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| Serving up travel to go |
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by Brian Welch
askMANDO.com
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When Jeanette Bunn started working in the hospitality industry, she says she was instantly hooked. “I was 20 years old. I went to work for Royal Holiday Club, a major developer in San Diego, and I have been in the business ever since,” said Bunn.
Now Jeanette and her mother operate Travel To Go, a San Diego-based vacation services company that arranges luxurious accommodations for its members. “Travel To Go has been a family business for over 18 years. My mother and I are partners with many other family members who work for us now, or have at some point in the past. We specialize in booking our members into four- and five-star luxury resorts from Hawaii, Orlando and Cancun, to any popular resort destination for eight days and seven nights for a fraction of the cost to the public,” Bunn Explained.
They also have a full-service travel agency to book airfare, car rentals, packages and cruises. Their members buy either a sampler package to “test drive” their program, or they become full members. “Either will save up to 75 percent off luxury resorts, and both have different discounted options. Our mission is ‘making dreams come true,’ and we do this one member at a time by providing each with Five-Star customer service. Our vision is to be exclusively recognized as the premier leader in the world-wide industry,” said Bunn.
In addition to making vacation dreams come true at Travel To Go, Jeanette also serves as vice president of marketing/revenue generation and membership for the Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers, or C.A.R.E., an organization that allows timeshare resort representatives to exchange vacation inventory among themselves. The association also provides a networking platform that offers the tools for individual business enhancement, while requiring its member companies to adhere to its Code of Standards and Ethics.
“We have been members of C.A.R.E. for 18 years, and we are very thankful to have been part of the organization for all these years. C.A.R.E. has helped open up opportunities we would never been privy to otherwise. Plus, the networking activities at the conferences allow us to meet companies that can offer us inventory we need to make our members happy,” Bunn said.
Jeanette goes on to say that C.A.R.E. is one big reason Travel To Go has grown successfully. “We have learned so much from the conferences. We go back to our office and share and implement things that have made a difference on our bottom line. C.A.R.E. is that important to us. That is why I am serving as a vice president of C.A.R.E. for my second term. It is completely voluntary, and I love giving back to the organization since they have helped our company grow throughout the years,” Bunn explains.
The current economic situation has a lot of people wondering what the future holds. Jeanette says Travel To Go is no exception. “Our condo bookings are down significantly. In a time like this, you need to put your creative hat on and make changes that affect your bottom line. You have to try things that are different and find what works,” said Bunn
Jeannette says one small thing that is having a big impact is their Going Green Campaign. “We are now emailing all our members their renewal packages if they have an email address. We also recycle everything possible in our office. Everyone is pitching in and doing things they might not have done before,” Bunn said.
We asked Jeanette about her general philosophy for doing business. She said it is important to always keep your clients happy. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I believe what goes around, comes around. We always want to do the right thing,” Bunn explained. “Success is being happy! If you love what you do, then success surrounds you.”
As far as the future goes, Jeanette says she wants to continue building a secure working environment at Travel To Go, and at some point she’d like to be able to travel more. But for now, she’s busy making dreams come true and bringing smiles to a lot of faces.
www.traveltogo.com
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