Travel Leaders Agents Elect Advisory Board

Travel Leaders (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates) has announced that its Associates (franchisees) from all five regions of the country voted to send three new and two re-elected representatives to the network’s Associate Advisory Board. Additionally, one Travel Leaders Associate was elected to represent the network’s Leaders Group (Associates with annual sales of over $15 million). The Associate Advisory Board serves as a sounding board for Travel Leaders’ strategic planning efforts, the company said. Travel Leaders has 500-plus Associates.

"We’ve experienced an extraordinary year as we’ve transformed into Travel Leaders, and our Associate Advisory Board was—and will continue to be—absolutely essential in helping us maintain our focus on issues of concern to our entire network as we continue the rebranding process throughout 2009,” said Roger E. Block, president of The Travel Franchise Group, of which Travel Leaders is the flagship brand. “Additionally, they are helping us lead the charge in ensuring that they and their fellow Associates will not only weather this current economic storm, but come out stronger in the end, thanks to the strategic initiatives we are working on together.”

Regular meetings with key leadership from the Associate Division also serve as a vital conduit for the voice of the Associates to be heard. Thirteen representatives in total serve on the Associate Advisory Board: two members from each of five regional districts, one at-large member and two Leaders Group representatives. Half of the members are elected in even-numbered years, while the other half are elected in odd-numbered years.

During the recent annual election, the new members were elected by their colleagues from a slate of candidates for each respective region. The newest elected Associate Advisory Board members include:
Beth Baran (Travel Leaders, Crestview Hills, KY) representing Associates in the following states: Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Terry Denton (Travel Leaders, Fort Worth, TX) representing Associates in the Leaders Group.
Angela (Angie) Hendricks, CTA (Travel Leaders, Oklahoma City, OK) representing Associates in the following states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Mike King (re-elected) (Travel Leaders, Fredericksburg, VA) representing Associates in the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as Puerto Rico.
Becky Kingston (Travel Leaders, Costa Mesa, CA) representing Associates in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Sue Tindell (re-elected) (Travel Leaders, Rice Lake, WI) representing Associates in the following states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Additionally, Vermont-based Travel Leaders Associate Ted Child was appointed to serve as the Advisory Board’s sole at-large member. Childs owns two Travel Leaders locations in Vermont (Colchester and St. Johnsbury), as well as one in New York State (Clifton Park).

 The Travel Leaders management team consults with the Associate Advisory Board on a wide variety of topics, including the network’s strategic direction, technology issues, education and training needs, regional and national meeting agendas, marketing strategies and more. The Travel Leaders network is part of Travel Acquisitions Group, which includes The Travel Franchise Group, North America’s largest travel agency franchisor. 

Visit www.travelleaders.com.