Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Tue October 28, 2025
Caroline Hollar, Gifted Travel Network (Photo Credit: Caroline Hollar)
Bio
Caroline Hollar’s passion for travel developed while studying abroad in Paris and exploring Europe during college. In 2016, just one week after graduating from Clemson University, she joined Gifted Travel Network’s six-person startup team at age 21. Over the past nine years, she’s grown from Marketing Associate to Marketing Manager and, by 2022, became GTN’s youngest Director. Today, Caroline leads the marketing and sales team, driving initiatives that attract and develop new-to-industry advisors.
She’s also built a reputation for thriving at live events - whether managing production, speaking, or even DJ’ing - bringing creativity and energy that inspire our advisor community. Her primary focus is bringing new talent into the travel industry. Each year, she oversees the recruitment of 30–40 qualified, entrepreneurial, and business-minded advisors, helping elevate the travel advisor profession by attracting those committed to treating travel as a true business. She played a key role in GTN’s 2022 rebrand from premium to luxury, aligning its image with the caliber of advisors it serves and is part of a leadership team at an award-winning host agency that grew from $7 million annual sales to $220+ million.
Caroline is 31 years old.
"Being named to TravelPulse’s Travel Industry 40 Under 40 is an incredible honor and such a meaningful affirmation of my career in travel," said Caroline. "I started with Gifted Travel Network in 2016, right out of college, and have enjoyed being with this incredible company over the past nine years. I’ve grown professionally and personally, and have witnessed the elevation of our industry and the growth of so many travel businesses within our network. I’m proud to represent the next generation of travel leaders and to bring innovation, authenticity, and a little fun to everything I do—because we work in travel, after all! Special thanks to the incredible colleagues and advisors who inspire me every day—and, of course, my family!"
Industry References
"I enthusiastically recommend Caroline Hollar for TravelPulse's Industry 40 Under 40 list. As someone who has had the privilege of watching Caroline's remarkable journey from recent college graduate to industry leader, I can confidently say that her contributions to the travel industry through innovation and leadership have been nothing short of extraordinary,” Meredith Calloway, Co-Founder, Gifted Travel Network.
“Caroline joined Gifted Travel Network in 2016, when our company was merely three years old with just a handful of employees. Fresh out of Clemson University, she took a leap of faith on a startup and became instrumental in building what GTN is today. Nine years later, Caroline stands as our longest-tenured employee and serves as our Director of Marketing, having literally grown up alongside our organization…
“Under Caroline's leadership, our marketing efforts have become increasingly sophisticated and results-driven. She successfully manages our entire marketing team while personally overseeing the recruitment of 30-40 new members annually into our Travel MBA program - a $10,000 investment that participants make in their professional development. Her balanced approach, combining traditional marketing methods with cutting-edge digital strategies including Meta advertising, has consistently delivered exceptional results.
“Caroline's innovative spirit shines through her recent initiatives. In 2024, she spearheaded our complex transition from Keap to HubSpot, a time-intensive process that has revolutionized our marketing capabilities. Additionally, she launched our Branding Lab service, a comprehensive done-for-you solution that provides new industry professionals with complete brand development, including logos, websites, and social media templates. This service addresses a critical gap in the market and demonstrates Caroline's ability to identify and solve industry pain points.
“Her leadership capabilities are perhaps best illustrated by her team's recent achievement: recruiting the largest cohort in GTN's history - 15 members for our August Travel MBA program. This milestone reflects not only her marketing acumen but also her ability to inspire and guide her team toward ambitious goals.
“Beyond her marketing expertise, Caroline contributes to our Travel Business University programs as both content creator and educator teaching on anything that has to do with marketing strategies for the travel advisor. Despite managing numerous high-level responsibilities, Caroline never loses sight of company culture, consistently bringing energy and fun to our work environment….”
“I have known Caroline since she started her career with the Gifted Travel Network, my host agency of over 10 years, and have always been so impressed with her skills and acumen in the digital marketing space,” said Julia Matheson, Chief Travel Consultant at Travel Julia’s Way.
“She has a knack for knowing what advisors need to hear – and makes everything look flawless and consistent across our brand. Additionally, she has grown into such an incredible communicator, whether she’s developing campaigns for the agency or presenting new ideas and trends to the advisors at one of our live events. We always get excited when we see that Caroline is presenting, because we know it will be not only extremely informative and valuable to our individual businesses, but also fun and entertaining! (Of course, she has graduated from actually DJ’ing the after-parties, but she still knows how to curate a great vibe at our live events!)
“You can tell she has also become a solid leader in the team, despite her young age, because everyone in the company respects her input – and everyone loves working with her on any project. Considering how much GTN has grown in the past five years, you can also tell that what Caroline is running on the sales side of things is working really well – I’m continually impressed by the talent level of the new advisors coming to the agency.”
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