Volunteer holidays win top business award for travel industry trail-blazer
5 Oct 2011
A veteran of Tasmania’s travel industry who pioneered volunteer holiday experiences to developing countries has been named the State’s top business woman for 2011.
Genevieve Atkins, Business Development Manager for The Travel Studio in Hobart’s Battery Point, won the 2011 Telstra Tasmanian Business Woman of the Year Award, recognising a career of almost 40 years.
Ms Atkins, who was the first woman in Tasmania to be a manager and state sales representative for the airline TAA, also won the Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award and the Nokia Innovation Award at the Telstra Business Women’s Awards ceremony in Hobart today.
Early in her career, when she achieved the State’s highest sales at TAA, she was not allowed to be publicly commended for the achievement because her then manager said “it would upset your male colleagues.”
Ms Atkins spent many years at Qantas and Andrew Jones Travel as a corporate and private travel consultant and also created the Travelling Ladies Club, a travel club for single women with more than 600 members.
She joined The Travel Studio in 2009 to launch Volunteer Holidays which combines holidays in 22 countries with participation in programs to support volunteer, missionary and overseas aid organisations.
Ms Atkins said: “We want to create holidays with a real purpose where people can benefit from the incredible experience of helping someone else.”
So far, 75 per cent of Volunteer Holiday participants, who move from high quality accommodation to working in local communities, have volunteered again through The Travel Studio program.
Other Tasmanian Award winners were Carolyn Snare, whose achievements managing Launceston Airport ground handling operations for Virgin Australia were recognised with the Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award, and Donna Bain, who won the White Pages Community & Government Award for her management of Self Help Workshop Inc, a Youngtown enterprise that provides jobs for people with disabilities.
Kate McKenzie, Telstra Group Managing Director for Innovation, Products and Marketing and Telstra Business Women’s Awards Ambassador, said: “Telstra established the Awards program in 1995 to celebrate the success of inspirational business women and provide motivation for others.
“The Awards judges were impressed with Genevieve Atkins’ long record of building and retaining corporate and private travel business, describing her as a gracious and passionate business woman whose mentoring skills make her an employee of enormous value.
“Through Volunteer Holidays, judges said Ms Atkins has transformed the usual overseas holiday into a wider experience of culture, caring and making a difference to someone else’s life,” Ms McKenzie said.”
Mark Steyn, CEO of Hudson Australia/New Zealand, said: “Hudson has been a proud sponsor of the Telstra Business Women's Awards for ten years and it is a privilege to be associated with an event that showcases the excellent calibre and quality of talented women working across Australia.
“We are passionate about profiling successful women in business and the valuable contribution they continue to make to corporate and community life,” he said.
Chris Carr, Nokia Australia’s Managing Director, said: “This has been another strong year for the Innovation category with an impressive array of entries and finalists.
“Genevieve Atkins was a stand out entry who has shown strength of vision and conviction throughout her career. I wish to congratulate her on winning this coveted Award and I hope that her story will act as inspiration to others,” he said.
The Tasmanian winners proceed to the national finals of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards that will be announced in Melbourne on 18 November.
Winners of the 2011 Telstra Tasmanian Business Women’s Awards are:
Telstra Tasmanian Business Woman of the Year
Genevieve Atkins The Travel Studio, Hobart
Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award
Carolyn Snare D & C Snare Pty Ltd, Western Junction
Carolyn Snare is Director and Airport Manager for D & C Snare Pty Ltd, a business that manages ground handling operations at Launceston Airport for Virgin Australia, providing passenger check-in and boarding services, baggage and freight handling and aircraft cleaning. A woman in a male-dominated and highly regulated industry, Ms Snare has built a high-performing team of 27 employees that is servicing Launceston’s growing number of business travellers. She is a member of the Safety, Security and Emergency Committees that advise on improving facilities and procedures at the airport. The business was the first out-sourced agency to manage ground services for a major Australian airline when it won a contract with Ansett subsidiary Kendell Airlines in 1999.
Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award
Genevieve Atkins The Travel Studio, Hobart
White Pages Community & Government Award
Donna Bain Self Help Workshop Inc., Youngtown
Donna Bain is General Manager of Self Help Workshop Inc, an enterprise that provides employment for 54 people with disabilities, in four commercial areas of timber products, business services, catering and secondhand clothing as well as teaching independent living skills. After a diverse career in the not-for-profit sector with roles in adult education and migrant services, Ms Bain is currently chair of the Migrant Resource Centre in Northern Tasmania, a member of the National Disability Services State Committee and vice-chair of the Tasmanian Association of Disability Enterprises. She is also designing a new program to help older employees transition to retirement.
Nokia Business Innovation Award
Genevieve Atkins The Travel Studio, Hobart
More information on the Telstra Business Women’s Awards can be found at
www.telstrabusinesswomensawards.com
Media contact:
Elizabeth Coad | 0404 644 848 | Lighthouse Communications Group
James Woollard | 0419 130 588 | Telstra
www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media-centre/
Reference: 298/2011
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Telstra Business Women's Awards Network