How Cathy Burke’s Travel Counsellors Ireland Is Disrupting The Travel Game When Everyone Else Is Playing It Safe

What’s the secret sauce behind a leadership style that’s stood the test of time and turmoil—especially in a rollercoaster industry like travel? Cathy Burke, the indefatigable Managing Director of Travel Counsellors Ireland, has cracked the code. From starting out in a spare room to steering a €55 million enterprise, Cathy’s journey is loaded with lessons on empathy, decisiveness, and the power of surrounding yourself with winners. Ever wonder how someone manages to stay direct, results-driven, and yet deeply people-centered in a global company that’s anything but hierarchical? Cathy’s story reveals that it takes more than business savvy—it demands heart, grit, and a clear vision of legacy. Curious to dive into the playbook of a leader who’s not just weathered storms but thrived by turning challenges into opportunities? Let’s unpack the wisdom behind her evolution and the values that continue to fuel her ascent. LEARN MORE

Cathy Burke, Managing Director of Travel Counsellors Ireland, reveals the secrets behind her leadership style

Who has most influenced your leadership style?

About 30 years ago, I read a book called Crowning the Customer.

It was written by a man called Feargal Quinn, who ran the Superquinn group, which became SuperValu.

The book was about how to be with people and how the customer was king. And it stuck with me since the day I read it.

I used an awful lot of the content in my training of people or my team around me, and even in how I was with people, both customers and people that I worked with.

How would you describe your leadership in three words?

Direct, empathetic and results-driven.

How has your approach to leadership evolved over the years?

I wouldn’t ask somebody to do something that I’m not prepared to do myself.

I’d have been a very rollthe-sleeves-up kind of person when I started in Travel Counsellors 20 years ago.

When it started, it was very small. We didn’t know where it was going.

And I suppose over the years, as I matured and got to know the people that I was working with, my style evolved to be more empathetic and driven.

What’s the best leadership advice you’ve ever received?

Hang out with winners. And I have used that throughout my whole life, and I guess what that means is don’t surround yourself with negative people — surround yourself with positive people.

I really feel strongly about that.

How do you handle managing up?

We are a global travel company, and we have what I would like to call our ‘mothership’. It’s our head offices in Manchester.

We’re also based in South Africa, the Netherlands, Belgium, UAE and, of course, Ireland.

So we’ve a lot of people to report into, but we are such an open business. There’s no hierarchy.

I can pick up the phone or ping a message to the CEO or the CFO and say: ‘Free for a chat anytime today? Just want to run something by you’ and they’re there and we do that.

What kind of workplace culture do you aim to foster?

I would say collaborative, rewarding but fun. I absolutely believe that if you’re not enjoying it and having some fun, what’s the point?

What’s your approach to making tough decisions, especially under pressure?

I am very decisive. And in the travel industry, you had to be during the pandemic.

Things went haywire very, very quickly.

All flights were cancelled around the world. Nobody could travel. And at the time, you had to make decisions instantly.

So that would be my approach in general.

How do you balance the strategic and operational demands of your role?

I’m really, really good at giving advice, but am I so hot at taking my own advice? Not so sure about that.

And here I am, at this stage of my career, still trying to take on board the advice that I give to other people.

However, very recently I started blocking off one day per week, and I call it the strategy day, and I turn off my phone.

I’m pretty much uncontactable. I look at the data, I look at the future. I look at where we are now, where we want to be, and then how we’re going to get there in the next couple of weeks and months, rather than the big end-of-year targets or goals.

I have to say, it really works.

What’s been your proudest moment or achievement?

I would be very, very proud of the fact that, 20 years ago, Travel Counsellors decided to launch their first overseas business in Ireland, and I started it from my spare room.

And here we are today, with sales of €55m a year.

What advice would you give to other SME leaders navigating uncertain economic conditions at the moment?

No matter what, stick to your values. Relationships have to come first, be that the relationships with your people that work with you, with your colleagues in the industry or with your customers.

Some people might be very worried at the moment, but I would say, cut out as much noise as you can, and focus on what has made you successful.

Learn how to pivot and move and carry on with your business, because these things pass.

What legacy do you hope to leave?

For many years now, I’ve been working on my succession planning. I think it’s really, really important.

Who’s going to take over the business when I’m no longer in it? What I think I would love the most is if everything carried on but got better.

In other words, there was no impact from me leaving or retiring.

I would love to be retired, sitting on a beach in Australia or somewhere, watching Travel Counsellors grow and grow and grow.