Tom Garnham joined TravelManagers in February this year, and as representative for Tiwi has become the company’s fourth Northern Territory-based PTM, with two more having joined since.
“I had already made the transition into selling travel, working in a retail outlet for four years,” Garnham explains, “but I was looking for a better work/life balance than what it could give me, as well as a better pay structure. I wanted to be able to give my clients the attention they deserved, rather than the limited attention available in a busy retail environment.”
Garnham says the TravelManagers model has delivered everything he was looking for, with the added bonus of having fellow PTMs to provide support, encouragement and plenty of fun. He works particularly closely with fellow Darwin, PTM Cara Gardner, who joined TravelManagers two months before him.
“We will meet up once a week and have a working lunch. Sometimes we work on our own things; sometimes we will be working on our marketing plan. We will plan the different markets and expos we go to together, what media we might want to advertise in and develop other strategies we might want to explore. Having a collaborative relationship means we can bounce ideas off each other.”
Gardner is TravelManagers’ representative for the City of Palmerston. She worked in the travel industry for nine years both in Darwin and in New Zealand, before joining TravelManagers and says the move was motivated by a desire to have less stress and more control of her working hours.
“I have had a fabulous career and have been lucky enough to travel to some amazing places over the years, and although I wanted to stay in the industry, I wanted the flexibility to travel more,” she explains. “TravelManagers fit the bill perfectly.”
“We have the systems and support in place to make it easy to work with clients anywhere and from anywhere – wherever PTMs have internet access, it’s business without interruption,” said Executive General Manager Michael Gazal.
