When TravelManagers conference, they don’t just bring the plenaries and parties – they bring purpose. This year in Bali, the network dedicated time to a community project at the island’s largest disability school, while HQ staff member (NPO) Georgia Thomas cut off her incredibly long locks and raised money for Variety.
Karryon’s Dani Tuffield caught up with TravelManagers Executive General Manager Michael Gazal to talk about how this tradition began, why “non-tokenistic” projects matter and how sustainability is woven into the fabric of the network.
“We wanted something meaningful, not tokenistic.”
When did TravelManagers first start making community projects part of its conferences?
It actually goes back to 2012, when I’d just been appointed GM. We were in Fiji and worked with Rosie’s, our ground operator, to run a half-day project at a local school that had been devastated by a hurricane. We had 200 delegates painting classrooms, fixing chalkboards and donating educational supplies.
At the end of it, the principal told me what we achieved in three hours would have taken them three years. That was the light-bulb moment. From then on, we said every conference needed a project that was genuinely meaningful – not just box-ticking.
Bali’s community project
Fast forward to this year – what’s happening in Bali?
We’ve partnered with the island’s largest disability school. Around 250 PTMs, suppliers and NPO’s will be out there tomorrow helping. The tasks are practical: painting, fixing signage, clearing lawns, planting grass, even building wheelchair ramps so kids don’t have to be lifted into the lunchroom.
And at the end, the students will perform for us, including a young blind girl I met who has the most incredible voice. It’s going to be very special. Cover-More have come on board as our major sponsor, which is critical, because projects like this need investment as much as labour. So a huge thank you to Cover-More.
“Sustainability isn’t only about climate. It’s about people.”
Why is giving back so important when you bring a large group into a community?
Because travel is about more than moving people from A to B. Sustainability is about communities, jobs, respect.
When you’re travelling, especially to parts of the world where basics aren’t guaranteed, you realise how fortunate we are in Australia.
We remind our PTMs to teach clients to pack their patience. Understand you’re not in Australia – things won’t always run the same way. Respect, empathy and contributing where you can – that’s real sustainability.
Ethics and partnerships
Does that ethical lens flow into how you choose preferred partners too?
Absolutely. Supporting preferred partners isn’t just about commission – it’s about relationships. If something goes wrong with a preferred, we can step in and help. Book outside that ecosystem and our hands are tied.
Plus, preferred partners help keep our model sustainable. Between upfront commission and back-end overrides, it’s what allows us to pay up to 95% commission to PTMs. So it’s about ethics, but also about protecting our people and clients.
Trust built over 20 years
So it’s all about trust at every level?
Exactly. Trust with our PTMs, with clients, with partners. We’ve built that over 20 years. And at the conferences when hundreds of us are out there painting and building, that trust will be in action.
Because in the end, it’s not just about what we get out of a conference. It’s about what we give back.
Read our wrap of the TravelManagers 2025 conference in Bali.
For more info on TravelManagers, click here.
