Australian travel buying network CT Partners has a staff of three and turned over $2.2 billion last year. Here, CEO Matt Masson explains how they did it, and what their plans are for the future.
Initially formed by a small group of travel advisors, CT Partners now has a membership of 34, and while it’s been growing year on year, the challenge Masson says is to “keep the right mix of people in the room”.
“We don’t want to grow for growth’s sake; we want entrepreneurial businesses that will add value to the group and already have premium air or leisure business to add value to suppliers.”
He says they might only add three or four members this year, and each of those is carefully reviewed to ensure they have “a growth mindset”.
“We want to get to know them one on one, and ultimately, the board made up of seven member businesses has the final say, and so the whole process can take three to six months.”
The model is one where every agency is an equal shareholder, and Masson says it has evolved over time.
“We were focused on corporate travel, but over time, luxury leisure has expanded, and that’s driven partly by that post-COVID appetite for bleisure travel, where corporate took longer to rebound.”
He says they are now working to expand leisure partnerships.
“My background is luxury leisure, and we are looking to expand those partnerships, and we will add several new leisure suppliers in the next few months.”
He says the group sits at 40 per cent leisure and 55 per cent corporate, with the rest in entertainment, meetings and groups.
“We’re a B2B model, so that turnover is thanks to our members. Last year, air spend alone was $1.2 billion from 45 preferred air contracts.
“We also have more than 50 preferred non-air touring, rail, car, insurance and cruise partners, with members also receiving a commercial benefit from these relationships. This is a lot to manage, given there are only three of us, but generating $2.2 billion is a credit to our members.”
First conference at sea
In a clear move of its focus on the leisure market, CT Partners 2026 conference will take place aboard The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Luminara, sailing from Shanghai to Hong Kong 17-20 November 2026 – its first conference at sea.
Masson says after 14 years of conferences in Bangkok, members were keen on a change, and given the focus on growing luxury leisure, holding the conference on Luminara seemed a good fit.
“We want to keep it intimate, so we’ll have a mix of about 110 members and partners. It’s a great way to showcase this incredible product to our members.”
Future focus
Masson says as the luxury traveller has evolved to care less about the “hardware” and more about experience and sustainability, it’s become more important to partner with people who genuinely give back.
‘We have a strong relationship with Intrepid Travel and The Intrepid Foundation to support the Blue Dragon Marathon Walk, which raises funds for Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation – a grassroots charity rescuing children in crisis in Vietnam and working to prevent human trafficking across Southeast Asia.”
He says increasingly more travellers are not just becoming aware of opportunities to give back, like the walk, but they are asking more questions about the experiences they are having.
“It’s the role of the advisor to work more closely with clients to know what the opportunities are and bring these opportunities to clients.”
He says it also extends to those travelling locally, who are looking for more authentic Australian experiences.
“One of our members is InTravel Group, a 100 per cent Aboriginal-owned corporate travel management company founded by Bundjalung man Dwayne Good, and as a group we want to support more Indigenous businesses like this.
“We are proud to work with InTravel, Intrepid and The Travel Corporation, who each have an ethical business. Having lived in Asia and seeing how far the dollar can go, you can make a big difference by supporting local communities, and it’s our role to encourage that. That can only benefit everyone.”
For more information, visit CT Partners.
