KRISTI O'BRIEN
Managing Director
Role: Marketing, Itinerary Development & Industry Liaison

My love of Australia, its diverse landscape, people and cultures is expressed in Diverse Travel Australia.

When I was 14, Mum took me on a pilgrimage tour of Europe. Just to see the different countries, their architecture and scenery, made the trip exciting and memorable, but it was the people that left the most lasting impression. Their pride, beliefs, values and customs changed with each country visited. I was not to know then but that journey determined my future. The seed was sown.

I cleaned offices to pay for my business degree and then worked in special interest and nature based travel for several years. I travelled Australia, from the west coast of Australia to the tip of Cape York in Queensland, reviewing travel destinations and suppliers. I worked for the Northern Territory Tourism Commission based at Alice Springs before returning to Adelaide to fulfil my dream. During my travels there was something new to see around every bend in the road and every destination had its own indefinable aura. The many friends and associations I have developed in the tourism industry, including those within the Aboriginal community, began because of their friendly relaxed attitude and the many laughs around the campfire.

My dream was to show visitors my Australia off the beaten track and to take them on a tour of greater cultural awareness and self discovery. I wanted visitors to see and feel the real Australia, to meet its people and to share its culture, particularly that of its original inhabitants in their own home.

No company I was aware of provided these opportunities and, after talking to Caroline, a friend I had previously worked with and whose knowledge and skills on tourism complimented my own, we decided to start our own business and Diverse Travel Australia was born. The seed had germinated.

My passion for music is as strong as my passion for travel and, to me, composing a song and a journey are much alike. Pace, rhythm, emotion and wonderful lyrics are essential and nothing pleases me more than to hear clients report that they danced to the tune and loved the song.

I am still perfecting the song and a liaison with Aboriginal Australia, the recent acquisition of Venture Wine Tours Australia and wonderful feedback from such organisations as the American Museum of Natural History and Classroom Connect, to name but a few, have provided the fruit from the seed.

I am still well aware that "only when I have reached the mountain top then shall I begin to climb".

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