Photos from Melbourne Travel Massive's Rooftop Social at Courtyard by Marriott

Melbourne’s travel community filled the rooftop for the latest Travel Massive Melbourne gathering, hosted at Courtyard by Marriott Melbourne Flagstaff Gardens in West Melbourne — one of the biggest turnouts the chapter has seen in a while following a recent membership drive.

The evening welcomed travel journalists, tour operators, founders, creators and professionals from travel and tourism companies including Inspiring Vacations, Qatar Airways, 50 Degrees North, I Know The Pilot, Videreo and Flights Club, just to name a few. We were also joined by members from Filipino World Travelers, Young Tourism Network (YTN), and the Australian Society of Travel Writers. Speaking of travel writing, long-time member Tim Richards was there too, with a preview of his latest published travel book Train Europe, a rail guide to Europe and the UK spanning 20 trips.

Meet our host: Courtyard by Marriott Melbourne Flagstaff Gardens

General Manager Scott Breen welcomed members and introduced the property to first-time visitors. Opened a few years ago at 50 Batman Street, the hotel sits in a well-connected pocket of West Melbourne, a short walk from Southern Cross Station and Marvel Stadium, with a rooftop entertainment space that hosted us on the night. Scott shared the team’s ambition to draw more visitors to this side of Melbourne city, an area that’s easy to reach but still flying under the radar.

To get new and established members talking, we played a hotly contested round of networking bingo, with Elizabeth Costello from Tourism North East and Diya Joshi from Travel and Leisure walking away with a complimentary night’s stay including breakfast at Courtyard by Marriott.

Thank you to everyone who came along, to Casey and Justin for bringing so many new members into the fold, and to Scott and his colleagues Jason, April and the Courtyard by Marriott team for hosting us so generously. We’re already looking forward to the next one: in late November. Keep an eye on the event page for details, and we hope to see you there.

— Casey, Justin and Melbourne Travel Massive team

Want to be part of events like this? Join the Melbourne Travel Massive to stay in the loop for the next event. Contact chapter leaders Casey Mead and Justin Meneguzzi to sponsor an event.