Yvonne and Barry Quillerat, of Newnham, celebrate winning an overseas holiday, watched by Linda Costantini, of Emirates Airlines, Mark Brown, of Harvey World Travel, Dean Cleaver, of Emirates, and Jill Lance, of APT. Picture: PAUL SCAMBLER
"I DON'T believe it."
That's what Yvonne Quillerat, of Newnham, said when she and her husband Barry won a trip for two to Europe worth about $25,000 yesterday.
The couple simply put a deposit on a holiday at the Harvey World Travel, World Travel Expo in Launceston, at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, to come out winners.
"We were talking about a holiday we are going to take in September and October," Mr Quillerat said.
"We were looking at specifically heading to America and also Indo- China, because Europe is usually more expensive ... so it is a bit of a win for us."
Mrs Quillerat added: "I was extremely surprised ... we went to Europe many years ago in 1974, when we were only a few years in to our marriage," she said.
"We haven't done lots of travelling so this is just wonderful."
The holiday includes a 15-night APT winter river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, return economy class airfares from Melbourne, and just for being at the draw, a six-night stopover in Dubai.
Organiser Mark Brown said the expo doubled in size from last year's inaugural event with more than 40 agents and operators on display.
"We were overwhelmed, we actually ran out of 1500 forms at 11 o'clock, so we estimate that we have had at least 2500 people through the door," Mr Brown said.
"So for an event of this size in Launceston, it's been a sensational success."
