With a decade of experience at Wilderness as both a Sales and Business Unit Manager, Caroline Palazzo was promoted to the exciting role of Global Integration Manager in 2020, to ensure the Reservation Travel Shops are aligned to the company’s growth strategy.
After spending five years as Wilderness Sales Manager for Latin America, and another five as Business Unit Manager for Africa and Latin America, Caroline is well-equipped to take on this new role. As Wilderness grows its conservation footprint, she will ensure that all of the company’s Reservation Travel Shops are operating the same way, across all regions.
Caroline is also part of the team growing new channel partnerships and overseeing the launch of itrvl – an exciting new-technology reservations platform that will bring enormous value to the company’s agent partners.
Caroline has Argentinian roots but was born in Zimbabwe and schooled in South Africa. After receiving a Diploma in Travel and Tourism from Witwatersrand Technikon in South Africa, Caroline began her journey in the tourism industry at a young age. She started working for Inyati Game Lodge as a Sales Executive in 1995, and was travelling the world as its International Sales Manager just one year later. After a couple of years at Welcome Tours Destination Management Company (DMC) she then joined TSA Marketing where she marketed a range of different products and ran the business for a few years before moving to Rome, Italy, and joining Tour Operator Viaggi Dell’Elefante and selling Africa – and Wilderness – to the Italians for the next three years.
She has never looked back and is proud to have been selling African safari dreams to people from across the globe for over 25 years. Her immense experience spans both ends of the spectrum, having worked as an agent for Wilderness before joining the in-house team and moving back to South Africa in 2010. As she knew what it was like to be a Wilderness partner, she felt privileged to join a company with sustainability ideals and values that mirror her own.
Even though conservation is extremely close to her heart, it is the fact that Wilderness changes people’s lives that truly resonates with her. “The fact that we change people’s lives in communities and in every area that we operate, as well as for our guests who often experience life-changing journeys with us, keeps me motivated to continue doing what I do to ultimately make a difference to our world”, she says. “Our business is full of passionate people and it is a true joy for me to work with such a diverse array of colleagues”.
Caroline is looking forward to spending more time focusing on consolidating Wilderness booking processes for selling both southern and East Africa – ensuring that systems and knowledge are the best they can be so that all Wilderness Reservation Travel Shops continue to offer excellent service as DMCs.
“It’s an exciting challenge to look at opening up new channels and partners whose Africa knowledge may be limited, and successfully launching itrvl into the market, thus adding value, expertise and confidence to an industry that was hit very hard by COVID_19. I believe we can truly assist our agents in becoming more productive with a simplified booking platform which enhances guest engagement, ultimately growing agents’ sales and becoming more profitable. It is also a personal highlight for me to start selling Wilderness on a broader scale, and to learn more about new destinations and other high-biodiversity areas, with the ultimate goal of growing our conservation footprint in these regions”, Caroline concludes.
Let’s plan your next journey
Ready?
When we say we’re there every step of the way, we mean it, literally. From planning the perfect circuit, to private inter-camp transfers on Wilderness Air, and easing you through Customs. We’re with you on the ground, at your side, 24-7, from start to finish. Ready to take the road less travelled? Contact our Travel Designers to plan an unforgettable journey.