Real estate company TravelManagers Australia recently held its 2011 national conference at the Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne where more than 300 personal travel managers vied for recognition.

Ms Fogarty, a representative for Seaham in the Hunter region with 24 years experience in the travel industry, said she was overwhelmed.

"The weekend conference was a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and experiences with my peers.

"I am very grateful for the personal accolade of NSW's Most Improved personal travelmanager," she said.

TravelManagers said that the award was a "recognition of Kellie's expertise, skills and knowledge."

Ms Fogarty put the win down to what she labelled as "good old fashioned friendly service."

"A lot of agents are afraid of the Internet taking away business but I work with it ... clients have realised that with the Internet they've got nobody," she said.

"People have got my mobile, they can contact me 24/7 if something goes wrong.

"I think people like that I take care of everything, flight, soccer tickets, whatever."