but wanderlust, as always, proved louder than routine.
So, she traded starch for a backpack and disappeared for a year, chasing trains, sunsets and the occasional regrettable glass of wine. She wrote everything down: the dust, the laughter, the missteps, the magic. Those notebooks became a travel blog, then a habit, then a calling.
Eventually she found Global Travel Media, or perhaps it found her.
Today Bridget writes with heart, humour and a dash of mischief, still travelling, just now with words.
