Connected Travel Academy

15/10/2026

Woweeee, what a weekend for the travel industry! 🥂

This year, our Connected Travel network celebrated a record number of award nominees and TWO finalist positions at the National Travel Industry Awards, including Most Outstanding Mobile Advisor Network!

And that one was particularly special to us, because so much of what we’ve built started with our Academy, a commitment to doing things properly and giving people the opportunity to build their own travel businesses with the right training and support behind them.

We didn’t take home the win, but what a privilege to be recognised alongside some of the industry’s best!

Three of our Connected Travel members celebrated at the Finalists Cocktail Evening, while four got dressed up for the NTIA Gala!

And that’s what we love about our network. Different people, different businesses, different stages of their careers, but all part of something we’re incredibly proud of.

What a weekend, and what a wonderful bunch of people to share it with! ❤️

ATIA - Australian Travel Industry Association, Viking, Singapore Airlines, Trafalgar Travel, Wide Eyed Tour, Evolution Travel Collective - ETC

03/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱. 💙

Recently we brought together some of our newest travel business owners, alongside advisors who have been operating their businesses with us for years, for a couple of days in Melbourne.

Day one was simply about working together. Questions, ideas, problem solving, plenty of conversation and time with our leadership team. No big agenda. Just the chance to learn from each other and talk through the realities of running a travel business.

The following day, Connected Travel took the group along to Travel Agent Day Australia, giving our newer advisors the opportunity to step further into the industry, meet suppliers and experience the wider travel community.

Because while everyone in our network operates 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, they don’t have to build it alone. 🩵

28/09/2026

If you’re new to the travel industry and looking for a pathway into business ownership, don’t just compare the inclusions.

Credibility, systems, supplier access, training and support all matter. But so do the people you’ll be building your business alongside.

Find your people. 💚

Connected Travel is Australian owned, built specifically for the Australian travel industry and an accredited travel company. We’re not simply a “host” providing access to systems and suppliers.

Our model is designed to develop people who are new to the industry into confident, capable travel business owners. That means learning the industry AND learning how to build a business, surrounded by people you can learn from, ask the silly questions, celebrate the wins with and have a LOT of fun along the way! 👌🏽

There are different models and plenty of opinions about the “right” pathway. Do your research, ask lots of questions and find the one that fits you, your goals and the career you want to build.

Because who you build your business with really does matter. 🩵

24/09/2026

Pretty proud of the team we’ve built at Connected Travel. 💙

Our focus is a little different. Rather than recruiting experienced advisors, we’re focused on bringing new people into the travel industry and giving them a credible pathway to becoming independent travel business owners.

And if we’re going to do that, we need experience around them.

Operations, finance, supplier relationships, business development, qualified training and assessment, mentoring and plenty of real-world travel experience.

Because becoming a travel business owner should involve more than access to booking systems, suppliers and a logo.

This is our Network Team, and I’m very proud of what we’re building together.

20/09/2026

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆? 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿.

You don’t need years of experience working in a travel agency before you can build your own travel business.

Connected Travel Academy provides a credible, structured pathway into business ownership for people who are brand new to the industry. You’ll undertake three intensive months of industry, systems and business training before launching, followed by ongoing mentoring, professional development and hands-on support throughout your first 12 months.

You’ll learn from qualified trainers and industry experts actively working in travel today, before launching within an accredited travel agency network. Our program has also been recognised as a 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.

This isn’t about joining a network with no experience and hoping for the best. It’s about learning the industry, understanding how to operate a travel business properly, and having support around you as you put that learning into practice.

Starting a business isn’t for everyone. But if business ownership is your goal, 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁.

09/09/2026

We’ve just wrapped up our live Connected Travel Academy webinar. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

If you missed the session but would like more information about our training program and the opportunity to launch your own travel business, get in touch at [email protected] and we’ll send the details through.

06/09/2026

Thinking about breaking into the travel industry? ✈️

Join us for a free online webinar for people who are new to travel and curious about what it takes to build a career, and their own travel business, in the industry.

We’ll cover:

✨ How people get started
✨ What working in travel really looks like
✨ The pathways, training and support available

You’ll also hear from people who have already made the move.

Wednesday 9 September
6:30pm to 7:15pm

No experience needed. Just come along, ask questions and see whether travel could be your next chapter.

👉 Register here:

A free online information session for people curious about entering the travel industry and building their own travel business.

14/08/2026

A proud moment for Connected Travel and our Academy side of the company 🩵

Our founder, director and lead trainer, Marissa, has been appointed as a Subject Matter Expert on a national committee helping review and update Australia’s Travel and Tourism qualifications.

Basically she’s part of a group of industry experts helping make sure the way travel is taught in Australia actually reflects what the job is really like in the real world.

Why does this matter to us?

Because we’ve always believed there is a big gap between learning the theory of travel and actually knowing how to DO the job.

It’s why our training has always been so practical and focused on what happens in real travel businesses, not just in textbooks.

Now we get to bring that hands-on experience into a much bigger conversation about how future travel professionals are trained across the country.

Pretty exciting to have Connected Travel helping shape what the future of travel training in Australia looks like. 🩵

You can read more about the project here:
https://sacsa.org.au/projects/review-of-tourism-and-travel-qualifications/

Review of Tourism and Travel Qualifications— updating three Certificate III qualifications within the Tourism and Travel Training Package (SIT).

12/08/2026

An Academy update… and a last chance! 👀

This will be our 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆.

From next year, our focus is shifting completely to where we believe we’re needed most:

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀.

People want to enter our industry and build their own travel businesses, and if we’re going to bring new people in, we want to do it with 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

So that’s where we’re heading. 🩵

But before we wrap up our wider industry workshops, we’re going out with a bang!

Our 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱, and once these are gone… they’re gone!

If you or someone in your team has been meaning to do one, now is the time.

Want in?

Email 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴@𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺.𝗮𝘂 NOW and we’ll send you the details.

Let’s finish this chapter properly. 💪🏽

06/08/2026

This year we took our own advice and we made a conscious decision to simplify.

Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, we chose to focus on what we do best.

We brought our training and support closer to home, focusing on our own network and helping new people turn their love of travel into professional mobile travel businesses. Then we continue walking beside them through those important early years.

Today, we’re incredibly humbled to be named a finalist for Most Outstanding Travel Agent Network. 🩵

Congratulations to the other finalists. Every network has its own strengths and its own place within our industry. This year, we simply found ours. Work with those who want to break into the industry with their own travel business.

“Don’t be everything to everyone. Be something to someone.”