Why this regional travel advisor has been named the best in the country
She was awarded at the 2024 National Travel Industry Awards.
Donna Jones loves her job.
The Shell Cove, NSW-based travel advisor has been helping travellers for more than 26 years and was recognised at the 2024 National Travel Industry Awards.
Bestowed with the Nation's Most Outstanding Mobile/Home Based Travel Advisor title, Ms Jones said the recognition was a "big accolade".
"It confirms that you're doing things right, you're achieving what you want to achieve," she said.
"It just means everything to run an amazing, well-recognised, successful business."
As a mobile travel advisor, Ms Jones works along the South Coast, with a second office at Lake Conjola and helps clients all over Australia.
Her favourite part of the job? Helping her clients "live their best lives".
"I get really big satisfaction from curating right from the get-go," she said.
"People come in and say, 'Look, we've always wanted to go here or there, and we have no clue where to begin'.
"We kind of start everything from scratch and then end up with some amazing 6-8 weeks with an incredible itinerary that's completely personalised to them."
Ms Jones began her career in the travel industry after finishing school and earning qualifications in the travel and tourism sector.
"It was always what I wanted to do," she said.
"It was a very hard industry to get into back then and it probably still is now.
"I did some unpaid work experience to start with and it kind of went from there."
'Online, on your own'
Travel advisors help simplify the intricacies of travel, and when things go wrong, Ms Jones is prepared to help her clients get out of trouble.
"There are two things I always tell people to pack in addition to their luggage and their passports, and one is a sense of adventure," she said.
"The second is a sense of humour because, believe me, travel is fraught with all sorts of potential complications and mishaps.
"Travelling is actually really intricate; the internet's made it look like it's not, but it absolutely is."
Flight cancellations and delays, different visa requirements per country and the condition of a passport could all make or break a holiday.
"Bali as an example, I inspect people's passports before they leave because plenty of people have been denied boarding for destinations like Indonesia because their passport has a stain on it.
"I'm always here if you need me, I'll answer the phone 24/7 ... I'm always on hand to fix things wherever possible, and usually it is possible."
Ms Jones doesn't consider online travel something she has to compete with because she provides "a completely different level of service".
"We have a saying in this industry, 'Online, on your own'," she said.
"I've had phone calls in the past where people have mucked up something themselves that they've done online and they've been denied boarding, or they've had other issues.
"Unfortunately if it hasn't been done in the first place by a travel agent, it's very difficult to help somebody when it's been done online."
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