Life Beyond the Travel Agency

Margie Lenau is not only a travel agent, but she’s also the president of her local Chamber of Commerce. It’s a lot of work, but she feels that working locally is a good way to spread the word about the travel industry.

“Taking an interest in your own community shows that you care about helping people,” said Lenau, owner of Wonderland Family Vacations in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

She also wrote a book with famed author Jack Canfield, "The Road To Success, Vol. 2."

“I was the only travel professional author, and I think that is important to show we are involved and valuable, creating our success by providing a valuable service to travelers,” she said.

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Travel agents work hard beyond their regular duties to spread awareness about the industry and lend a helping hand to those in need.

Lynn Clark said that bringing new talent to her agency has been a challenge, so she offered a free travel class to candidates that she selected through an interview process.

“The class is called ‘Switch’ because most participants are switching industries/careers,” said Clark, owner of Travel Leaders – Journeys Travel Group in Delafield, Wisconsin.

The class is approximately 30 hours in length and covers the history of the travel industry, suppliers, sales process, technology, company policies and procedures.

“To date, we have hired over 50 percent of our participants and put them into entry-level Travel Assistant roles,” she said.

Dana Johnson is part of a grassroots organization called the Adventure Angels, a group of 10 women from the travel industry who have come together to increase awareness and education for women in the industry.

“For the past two years, we have raised monies for a woman from a developing country to attend the Adventure Travel World Summit through the Adventure Travel Trade Association,” said Johnson, Adventure Concierge for Open Leaf Excursions in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “In addition to the attendance at the summit, this business owner also gets coaching throughout the year from the angels.

"In our ranks, we have travel agents, tour operators, photographers, media professionals and consultants, so this coaching helps her to broaden every aspect of her travel business.”

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Judy Karwacki is chair of the same Adventure Angels’ Abundance Scholarship committee.

“We give away a scholarship to a woman-owned company located in an emerging destination that enables them to come the annual Adventure Travel World Summit, the premier adventure travel event,” said Karwacki, owner and marketing manager of Jubilee Travel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who has supported businesses in Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Peru.

Steve Griswold is always looking for ways to help grow and get the word out about travel in a positive light.

“We want to showcase all the great things happening today in the travel industry,” said Griswold of Pixie Vacations in Atlanta, Georgia.

He began a nationally syndicated travel radio show that airs weekly called Vacation With The Griswolds: “We are always looking for ways to get the positive and fun stories about travel out to the public and also educate them on the benefits of using a travel agent. Our travel show helps to do that on a national scale.”

Jacqui Whitt of Adios Adventure Travel in Virginia Beach, Virginia has an ongoing collection of new and gently-used backpacks, which her company takes to Peru.

“We distribute them to students in small villages in exchange for trash collection,” she said.

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In addition, Whitt’s company also supports the Callipata Porters Partnership.

“Our Inca Trail Porter's come from this rural Village in the Andes Mountains,” she said. “Their main occupation is subsistence farming. We arrange for groups to spend several days in the village helping with building projects, including mud brick livestock shelters and one-room family homes.”

When Leila Coe got tired of hearing travel agents complain that the public doesn’t know they still exist, she wanted to do something to change that, so she founded the Travel Agent Awareness campaign just over two years ago.

“Our goal is to raise awareness with the general public while also supporting and educating clients on ways to market themselves, get organized and be more professional,” said Coe, vacation specialist with Go Your Own Way Travel, Kissimmee, Florida. “We have over 2,000 members in our Facebook group page, and we list agents for free on our website as well.”