Melanie Carter, based in Scoresby, Victoria has just celebrated 14 years as a Personal Travel Manager with TravelManagers. She talks to Karryon Luxury about how cruise has recently won her over, what personally motivates her, and how she balances a successful business with travel and her young family.
Having met Melanie Carter on a recent cruise onboard Silversea’s Silver Nova, I was amazed to discover she only recently became a cruise convert. She says that after sailing the Mediterranean with Virgin Voyages a couple of years ago, she was hooked.
“I’m now doing all the training I can, go to every ship inspection I can and have just taken my kids on their first cruise, on Disney Wonder,” she says.
“They absolutely loved it and I can see a lot more cruise holidays in our future. We are already booking our next family cruise and the kids have started doing the research, telling me about what they want to do next!”
Travel has been a family affair since she was very young. Melanie’s father was a passionate traveller and as an only child she travelled to Asia regularly with her parents. She says those experiences, plus spending a month in Italy on a school study trip when she was 15, sparked her interest in other cultures and gave her a “broader world view”.
However, it wasn’t until she took a trip to China with Intrepid, when she had a job in financial planning, that she realised she really wanted to work in travel.
Career path
Melanie Carter’s first job in the travel industry was with Flight Centre. “After training I was thrown in the deep end at a busy megastore with lots of new staff. It was a steep learning curve, but it built my resourcefulness, resilience and independence. I’m grateful that I can use this experience today.
“As Assistant Manager I then moved to a smaller centre, where I remained with the same team for three years. We had a great group of experienced consultants, a loyal clientele and achieved success through hard work, excellent customer service and lots of fun together.
“When I was on maternity leave with my first child, I realised that working in a retail shopfront would require a huge time commitment away from my family. I knew that I needed to find an alternative that fitted in better with my new role as a mother.
“That’s when I joined TravelManagers. I love the community we have – I am surrounded by other passionate, inspiring consultants who are constantly driven to deliver excellent service to their clients and share the same passion for travel that I do.
“Personal Travel Managers (PTMs) don’t gatekeep information and I feel we operate on the theory of a rising tide lifts all boats, supporting collaboration over competition. Honestly, that is so rare but I love it, and it sits so well with me personally.
“TravelManagers’ National Partnership Office (NPO) has wonderful staff who are experts in their field and are always on hand to guide us. TravelManagers has a real focus on investing in technology and working with our supplier partners for the very best deals and inclusions for our clients.”
Training, awards and quick thinking
Keeping on top of the latest trends, products and info is key to being a successful travel advisor. Melanie attends supplier updates and in the past few years has undertaken an Advanced Diploma of Travel and Tourism and an Advanced Diploma Leadership and Management. She has also completed specialist tourism and industry programs with organisations such as CLIA Australasia and Council of Australian Travel Operators (CATO).
Winning awards is a bonus. “I was the inaugural winner of the TravelManagers Advocate Award and had the privilege of being peer nominated for the PTM Choice Award nominee a few times and I even won it in 2023,” Melanie says.
“It was a huge honour to be nominated by my peers. Additionally, in 2024 I was nominated for the National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA) and while I was not a finalist, I loved the experience and felt I gained a lot from the process.”
Trying to make every trip the right trip for every client is what drives Melanie. “I listen to what they are telling me as well as using my intuition to ensure I match them to the property, cruise or product that is right for them. Sometimes this requires out-of-the-box thinking and finding creative solutions, which I really enjoy.”
Being on the case when clients are travelling is also essential. “I’ve had a client who was medically offloaded from his flight in Azerbaijan and clients who’ve missed flights or had flights cancelled, and I have to find solutions. Sometimes it’s just staying on the phone while they run between terminals to ensure they make the flight. Getting clients home safely when borders closed during the pandemic was particularly memorable.”
Work, family and travel: the balancing act
While it’s never easy to juggle parenting, travel and work, Melanie believes you need to know what you want and what you need to do, then put in strategies to support that and make it happen.
“I started my business with a six-month-old baby, so my work time was during naps and at night,” she says. “I had to be really disciplined in the hours I had for work and constantly come up with ways to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, without sacrificing service.
“I feel so grateful that I have a wonderfully supportive husband and I have been able run my business around my kids as they grow up, and as they need me less, my business has grown, too. My boys know they are my priority, but I am also a working mum who runs her own business. I am proud to be their role model for hard work, dedication and having a positive attitude to work and chasing my dreams, which I hope they take into their working lives.
“Working from home can be isolating so having a great tribe around you can make all the difference – people who believe in you and support you both personally and professionally. I have wonderful family, friends and industry friends who I am truly grateful for.”
Melanie says they take a couple of trips a year as a family, and then she usually does one or two work trips as well, depending on the opportunities presented and how they fit in with family commitments.
“My aim is to visit 50 countries by the time I am 50 – but I need to get a move on to make that happen! Every year, I try and visit at least one place I have never visited and do one thing I have never done. Last year’s destination was Japan, which I loved. I don’t have a new destination booked for this year, so I look forward to seeing what opportunity comes up!
“Being a working parent doesn’t allow a lot of free time, but I do love to go to plays, musicals and live music with my husband. Our family loves the musical Hamilton and I was lucky enough to see it 12 times over three states during its Australian run. As a family, we would love to see it on Broadway one day!”
Travel faves and a very personal wish list
“New York, Fiji, Canada and South Africa are all very special to me for different reasons,” Melanie says. “The vibe of New York is like nowhere else on earth, I love Fijian people and their bula spirit, Canada’s scenery is the most beautiful I have ever seen, and South Africa’s wildlife moved me to tears.
“Top of my wish list is South America and Antarctica. My dad always talked about seeing Machu Picchu so I would love to realise that dream for us both, and to experience the pristine beauty of Antarctica would be the experience of a lifetime.
“In May 2023, I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. MD is a degenerative muscle wasting disease that is breaking down the muscles in my legs. It already affects my strength, stamina, balance and my ability to walk, and eventually will take my ability to walk and stand altogether.
“I have been given no timeframes for this, but it does make me even more motivated to get the most out of every day! It has made me prioritise experiencing travel with my husband and kids and we all recently climbed the Sydney Harbour bridge together which is a memory I will treasure forever.
“I am really passionate about travelling with my kids as part of their education, making them global citizens and more well-rounded, compassionate people as they grow up.”
Melanie Carter, you are an inspiration to us all!
For more information visit TravelManagers or follow Melanie on Instagram here.
