Stage and Screen Travel has appointed long-serving executive Wonitta Atkins as General Manager (Australia), positioning an experienced industry operator to steer the specialist travel management company through a moment of broad creative and sporting sector growth.
Atkins brings nearly a decade of operational and client leadership to the General Manager role, having risen through a series of strategic roles since joining the business.
Her journey with the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG)-affiliated company began not inside the company but alongside it. While in senior sales and marketing positions with Mirvac Hotels & Resorts and Accor, she engaged with Stage and Screen as a key travel partner, a relationship that ultimately convinced her to join FCTG almost ten years ago.
“I saw something different in how this company operated,” Atkins said.
“The attention to detail, the problem-solving under pressure, the genuine partnership approach. I wanted to be part of building that from the inside.”
After joining as an Account Manager, Atkins progressed through Head of Account Management and Head of Operations, building a record of delivery and team results that helped shape Stage and Screen’s reputation in Australia’s highstakes entertainment, screen production and sports travel sectors.
What has defined Atkins’ leadership so far?
Under Atkins’ operational leadership, Stage and Screen achieved notable industry recognition and internal performance milestones. She led the company’s response to the global travel and logistical challenge posed by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, coordinating emergency travel arrangements that ensured all Australian television networks were broadcasting from London within days.
That coordination and operational excellence fed into broader business outcomes, with the company earning the National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA) Most Outstanding National Travel Management Company in 2023, delivering an industry leading 98 per cent client retention rate, and recording a 20 per cent uplift in “Great Place to Work” metrics, the highest across the FCTG network.
The company highlights these achievements as testaments to Atkins’ focus on client outcomes, people leadership and operational resilience.
What does the appointment mean for the business?
Tiziano Galipo, Global Managing Director of Stage and Screen Travel Services, said Atkins’ promotion reflects the company’s “Brightness of Future” philosophy, a talent development mindset that prioritises nurturing leaders from within the organisation.
“Wonitta embodies what Brightness of Future means in practice,” Galipo said.
“She first experienced our service as a supply partner and was so impressed that she joined us. Nearly a decade later, she’s built an extraordinary track record across every role she’s held. As we celebrate 30 years and look to the next chapter, there is no one better to lead us.”
According to Galipo, Atkins’ deep embeddedness in the company’s culture and client-centric approach positions her well to lead the next stage of growth, one characterised by agility, tailored service and creative industry insight.
Atkins steps into the General Manager role at a time when the sectors Stage and Screen serves are experiencing strong pipelines. Australia’s creative industries, major sporting events and complex multidestination productions are creating demand for travel partners who can anticipate challenges and innovate solutions in real time.
“With thriving sports tourism and increasing production activity domestically and overseas, the market needs partners who can navigate complexity with clarity,” Atkins says.
“That’s exactly where I see Stage and Screen adding value.”
What’s next under Atkins’ leadership?
Atkins frames the next phase not as a revolution but as a deliberate evolution rooted in the brand’s strengths: innovation, people development and service excellence.
“I’ve had the privilege of experiencing Stage and Screen from both sides, first as a supply partner, and then as part of this team for nearly a decade,” she said.
“As we set the stage for the next 30 years, the opportunity ahead is about evolution, not revolution. We’ll continue championing innovation, developing our people, and delivering the kind of exceptional outcomes that made me want to work here in the first place.”
In her new role, Atkins will focus on consolidating operational excellence while expanding the company’s capabilities to support more complex travel programs across corporate, entertainment, sport and production clients.
Her appointment signals continuity as much as growth, a deep internal promotion that reinforces the importance of lived experience, both as a client and a leader, in shaping the future of niche travel management.
Atkins holds a Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management (Marketing and Human Resources) from Victoria University and has been recognised with multiple FCTG Global and General Manager awards throughout her tenure.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Atkins’ appointment highlights how industry experience and operational skill can support growth in specialist travel management.
