Our Team

Chris has been involved in the travel industry for over 17 years, specialising in escorted groups and special event holidays. In 2012 and again in 2022 Chris was recognised as the Tamworth Young Business Person of the Year he is also rated number one on travel agent finder. Other achievements of his include being an APT Top Achiever, Tamworth Young Citizen of The Year and Australian Line Dancer of the Year. In 2022 Chris Watson Travel was awarded the People's Choice Business of the Year in the Tamworth Quality Business Awards. The team has also appeared on multiple occasions as a state finalist in the National Travel Industry Awards: People's Choice Travel Agency of the Year.

Chris loves planning your next dream vacation, making sure you get the best deal and experience of a lifetime. Some of Chris's favourite destinations include the USA, cruising and the South Pacific. Chris has travelled extensively through North America and Europe, as well as the South Pacific, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong – and taken to the seas on no less than 15 cruises!

Gemma is equally well-travelled, having been all over the USA, to Europe, Fiji and New Zealand, and cruising from Australia with P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line. Gemma has recently returned from a river cruise in Europe and escorting a tour in the USA. She has a wealth of travel experience and knowledge. Gemma is also a trained administration manager taking care of all things admin and accounts for Chris Watson Travel.

Janine has been in travel since 1993 and holds a Diploma in Travel & Tourism from Macleay College in Sydney. She has travelled widely both overseas and within Australia and loves helping her clients plan their well-earned holidays.
Since starting at a travel agency in Gunnedah in 1996, Janine has become well-known in the community for her extensive knowledge and experience - making her a valuable asset for travellers in the region! Her professional yet friendly manner makes organising holidays a breeze.

From a simple flight or weekend away to extensive overseas itineraries combining hotels, holiday packages, cruises, tours, car rentals and more, Janine can do it! Specialising in personal itineraries and matching the perfect trip to her clients, she has the experience and knowledge to make travel easy and enjoyable - even in the planning stages!

Nicole has been a Travel Agent with Chris Watson Travel since March 2023. Previously Nicole worked for Qantas and Link Airways at Tamworth Airport for seven years, where she got to put people on planes to fabulous destinations. Now she gets to help plan fabulous destination holidays for her clients and loves hearing all about their trips.

Nicole has had a love of travel since her teens and has travelled around Australia and the USA extensively, considering Nashville and New Orleans her second home. Nicole is also very knowledgeable about Asia and has become a bit of a cruise expert, she travel to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in June 2023 and loves to host bus trips, especially music groups, shows and festivals.

In her spare time, Nicole loves to plan her own dream trips with her travelling buddies. This often includes going to book signing events and international concerts.

Tina has been in the travel industry for over 16 years, Tina is based in Sydney and has a love for Europe and in-depth itineraries. Tina has travelled throughout Canada, The USA, Europe and Asia. She loves Croatia and the Greek Islands.

Tina has an amazing rapport with our clients and strives to deliver the best customer service. In her downtime when she isn’t working, she is travelling or chasing after two beautiful kids. 

From a simple flight or weekend away to extensive overseas itineraries combining hotels, holiday packages, cruises, tours, car rentals and more, Janine can do it! Specialising in personal itineraries and matching the perfect trip to her clients, she has the experience and knowledge to make travel easy and enjoyable - even in the planning stages!

Melissah has been part of the travel industry for over 30 years. She specialises in group travel, arranging trips and tours for businesses, conferences, dance groups, sporting groups and cheer teams.

Melissah has travelled extensively around the world but has a particular love for the USA and Canada. She prides herself on customer service, advice and peace of mind when you travel. Melissah caters to all aspects of domestic and international travel and always goes that extra mile to ensure you have a great experience from beginning to end.

Karen has been in the travel industry for over 30 years and her passion has always been arranging and selling group travel. Karen has had some varied and very interesting groups in the past, from bird watching, train spotting, tracing relatives and even a teddy bear enthusiast group. The highlight of her groups' career was planning and escorting WWI anniversary tours to both Europe and Turkey.

Fun fact: "I did once leave a bag behind at Istanbul airport and when I returned to collect it I was accidentally left in the lost property office which was inside the airport. I thought it weird they allowed me past customs into no man’s land. With no passport and no one speaking English the staff elected to sneak me past security so they didn’t get into trouble. I honestly thought I was going to be either shot or locked up. But thankfully I lived to tell the tale".

Mary has over 35 years of travel industry experience. She has travelled extensively and hosted many group tours.

She loves to travel and discover new destinations, but especially enjoys travelling through Europe and exploring her family heritage.