Jack Bell, a consortia executive and founder of Cruise & Travel Stores (CTS) and formerly Bell Travel Network, will relaunch the group after repossessing most of the assets from eTravCo Inc in State College, PA. Included in the move are the member contracts of 574 agents in 41 states.
eTravCo Inc was notified of the repossession on September 22 by Bell’s attorney and is prohibited from contacting the agents. The ARC and CLIA numbers were also repossessed, according to Bell, as well as the name, trademarks and preferred supplier contracts.
Bell said he and his wife, Tricia, sold the consortium to eTravCo in 2004 but held a note for part of the purchase price which was guaranteed by the assets of the former Cruise & Travel Store, formerly BTS Travel Network.
Bell started BTS Travel Network/CTS in 1982 and, for nearly 25 year,s operated the travel agency consortium which brought “reliable help to the individual travel agency and preferred suppliers throughout the U.S.,” Bell said. “Since we sold to eTravCo in 2004 my wife Tricia has been operating a home-based host agency. Frankly I have missed the travel industry and I am anxious to get back into the industry that has been so good to me over the years.”
Bell said he believed that eTravCo – once headed by Brent Pasquinelli - was in the process of being dissolved due to financial losses. Bello said that he would also release details of the new group and its program shortly.
There are several unconfirmed reports that assert that eTravCo Inc. has ceased operations.
Bell said that he would be operating the group from his old location at 5435 Scotts Valley Dr., Scotts Valley, CA 95066. Phone: 831-438-8844. Fax: 831-338-4666. E-mail: [email protected].