On Aug. 7, Grand Expeditions, the luxury tour operator roll-up,
announced its acquisition of Travcoa, the luxury escorted tour
operator. It was its fourth acquisition in one month, its seventh
since it began in December 1998. Other acquisitions include
Adventure Network, International Expeditions, Voyagers
International, Country Walkers, Park East and TCS Expeditions.
Travel Weekly tour editor David Cogswell interviewed chief
executive officer Travis Tanner at his Boca Raton, Fla., office.
(For the news story on Grand Expeditions' acquisition of Travcoa,
click here.)
Q:Has the strategy changed since you
started -- or how will it change now that you've acquired
Travcoa?
Tanner: I'm very pleased to say it hasn't changed
a bit. Probably the most difficult thing we've ever done is to
stick by what we know is right, because it would have been so easy
to go out and do some things faster. It might have been faster with
companies that aren't so prestigious.
Q:Is it true Travcoa was one of the first
companies you approached?
Tanner: You're right about that. Now people can
see why we were quiet for so long. When you want to buy the best
companies and won't settle for anything less...it can't be done
overnight.
We're starting now to get critical mass. If you look at what
we've done, there's a pattern. We haven't just bought things and
thrown them together. We've worked hard to build an important part
of the business, and our adventure/eco platform. We're well
established that platform now.
Another category is escorted tours. The acquisition of Travcoa
gives us a leg up in that category.
Q:Do you plan to keep the management of
individual companies intact?
Tanner: To keep the people, keep the brand. I
can't overstate how important it is to have the right people as
part of Grand Expeditions, not just the right companies.
The people here are critical. These people are all doing an
outstanding job. Our objective is to make it better, not confuse
it.
Q:How would you like Grand Expeditions to
be perceived in the industry?
Tanner: We're not a roll-up. We're actually
building a grand scale company for upscale leisure travelers. It
doesn't matter how many companies we have as long as we cover the
destinations and the experiences.
We're telling upscale travelers you just need to come one place
to be able to buy your packaged vacation. And we want to be that
place. To do that we need to fill in all the gaps with destinations
and experiences.
Q:How does your experience in retail [as
head of Carlson Wagonlit] bear your position as president of Grand
Expeditions?
Tanner: I think that if you add value in the
distribution chain you prosper. And if you don't, it doesn't work.
I said that when I was a travel agent, I'll say it now.
I understand travel agents and what they do. On the whole they
do a terrific job. As long as they keep creating value for us,
we'll continue to be supportive of the travel agent distribution
system. But we are going to be asking them to do their part and do
some selling and not just order taking. I can say that from being
on both sides already, that is only fair. We'll pay you a fair sum
if you do the job for us.
Q:What would you like to say to travel
agents?
Tanner: Travel agents should know that as we build
this company, we're going to be a brand that can be trusted to
exceed our customers' needs and demands. If they want satisfied
customers coming back, they should look at our group because they
won't be disappointed.
If I'm a retailer, I want satisfied customers. While they can
handle the distribution piece of it, they're not handling the
experience. So they need to select partners that can bring
customers back in the door. And I'm very comfortable we can do
that.