Q: What was it that inspired you to join the travel industry?
A: Well, that was (gasp) back in 1995, joining STA Travel as a travel advisor. I’d just finished uni after having a gap year travelling the world.
I knew how much travelling had changed the direction of my life, giving me a more global perspective and a more personal appreciation of what I could achieve myself. I wanted to help others to make these same discoveries.
Q: What is it about the travel industry that you enjoy the most?
A: So incredibly clichéd, but it’s the people in the industry that make it so wonderful. Travel people recognise the value of making work fun, it’s less ego driven. Travel people are more authentic.
Q: If you hadn’t gone into travel, what other career path might you have taken?
A: I studied as a space engineer as I wanted to be an astronaut. I was missing something crucial however: an American passport. Ah well. Be careful what you wish for – I’m not sure I’d want an American passport at this point in time!
At least now I can reliably inform people whether something is rocket science…that’s been handy.
Q: What advice would you give someone wanting to start a career in travel now?
A: Think outside the box. We are in the midst of some of the most significant changes our community, and indeed our planet, has experienced. Think to the future. Oh, and have fun.
Q: What’s the first thing you do when you start a new position?
A: Spend some quality time with all my colleagues. Ask questions. Be humble and revel in the fact that they know more than I do and I have the opportunity to learn.
Q: How do you think the travel industry is looking at this moment in time?
A: Actually pretty good. The main consolidation has pretty much happened, with the shift to ‘the empowered internet travel organiser’, with COVID, with the cost-of-living crisis.
What is left now in our industry are travel architects, designers who are adding real value to the process of organising travel. Merely travel brokering is long gone, now you have talented people delivering a service which is increasingly being valued by the community.
We just need to remember that video (and now streaming) didn’t kill movie theatres (or the radio star) because people drew value from interacting with other people.
Travel is the same. We as travel professionals deliver value which automation and online booking engines – and AI – won’t replace.
Q: Who would you most like to sit next to on a plane, living or dead?
A: The pilot. The view from the cockpit must be awesome. Or Leonardo da Vinci. Be amazing to see his excitement at the ideas he tossed around ending up in a great huge flying cigar.
Q: What are some of your favourite spots around the world?
A: For an amazing view of how incredible our planet is, the Lemaire Channel in Antarctica. Culturally? Probably the medina in Marrakech in Morocco (above).
For nature? Probably Australia, from the beaches of NSW to the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests of Queensland to the incredible Red Centre, our back yard is something we should never underrate.
Q: What is your best travel story?
A: On that first ‘big trip’ after uni, my boyfriend Colin and I ended up at the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia (then Yugoslavia) waiting for a last-bus-of-the-day that never came to Split.
The idea of sleeping in the forest was shelved after seeing drawings of bears and wolves on the park map, so there was nothing for it than to hitch a ride.
We got picked up by a Serbian truckie who then proceeded to nod off every few minutes as we hurtled along, so Colin tried to make conversation based on a Serbo-Croat phrase book that we had in an attempt to keep him awake.
We finally got dropped on the outskirts of Split (the driver would have got into trouble if he dropped us in town, apparently) so we walked into Split and, with all accommodation closed up for the night, slept in the marble staircase of an apartment building, freezing to death.
On venturing out at sunrise we went searching for a room to rent and get some sleep and were dutifully shat on by a very large seabird. From that moment on however, we had the most fantastic time exploring the Croatian coast.
The lesson that I’ve kept with me my whole life is that when everything seems to be going to shit (literally!), don’t stress, as there is a corner up ahead and when you turn the corner, you will have wonderful times ahead. A valuable life lesson.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about working with Jones & Co?
A: Oh, that’s an easy one… reconnecting with all of my wonderful travel agent friends over a coffee or a glass of wine. Six years is a long time – be good to catch up on everyone’s news!
