Personal Travel Managers and National Partnership Office support team delegates gather on grand staircase of Surfers Paradise Marriott Hotel for a conference closing photo opportunity

TravelManagers are thrilled with the response from their personal travel managers to their second national conference that was held at The Marriott Resort & Spa in Surfers Paradise on the 13 and 14 November.

With a theme of 'Building the Future Together' TravelManagers' executive general manager Mandy Scotney commented on the trends that emerged.

"There was a genuine feeling that TravelManagers has recruited some of the best in the industry in terms of industry experience and personality. There was a genuine willingness to share that experience and help other personal travel managers to grow and expand their businesses."

Personal travel managers from left to right Teresa Malecki (Glenbrook - NSW), Michelle Collins (Bowral - NSW), Sarah Liebenberg (Fairlight - NSW) and ?Andrea Turner (Windsor - QLD) enjoying the Gold Coast hospitality

Ms. Scotney says one of the sessions involved personal travel managers speaking as a panel and this and the breakout workshops involving personal travel managers and TravelManagers' business partnership managers, were real highlights.

"People commented that hearing? personal travel managers like Kathy Purves and Michelle Michael-Pecora talk about the difference TravelManagers has made in their lives and the sharing of their best practices and ambitions during the panel session inspired everybody to keep 'TravelManagerizing' the world."

Ms. Scotney believed one of the most pleasing aspects from TravelManagers' perspective was the high level of participation and involvement from all the personal travel managers.

Personal travel managers from left to right Bianca Hamilton (Beaconsfield - VIC, Carolyn Elsum (Berwick - VIC) and Joanne Haines (also from Berwick - VIC make Tweety Bird welcome)

"The result was that the personal travel managers really made the conference their own. In our survey following the conference 98 percent said they believed the conference added value to them and their business. There was a real sense of energy around the positive impact on peoples' lives and careers as a result of joining TravelManagers."

Ms. Scotney believed this was driven by different factors for different people.

"Be it the increased income, increased lifestyle flexibility, opportunities for personal and business development including exclusive familiarisations or the superior technology. The resounding result was satisfaction and that no one was looking back."

John Anderson, founder of Contiki, was the closing keynote speaker. He spoke about being a pioneer in his field providing inspiration for the personal travel managers who currently reflect a similar position in their field.

"His story showed that all great things start small. In John's case that consisted of a vision, ?25 and most importantly the belief in himself. It demonstrated to our personal travel managers that they are really at the beginning of something special. There are so many parallels between his story and ours - we are creating something new and revolutionary."

Personal travel manager Patrizia Cassaniti (Concord - NSW) get up close and personal with Bugs Bunny

Suppliers were also full of praise for the conference and the impact TravelManagers' is having on their bottom line.

"The Qantas Holidays presentation was exciting for us as a company. To see the impact we are having through our growth is very motivating. Our domestic figures were up 59 percent and international figures were up 121 percent year on year which is also reflective of our current forward sales. Not bad during a recession is all I can say."

Ms. Scotney says many suppliers commented on the feel of the conference.

"They said the TravelManagers' culture reminded them of the industry 10-15 years ago, the good old days when everyone was so positive and really enjoyed what they are doing and felt like they belonged to a family orientated group of like-minded people, it was a pleasure to hear it not once but many times over the two days."

Ms. Scotney believed that last year's conference had a very new feel to it and whilst only one year on it was different in that the business model is now well accepted by suppliers and clients and is continually evolving to meet clients' needs.

"It definitely felt like the personal travel manager model has arrived. It is effective and is clearly the way of the future for discerning travellers; it provides a simplified way for clients to book their travel needs and also provides great options for niche markets as well as corporate and leisure travel in general. We are on a roll and can't wait for 2010."

For more information visit: http://join.travelmanagers.com.au