Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is delighted to have had two women last night recognised for their contribution to the business as part of the Women in Travel Awards.
Flight Centre Travel Group Chief Operating Officer Melanie Waters-Ryan walked away with the top accolade in the ‘Power List’ and Jess Anscombe General Manager for Corporate Traveller took out the ‘Corporate’ category.
The annual awards program recognises female talent in the travel industry across a range of categories including aviation, corporate, cruise, entrepreneur, hotel, marketer, mentor, PR, rising star, road and rail, sales person, social media technology, tourism board and wholesale.
FCTG’s corporate division had a further six women named finalists in this year’s awards. These included:
Corporate:
- Andrea Stidwill – Corporate Traveller
- Anita Nguyen – Stage & Screen Travel Services
- Sue McEvoy – FCM Travel Solutions
Salesperson of the year
- Sue McEvoy – FCM Travel Solutions
Mentor of the Year
- Melissa Elf – FCM Travel Solutions
Technology
- Juanita Kumaran – Stage and Screen Travel
The program’s ‘Power List’ included a shortlist of 73 women from across the travel industry. The public was asked to vote on who they thought had achieved ‘astronomic success in their professional arenas and made a significant contribution to their businesses through their leadership, innovation and courage’.
The company’s COO Melanie Waters-Ryan, said she was delighted to accept her award.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have won this award,” Melanie said. “There was strong competition in terms of the number of women and also from the calibre of female talent in this group.”
Melanie said she’d had many proud moments in her career with Flight Centre having started with the company in 1987 as a travel consultant.
“From being a top novice in my first three months of employment with Flight Centre to now being the COO and role model for many of our up and coming female leaders – I’ve had a rewarding professional journey with Flight Centre.
“It really was a lovely honour for me to win on behalf of all the amazing women in the Australian travel industry and of course all the women at FCTG!”
Carole Cooper, FCTG’s global Peopleworks leader, said FCTG was thrilled to learn of the news, given the large number of women that work in the travel industry and the fierce competition for these awards.
“With almost 230 entries and 130 finalists across the categories it is an exceptional achievement to be named a winner. We are very proud of all these women and delighted they have been recognised for their worthy contribution to our company,” Carole said.
“The Flight Centre group actively supports women in the workplace and nurtures female talent. We have quite a few initiatives such as Womenwise and Flexibility Champions, which are designed to inspire and develop the professional talent of our already very talented female employees.
“This is exciting news and on behalf of everyone at FCTG … congratulations!”
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