Leader of the Pack: Kirsty of Brisbane

We would love for our global Travel Massive communities to interact and get updated on the latest activities, events and personalities from the world over. Once such personality is the co-organizer of Brisbane Travel Massive, Kirsty Wallett.

Kirsty is the Social Media Manager for Brisbane-based travel website Wotif.com. Wotif.com sells accommodation, holiday rentals, flights and packages online in more than 69 countries. Every month the site attracts 6.1 million visits, with customers making over 260,000 bookings.

Tell us a little about the travel industry in the Brisbane.

Brisbane is a hub for the Australian travel industry, with several major companies making the river city their home including Virgin Australia, Webjet, Flight centre and of course, Wotif.com. Being a smaller capital city, Brisbane is a fantastic city for networking and making great travel contacts and friends.

What travel company do you admire the most and why?

I also really like what World Nomads does with it’s social media and online communities. Considering it sells travel insurance, it does a great job of widening it’s marketing topics and social content. Lonely Planet also does some really cool stuff with their online communities too.

What are some of your favorite travel websites?

See above! I also like Kayak for travel in the USA and Tripit.

What are the biggest trends you are seeing in Brisbane and in your industry?

Mobile is a really big focus for OTAs and airlines at the moment. And obviously a good mobile travel app is important, so there are some great advances being made in that area too.

Why did you decide to organize Travel Massive meetups in your city?

Apart from loving a drink or two, I thought it would be great to have a casual networking event in Brisbane that went across industries. They are a lot of online and hospitality industry meet ups, but there didn’t seem to be anything that was for everyone.

Who have you met at Travel Massive Brisbane recently?

We had the pleasure of meeting Hannah and Chris from Love Play Work in the UK. They’d been to a few of the London Travel Massive events so they looked us up at Brisbane Travel Massive and came out for the night! It was great meeting other Travel Massive travelers from the other side of the world!

Favorite travel tip in your city?

Hire a car to make the most of seeing all the different sides of Brisbane.

Where are you traveling to next?

Mexico! Hopefully later this year.

Leader of the pack is a monthly series that profiles organizers of Travel Massive meet-ups around the world. You can follow Kirsty on Travel Massive.