Chance Meeting Provides Platform for Success at TravelManagers
TravelManagers’ has said goodbye to one of its longest-serving employees with the retirement of Jacqui Lai.
Lai’s love affair with the travel industry began in the 1990s when she started working as a cleric at China Travel Service. They could see she was a people person and a problem-solver, so invested in her training in operations and fares and ticketing TAFE NSW.
In the early 2000s, Lai struck up a conversation with a stranger she’d consistently seen on the train platform each morning and explained that she was looking for a job and gave him her CV. This stranger just so happened to be the managing director of Fiji Pacific Specialist Holidays (a precursor to what’s now Hoot Holidays, part of the House of Travel Group). A few days later, he called her in for an interview and then offered her the job. This marked the beginning of a 25-year tenure with the organisation, a testament to the power of networking!
After working for Hoot Holidays for a period, Lai moved into the Fares & Ticketing team at TravelManagers in 2018, where she stayed until her recent retirement.
“I have held a variety of roles as the company has evolved,” Lai explains, “finishing my career as a member of TravelManagers’ Fares & Ticketing team is a lovely way to end this chapter. Being part of the company for so long, I’ve seen and experienced a lot of change, and built a strong rapport with a lot of our personal travel managers. I’ve always found the problem-solving side of the role to be incredibly rewarding.”
Fares & Ticketing Manager, José Cañas, praises Lai as a beloved member of the TravelManagers family who will be greatly missed. “Jacqui’s journey with TravelManagers has been remarkable, spanning decades of change, growth and innovation. She is deeply valued by everyone who has had the pleasure of working with her, and we wish her the very best for this next phase in her life.”
As for Lai’s next steps, her love of travel looks set to take her to new heights: “it’s no secret that I’ve loved working in the travel industry for such a long time, so I’m thrilled to put all my expertise to good use by going travelling, with China and Tibet first-up on my bucket list!”
Jacqui is pictured on the left, enjoying her retirement in China.
