Have you ever gone sailing aboard a luxurious yacht, bathing not only in the sun hanging high above the Greek Isles, but in the culture and mythology that calls out from hillsides etched with ancient ruins and time worn villages? When is the last time you’ve sought to energize your sales team by incentivizing them with a trip to the white sandy beaches of Antigua, nestled in thick lush tropical trees that dance in cool trade winds and reach out to crystal clear waters? If travel at its best is what you’re looking for, then you need only look as far as Group Trek Travel, a full service travel agency located in Brentwood, TN, specializing in group and incentive travel. With over 25 years of travel related experience, Carol Koenig, President and Founder of Group Trek Travel, has built her business into a trusted destination travel source for groups of 10 or more, and for personal luxury vacationers, to some of the most beautiful places in the world.
Ultimate Italy Cruise with Group Trek Travel
So, how does a globetrotter get her start? In banking, of course. As a French major at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, Carol had her sights set on being an international banker. But after spending three months backpacking around Europe and one year living in Paris, Carol knew that while banking would become her job, travel would become her passion. After earning her MBA in Marketing, Carol spent the next few years working as a Marketing Manager within the banking industry. Needing a change of pace, in 1982, Carol and her family moved back to Franklin, TN where she worked in various marketing management positions over the next 15 years. But, it was her position with a division of Aladdin Industries that changed her life. While at Aladdin, as Marketing Manager, it wasn’t long before she found herself designing, negotiating, and executing sales incentive trips for Aladdin’s top sales executives. Her love of travel and extensive marketing experience proved to be the perfect marriage and led to her decision to leave Aladdin in 1997 and dedicate more time and energy into establishing her own agency.
Guided by a suggestion made by her husband, an executive commercial banker at that time and now CEO of Group Trek Travel, Carol reached out to a small travel agency in town that had a ticketing system, an essential element to surviving in the travel industry. In exchange for showing her how to master the system, Carol offered her extensive marketing experience to help grow their business. In three years time, the agency was thriving and Carol had established herself among key suppliers. Carol was now ready to strike out on her own.
To get started, Carol worked from the inside out, organizing Spring Break trips for her kids’ schools. As momentum grew, she quickly moved to creating incentive packages for sales executives. It wasn’t long before she had enough volume to hire and train independent agents to assist her corporate executives with their personal luxury travel. When her husband joined the agency twelve years ago, corporate executives who were once out of reach, due to possible conflicts of interest, were now some of her best qualified leads for their incentive and sales meeting business.
Through it all, Carol’s confidence in herself, her ability, and her support network, has catapulted GroupTrek Travel forward. Carol’s choice to focus on a niche market has enabled her to position herself as an expert in that space, one in which client’s come and seek her out.
To small business owners hoping to follow a similar path, Carol as this to add …” Be patient, set boundaries, and hire resources to handle the details.”
Connect with Carol Koenig
President
Group Trek Travel
Website: www.grouptrektravel.com
www.facebook.com/GroupTrekTravel
Twitter: @GroupTrekTravel
By: Jacqueline Hayes, Owner of Crayons & Marketers, LLC