Having built a successful travel business from the ground up, Mary fondly recalled her time at FCTG and found herself comparing her career goals and wanting to shift gears. With a career in travel spanning 25  years, it was actually COVID that presented one of her most exciting opportunities. 

After stepping out of the legal space, Mary dove headfirst into the travel industry in 1995 working as a Trip Planning Advisor within Mary Rossi Travel. Mary then joined SBT Business Travel Solutions which incorporated both Campus Travel and  Stage & Screen in 1998. The year following, 1999 FCTG  acquired these respective businesses and Mary was quickly appointed to Area Leader where she held this position until 2005. Soon after, Mary was appointed General Manager for Australia and New Zealand for the newly rebranded FCM Travel Solutions where she held this coveted position until 2006. 

Towards the end of that same year, Mary was presented with the opportunity to pave her own way in the industry and stepped away from FCTG to help establish a new travel business, a decision she simply couldn’t turn down. As Executive General Manager, Mary built what is now known as Concierge Travel Group and helped the business transform from a small $15M TTV business into a colossal $70M TTV corporation in 2014. 

While Mary was kicking monumental goals in her career, it was hard not to compare her external experiences with her fond memories of Flight Centre. 

“External travel companies do not communicate with their employees as frequently and openly as FCTG. Also, these privately-owned companies are not as transparent with their employees.” Mary reveals. 

“Not only this, the reward and recognition programs within FCTG, for example, the annual and global balls, is far advanced to those of other travel companies.”

Flight Centre was beyond excited to welcome Mary home in 2015 as she returned to her beloved FCM family, where she remains today. During her time at FCM, Mary has achieved many remarkable goals, including developing and rolling out the “Pinnacle ” value proposition, FCTG’s exclusive personal Concierge service offering for C-Suite Executives. 

One of the things Mary loves most is the value FCTG places on its people, and the drive to grow and develop that is embedded in the unique culture.

“If you have the right attitude and work ethic, you cannot fail when aspiring to great heights within FCTG - the opportunities are endless,” Mary says.

Unlike many of her peers in the travel industry, one of Mary’s favourite Flight Centre memories surprisingly happened at the height of COVID-19. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the FCM Cosmos area, of which Mary is the Leader, partnered with the NSW Government on their COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Program and have played a significant role in the success of the program and in keeping our people safe.  Mary was also privileged to graduate from  FCTG’s inaugural Club Mastery program for Senior Leaders in February 2020.