DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. --The "new" Globetrotters will add
destinations, improve service to travel agents and position itself
as a "vacation company" rather than a tour operator, according to
Bill Maulsby, the company's president.
Maulsby said his goal is to build Globetrotters into a "dominant
and pre-eminent" national brand, one as recognizeable to agents and
consumers as Carnival or Southwest.
As reported, the company will use the name Globetrotters-MTI
Vacations over the next year, reflecting a merger of the two
operators, and then drop the MTI name.
The new Globetrotters was introduced to agents at an open house
here, marking the first time that the two tour brands were formally
brought together before an agency audience. "Today Globetrotters
steps out as the new brand. When they walk away today we want them
to think of MTI and Globetrotters as one company," Maulsby
said.
Globetrotters MTI were both purchased this spring by Global
Vacation Group, a new tour conglomerate, and began combining on
June 1. Hawaii specialists Classic Custom Vacations in San Jose,
Calif., and Haddon Holidays in Mount Laurel, N.J., also were
acquired by Global Vacation Group and will be combined under the
Classic name as Global Vacations' upscale customized vacation
line.
The company's other tour unit is Allied Tours, a New York-based
inbound specialist. Globetrotters will be an "innovator" in working
with agents so that it will be their "best, most profitable"
partner, Maulsby said.
There is not much overlap between the agents who sell MTI
Vacations and those who sell Globetrotters, but agents handle
nearly all sales for each of the two. "Agents are the core and will
be the core of our business," Maulsby said. "Global Vacation Group
may be big in financial structure but it's a very small
organization. There is no reason to think that just because we're
larger we can't be more personal."
MTI Vacations headquarters here will be Globetrotters
headquarters, and Robert Pancoast, MTI former senior vice president
and general manager, "is not part of the new Globetrotters-MTI,"
Maulsby said.
As for other details of the Globetrotters-MTI combination, not
everything has been worked out since June but Maulsby promised a
steady stream of announcements in the near future. "We're only
42-days-old," Maulsby said.