Barry Mayo, a name synonymous with the travel industry, has announced his retirement after 60 + years.

His career spans six airlines, wholesaling, an international tour operator, a stint as the CEO of a retail travel franchise company and operations in nine countries.

Since 2007, Mayo has been the chair of House of Travel Australia (encompassing TravelManagers and Hoot Holidays) and began as a director of House of Travel New Zealand the year prior.

At an industry level, Mayo has served as chair of CT Partners, which he will step down from at the 2022 AGM on 24 October.

He is a past chairman of IATA’s Australian Travel Agency Program, past president of The Australian Chapter of the American Society of Travel Agents, plus a past member of the Board of Airline Representatives for Australia and the Royal Institute of Transport in Australia.

Mayo intended to retire in 2020, following his 75^th birthday in late 2019 but decided to postpone his retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Everyone is aware of how stressful the past few years have been, and my greatest concern was for my colleagues and our TravelManagers’ personal travel managers’ morale and wellbeing,” Mayo said.

“The last thing I wanted to do was walk away from the industry I have loved and people who have been such an important part of my life at a time like that.

“The travel industry is showing strong signs of recovery and the time is right for me to commence the next phase of my life.

“Naturally and excitedly, it will involve plenty of travel, both domestically and internationally, and I am very much looking forward to quality time with family, who my wife and I are close to, and friends.” 

Mayo said friendships within the travel industry will be missed.

“We have a fantastic team at House of Travel Australia and whilst we work incredibly hard, we also have a lot of fun,” he added.

“The travel sector is infectious, and people see working in travel as a career, which has meant relationships have followed me from Garuda in the 1960s and Harvey World Travel in the 1990’s/early 2000’s, to House of Travel Australia.”

Whilst Mayo is retiring, he said he will be available to the new chair in a consultancy role for a period of time and will complete projects that are currently in progress and make sense for him to see through.

“I reflect on my travel career with a great deal of satisfaction and pride. It has enabled me to work all over the world across airlines, tour wholesaling, retail travel and travel franchising. 

“I could not be prouder of House of Travel Australia, led by Joe Araullo and Grant Campbell – their leadership skills and those of their teams, have made chairing the company such a pleasure and a privilege.

“TravelManagers has a strong network of over 420 personal travel managers that are deeply dedicated to their clients and passionate about travel. Hoot Holidays is well respected with its package holidays and am excited to see it flourish again, now the appetite for travel is back.”

Those in the industry use words such as knowledgeable, committed, loyal, fanatical and consumer advocate when describing Mayo’s service to the travel sector.

Remembering particularly his advocacy to consumers when Australia’s Travel Compensation Fund was reviewed and eventually closed.

“Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you I was hugely passionate about this and still am,” he said.

Joe Araullo CEO of House of Travel Australia said it was with regret but understanding that he received the news about Mayo retiring.

“It is hard to remember a day when Barry and I haven’t conversed about a travel matter or his woeful Sea Eagles NRL Team…and I will miss him immensely,” Araullo said.

“The travel industry has benefitted so much from Barry’s involvement, which is why he has been chair of CT Partners since 2019. His experience and knowledge are unprecedented but when you combine those two aspects with his immense commitment to the travel industry, he is indeed a legend.”

Mayo will step down as chair House of Travel Australia and TravelManagers with Bruce Parton, CEO House of Travel New Zealand, taking over from 30 June.

Summary of Barry Mayo’s career in the travel industry:

• TravelManagers Australia                          2007 – June 2022, Chairman
• House of Travel Holdings NZ                      2006 – June 2022, Director
• CT Partners                                                   2010 – October 2022, Director/Chairman
• Harvey World Travel                                   1997 – 2005, Director/CEO
• Qantas Airlink/ Airways                              1995 – 1997, General Manager
• Insight International Vacations Australia 1993 – 1995, Managing Director
• Garuda Indonesia (Aust/NZ)                      1977 – 1993, Gen Manager & Regional Director Aust & NZ
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (SYD)                 1968 – 1977, Marketing Manager Aust & NZ
• Pan Am – Pan American World Airways 1966 – 1968
• Ansett Australia                                           1965 – 1966
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (LON)                1962 – 1965
• Alitalia – Societa Aerea Italiana                 1961