High energy, major milestones, and a family reunion feel set the tone as TravelManagers launched its 16th and largest-ever annual conference this week at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali.
Officially opening the conference, executives Joe Araullo and Michael Gazal led an upbeat and heartfelt first session that underscored the network’s strength and ongoing momentum.
Chief Executive Officer Joe Araullo described the annual event as being akin to “a family reunion,” pointing to the energy and camaraderie of the 510 attendees, the highest delegate number in the company’s history.
“Every year we get here, and it almost feels like a family reunion. You can’t stop people talking, smiling, and just enjoying catching up with everybody,” he said.
Executive General Manager of TravelManagers, Michael Gazal, told delegates the scale of this year’s conference reflected an exceptional period of growth.
“2025 is definitely a significant year for the TravelManagers family in a number of areas. This year, we hit a significant milestone — $500 million turnover — because of your contribution, our Personal Travel Manager network and supply partners. I think everyone deserves a massive round of applause for that,” he said.
The milestone also comes as TravelManagers celebrates 20 years of operations and surpasses previous records for conference attendance. “This year, we cracked 510 delegates attending the conference. To put it in perspective, Cairns (in 2024) was our largest by daylight at 435 delegates,” Gazal noted.
According to Araullo, the top 50 PTMs averaged $310,000 in commissions, while the top 100 averaged $250,000, which he said demonstrated the calibre of the company’s network.
“We had a target of 700 Personal Travel Managers (PTMs), averaging a turnover of about $700,000 a year. We actually achieved $500 million across 480 PTMs.
“That just goes to show the quality of the people that we have within our network,” he explained.
The company is also sharpening its focus on future growth areas that will directly benefit the network. In line with the conference theme of Clarity, these strategies are designed to give PTMs clear pathways to stronger results.
This includes new opportunities through TravelManagers’ partnerships with nine leading luxury hotel groups and a targeted 18 per cent increase in cruise sales, supported by enhanced booking tools such as the Fastbook platform and a consumer-facing cruise affiliate website.
Corporate travel, currently representing around 10 per cent of turnover, is another priority, opening up further ways for PTMs to diversify their client offering and income streams.
Leveraging the theme of ‘Clarity’
Back for a third straight year, conference emcee Jordana Borensztajn got the delegates smiling and amped to embrace the information, inspiration and growth mindsets. That was, after getting the conference started with an all-in dance party.
The conference theme of Clarity and actionable takeaways was woven into the opening remarks, with Araullo reflecting on the deeper meaning of travel experiences and recounting a recent trip to Africa.
“Life is about experiences and making memories, for me, that’s what travel is all about,” he said.
Araullo also emphasised the strong performance of TravelManagers in a competitive market. “Year to date, we’re tracking four per cent up on last year. When we look at our competitors, one of them in particular talked about an eight per cent decrease in their sales. Even though we’d like to be further ahead, we are tracking ahead of our competitors, and we’re doing really, really well.”
Acknowledging the vital role of suppliers, Gazal said the conference could not be staged without their commitment. “There is no way we can pull off an event of this magnitude without the generosity and the kindness and support of our supplier partners and, in particular, our Platinum sponsors,” he said, before inviting delegates to share their support with a round of applause.
He also pointed to TravelManagers’ decision to move its conference to a midweek format as a supplier-friendly change. “Suppliers give up so much of their personal time, attending events and giving up so many weekends. We do hope our consortia competitors actually follow suit and make their conferences midweek and make life for our suppliers that much easier.”
What’s next for TravelManagers?
Looking ahead, Gazal announced dates for next year’s event to be held in Canberra. “As you know, we’ve already got the save the date for 2026, 18-20 August, in our nation’s capital,” he revealed.
The conference also welcomed strong representation from across the network, including directors, supplier partners, National Partnership Office (NPO) members, and, for the first time, new PTM businesses in New Zealand. TravelManagers’ Philippines-based team was also recognised, with seven staff joining the Bali conference as their first international event.
The 16th TravelManagers conference runs from September 16 to 18, 2025, and will feature a variety of sessions and events, culminating in a Gala Awards recognition and farewell dinner.
Platinum sponsors for the Conference are The Travel Corporation, Trafalgar, CostSaver, Insight Vacations, Contiki Luxury Gold, Adventure World, AAT Kings, and Uniworld; the RCI group, including Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Silversea; Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas, Amadeus, Covermore, ResRoom, and Intrepid; and The World’s Leading Cruise Line brands, including Carnival, Holland America, Cunard, Seabourn, and Princess Cruises.
