Midweek Catch-up with Carnival Australia’s Marguerite Fitzgerald

What do you get when you mix the Wright Brothers, Ada Lovelace and Ash Barty? A stellar dinner party hosted by Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises’ president, obviously.

What’s your main goal for this year?

To successfully restart our Carnival Australia business.

What’s your favourite thing about working in the travel industry?

What others do for a holiday I get to do for work!

How do you like to spend your free time?

Reintegrating back into the Australian lifestyle after 15 years living abroad! It mostly includes going to Little A’s with the kids on the weekend to watching footy (AFL) games and exploring Sydney’s restaurant scene.

Have you managed to do any travelling since restrictions began to ease (domestic or international)?

Yes. Being based in the US, we were able to do a bit of travel throughout the pandemic.

We explored a lot of Florida – and I am devastated to see Fort Myers Beach destroyed by Hurricane Ian as we spent lots of happy days there.

We also had an awesome family trip to Staniel Cay in the Bahamas to visit the swimming pigs and a week in the Costa Rican rainforest. And of course, a cruise on Mardi Gras, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship.

What’s your favourite travel company, besides the one you work for?

There are so many! Perhaps Lonely Planet – I still have my tattered copies from my backpacking trips around Europe, Asia and South America.

If you could invite three famous guests (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would you choose?

The Wright Brothers (do they count as one or two?), Ada Lovelace and Ash Barty.

What’s something positive you’ve witnessed or experienced since the global pandemic hit?

Spending more time with my children – even if it means they interrupt me during Board meetings when I am working from home.

What’s your advice for others in the travel industry on coping with the global pandemic?

It will be turbulent for a while longer as what we are doing has never been done before.

We are rebuilding an industry from nearly zero to full speed within a couple of years, in a continually changing context.

What we do is important to so many people – whether it is our passengers, our employees or the broader ecosystem that supports us.