Success Story: A Girl’s Gotta Go

It started out simply enough. Industry veteran Stacy Evos had left the travel industry to start a travel division for a lifestyle and travel rewards marketing company.

“They wanted to get more into travel promotions and it was a great chance for me to use all my experience but work in a different industry,” said Evos, who formerly worked with tour operators.  

But the call of the travel industry persisted.  “While I was there, a former colleague came to work with me and even though we were out of the direct link of the retail-wholesale business, of course people were still coming to us for advice and questions and assistance in booking their trips,” Evos said.

Hence A Girl’s Gotta Go was born. “We decided to start a little something on the side and keep our fingers in the travel,” Evos said.

The women, who started A Girl’s Gotta Go six years ago, saw demand begin to grow for the new business. While her partner kept her full time job, Evos took a leap of faith and decided to focus on a Girl’s Gotta Go full time. “I took a chance and decided to grow the business,” Evos said.

“In order to increase my business I decided to also focus on romance because that was a niche in the industry that was still booking – people were still getting married,” said Evos. “They may not take that $20,000 honeymoon but they spend $5,000 or $10,000.”

With the economy picking up both the romance and girlfriend getaway segments are doing well. “We’ve got great repeat and referral business,” said Evos.

The company arranges an eclectic roster of vacations, from birthday fetes in Las Vegas, to bachelor parties in Miami to long weekends in the Caribbean.

The company, which includes four independent agents, is a member of Ensemble Travel Group. “We wanted some interaction, support and recognition in the industry as well as with the consumer,” said Evos. “We felt that joining a consortium would give us that credibility. It got us on the map with a lot of vendors that may not have necessarily thought to call on us or focus on our business.”

The portfolio of destinations A Girl’s Gotta Go offers is wide ranging. “We

do a lot of Caribbean and Mexico because that’s a big part of our wedding and honeymoon business,” she said. “But also Europe, Italy and Greece are big.”

The clients dictate activities for women’s groups, Evos said. A recent Divas and Daughters package, for instance, traveled to Italy and placed a heavy emphasis on shopping and eating. “That’s what they wanted to focus on,” she said.

The average age for honeymoon and destination wedding customers is early 30s while girl’s getaways clients tend to be in their mid 30s to early 40s.

“In the end, it’s really just about making people’s dreams come true,” said Evos.