EXPRESS Travel Group Chief Executive Officer Tom Manwaring arrived at the Australian Federation of Travel Agents as Chair in December 2018, having served on the Board for four years.
In little over a year, the world as we knew it paused, only for travel to emerge four years later as a greatly changed industry.
As proof of concept, the Board that Manwaring retired from today now oversees the novel Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA), which broadened from its old moniker in August to act for the entire sector as a whole, constituting the need for wider representation in a post-pandemic world.
The new Board, also announced earlier today at ATIA’s annual general meeting, will be chaired by Travellers Choice Chief Executive Officer Christian Hunter, who has served as Director for well over 10 years.
“It is a great honour and privilege to be elected as ATIA’s Chair and lead such an esteemed board,” Hunter enthused.
“While we’re proud of our successful first 12 months as ATIA, I’m excited about what our new board will deliver for members moving forward.”
Hunter will be backstopped by continuing Vice Chair, Flight Centre Travel Group Chief Executive Officer Graham Turner, who will be joined by Corporate Travel Management’s (CTM) Laura Ruffles.
Ruffles, who stepped down from her role as an Executive Director with CTM in March, is clearly still greatly respected by the ATIA board.
“I’m passionate about inspiring the next generation and igniting interest in travel careers,” Ruffles shared.
“ATIA members are a dynamic mix of incredibly talented, experienced and innovative individuals and travel businesses that power a vitally important economic ecosystem for Australia and work hard every day to provide essential and professional services for all Australian travellers.”
“My goal is to continue ensuring all ATIA stakeholders shape the work we do in maintaining a unified front to best serve the needs of our industry and membership base.”
New blood was apparent throughout the ATIA Board at its AGM, with three new Directors elected to replace who the outgoing Manwaring may have aptly identified as “senior talent”.
Intrepid Managing Director Brett Mitchell, Globus family of brands Managing Director Gai Tyrrell, and Helloworld Group General Manager Consolidation Rohan Moss all took a seat at the Board for the first time today.
They will replace Manwaring, as well as Consolidated Travel Chief Executive Officer Spiros Alysandratos and MTA Managing Director Roy Merricks, who are all stepping down.
“As things go on and times change, we need to change the mix of the Board, and we need to get Chairs out that have been there for six years,” Manwaring laughed at the AGM.
“I think that’s a really great sign, a healthy sign, and one I’m very proud of.”
Mitchell, Tyrrell, and Moss will join fellow Directors David Hosking, Dave Smith, Peter Muller, Cinzia Burnes, Dainelle Russom, and Shelley Beasley, in addition to the Chair and Vice Chairs, on the 12-person board, which will lead the travel industry for the next 12 months, its second year as ATIA.
The association’s first 12 months under its new name, Manwaring reported, were a success evident of where ATIA has helped steer the travel industry since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The decision 12 months ago is already delivering for our members,” he said.
“For ATAS, 25% of those who sought to become accredited did not meet the standards of the accreditation scheme and were denied eligibility, just to show the improvement within ATAS.”
“Our year-end position of a profit of $274,000 is up 335% on last year, and critically has been achieved with a cost base of one-third less than that of pre-COVID.”
The figures Manwaring presented reflect the immense recovery of the travel industry since the pandemic, which would not have otherwise been realised without ATIA.
“ATAS.com was refreshed, and had over 160,000 visitors up from 81,000 visitors in the previous year, so that’s a tremendous indicator for the growth of the ATAS positioning,” Manwaring added.
Manwaring, fighting back tears as he recalled what the travel industry has been through under his leadership, reflected the hard work the new board has ahead of it.
Travel will, over the next 12 months, attempt to ward off the threats such as geopolitical instability and a global cost-of-living crisis.
“I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together over the past decade – serving on the board and leading as Chair has been an honour,” Manwaring emoted.
“During my tenure, I’ve been surrounded by a highly committed and productive board and management team, and together our collective efforts [have] strengthened the association and our industry.
“I’d like to acknowledge every Director of the Board who volunteer and do what we do for the benefit of our industry.”
The former Chair joked that perhaps Hunter’s biggest challenge will be to keep ATIA’s AGMs short and sweet, as Manwaring himself brought another successful congress to a close at just under 17 minutes – “and with no questions”.
