In addition to bookings from those customers, who redeem their travel points through the agency, Montrose (No. 49 on Travel Weekly’s 2010 Power List) gets a lot of new business in the form of repeat clients who have brought their leisure business to the firm even when they aren’t redeeming bank or credit union reward points.

According to Joe McClure, president and co-owner, “We get a strong percentage of repeat business. Further, we provide [our own] double, triple and in some cases quadruple points to provide an incentive for fulfillment clients to purchase [other] travel.”

In fact, he said, one in five redemption fulfillment customers subsequently calls the agency for a traditional transaction.

It’s one of the bright spots in this agency’s business model, along with fiscally responsible financial practices that have enabled it to grow its sales volume, even at the height of the recession.

After recently receiving TravelAge West’s Trendsetter Award for Best Recession Survival Story or Strategy at the publication’s 2010 Wave Awards (TravelAge is a sister publication to Travel Weekly), McClure and agency co-owners Julie McClure and Andi McClure-Mysza revealed some interesting information about how they weathered the economic storm.

Back in 2008, as the economy started to tank, they talked about cutting costs and meeting revenue challenges.

Rather than “jeopardizing their future by decreasing the number of employees,” a statement from the company says, they cut salaries by 10% across the board, and by 100% for the three owners. At the same time, they challenged their staff to achieve greater sales.

“We created an army of selling machines and set daily goals and posted daily achievements,” said Joe McClure. “Every single employee, whether on the front lines or behind the scenes, had individual requirements to drive leads for new business into the company.”

They began actively cross-promoting within their sister divisions. In tandem with an aggressive marketing campaign, which featured 75,000 direct-mail pieces and more than a half-million marketing emails, the agency’s Web traffic rose by 43% over the prior year, and its sales volume grew by 13% in new leisure and corporate business. That translated to $3.3 million in new business. Within 90 days, all salary cuts had been restored.

By Kenneth Shapiro

There’s no doubt that 2009 was a tough year for the travel industry, and many good agencies didn’t survive the economic downturn. So, it is especially satisfying to acknowledge some of the agents who not only survived, but thrived, leading the way for others in our annual Trendsetter Awards.

Best Recession Survival Story or Strategy
Winner: Andi Mysza, Montrose Travel

Faced with the challenge of an economy in freefall, Montrose Travel, based in Montrose, Calif., had come to a crossroads. In order to survive, it would have to lay off employees or make some drastic changes. Thankfully, the agency made the correct choice.

"Not willing to mortgage our future by laying people off, we decided to cut salaries 10 percent across the board — and 100 percent for our three owners — and planted the carrot that, if the company performed well, salaries would be completely reinstated in only 90 days," explained Andi Mysza, co-owner and president, independent contractor division at Montrose Travel. "We set daily goals and posted daily achievements. We turned our entire company into an army of selling machines. We emphasized that most companies go into their bunkers and hunker down in times like these, but Montrose Travel doesn’t hunker down — we fight!"

This plan of attack paid off. By being honest with its employees; giving employees more responsibility for the ultimate success of the business; and creating an atmosphere of unwavering teamwork, Montrose Travel actually increased its Web traffic, call volume and transactions. The strategy resulted in more than $3.3 million in new business and, most importantly, the agency not only had zero layoffs, it was able to hire others.

Such success shouldn’t really be surprising for a family business that was established in 1956 and has since grown into a travel powerhouse, with 130 employees and more than 500 independent contractors.

"Our company is based on some very core principles established by our parents, Joe Sr. and Leora McClure," said Mysza. "Strong financials, no debt, personal service — our mom used to kiss every client who walked through the door — and firsthand product knowledge."

In the fashion of typical team spirit, Mysza said the credit belongs to the entire staff of Montrose Travel.

"We’re most proud of the fact that everyone in our company worked together and rose to the occasion. This enabled us to retain, rather than layoff, our staff. And, while others were laying people off, we were even able to continue to hire," she said. "Every single person contributed to the goal, either leadership, ideas, sales or support. Our success is to be credited to everyone, not one single person."

SPONSOR: Monograms
Prize: The winner received a week in Paris for two, while the runner-up received a six-night Montreal & Quebec City vacation for two. As part of Globus Family of Brands, Monograms, the sponsor for this Trendsetter Award, has a strong history of supporting agents and, in this particularly difficult year, the company wanted to focus its support on some of the agencies that were bright spots in the industry.

"We feel it’s important to not just tell agents that we appreciate them, but to go a step beyond and recognize specific achievements," said Steve Born, vice president of marketing. "We see countless cases where one great idea sparks dozens more for other agents. There’s lots of creativity out there, and stories like those revealed in the Trendsetter nominations help bring out that creativity on a much broader scale."

Born pointed out that Globus built its business on providing travel agents with the best combination of product, service, rewards and, most of all, trust. The company’s philosophy is that they want to help agents build business, because the more successful agents are, the more successful Globus’ brands are.

"From the inception of the WAVE Awards, we’ve recognized that TravelAge West (TAW) has created a unique opportunity to recognize the real heroes in the travel industry — travel agents," said Born. "While most awards’ programs focus on just the suppliers, we wanted to help TAW in its efforts to turn the spotlight back on agents. That fits perfectly into a core value at the Globus family, as our efforts are designed to put our customers first, specifically, to support agents in their day-to-day acts of heroism."

In 1999, the President’s Club was initially created to award those individual agents who brought in a minimum of $1 million in sales within a 12-month period. In 2001, Montrose Travel added ‘President’s Choice’ and ‘Non-Selling Associate’. These new award additions allowed Montrose Travel employees to nominate a co-worker who has exceeded the expectations of his/her job description. To show appreciation for all of their hard work and determination, those chosen for the President’s Club are rewarded with a trip to an exciting destination! In the past, some of those destinations included Palm Springs, a Baja Mexico cruise and a Pacific Coastal Cruise, to name a few. Since the beginning in 1999, the numbers have steadily grown, proving that despite the economic climate, Montrose Travel continues to be a leading force in the travel industry today.

“As we grow, so does the number of top performers in our company. In recognition of this elite and outstanding group of individuals that drive an excess of $1 million in sales for the 12-month measurement period, we’ve created the President’s Club,” said Joe McClure, President of Montrose Travel. By recognizing and awarding the efforts put forth by the employees, it creates a stimulating environment where employees are encouraged on a daily basis to always strive to reach their goals. It is this work ethic that makes Montrose Travel the success that it is today.

Last year, when total ARC sales by travel agencies dropped by more than 17%, Montrose Travel’s business grew.

Joe McClure, president of the Montrose, Calif.-based agency, told Travel Market Report that a lot of the credit goes to the reward redemption technology that it has developed for 20 million Visa and Mastercard holders.

In 1995, Montrose Travel agreed to provide fulfillment services for Payment Systems for Credit Unions (PSCU) Inc.’s credit card reward program, called “C U In the Air Miles” at the time and “C U Rewards” today.

“We had to build an online redemption program, and when we started building the engine, we didn’t know a lot about the category,” McClure said. “So we just did things that we thought were logical.

One of those logical things was something that had never been done before.

“We figured that somebody might want to redeem points for an airline ticket and take along a spouse,” McClure said.

That would be a messy process. The reservations wouldn’t match up and the couple likely would be unable to get seats together. So Montrose created technology that would allow users to redeem points for one ticket and pay with a credit card for another in the same transaction. The creators had no idea that they were breaking new ground.

“We didn’t know that this would be as attractive as it ended up being,” McClure said. “The word-of-mouth spread through the loyalty category.”

Financial institutions with rewards programs and the marketing companies that promote them started calling Montrose. The single deal with PSCU blossomed into a new division.

“The way we built the core platform allows us to private-label it for anybody,” McClure said. “It’s an easy integration.”

The platform allows the financial institution to create any “fences” of its choosing around points redemption. For example, the card-issuing bank might require a 21-day advance purchase, or it might allow redemption for any fare, any time, or it might opt for a tiered model. “It’s one piece of technology that can go to any bank, but it’s not just a me-too product,” McClure said.

The redemption business has a dedicated call center. But it’s a call center with a twist. “We allow cardholders to develop relationships with individual agents,” McClure said. “We’re not impersonal. We want you to love redeeming travel with us.”

A cardholder can get the agent’s name, direct line and e-mail address and work with the same person every time he or she calls.

As a result, Montrose has experienced a “spillover” effect. One in five redemption fulfillment customers subsequently calls the agency for a traditional transaction, McClure said.

Montrose is not a small agency. “We’re in the Top 50, but we’re at the lower end,” McClure said. To put it in perspective, he said, Expedia’s annual marketing budget is bigger than his total annual sales.

But Montrose’s technology has certainly given it a leg up. “It’s all about how you create unique products to compete with giants,” McClure said.

Montrose, CA, February 24, 2010 - Montrose Travel, located at 2349 Honolulu Ave., was recently named to the prestigious Top 10 List by Ensemble Travel Group, one of the travel industry’s oldest and most respected travel consortia. The honor was presented to the top two percent of Ensemble Travel Group’s 450 member agencies in the United States. Not only were they amongst the Top 10 of the Ensemble Travel Group’s agencies, but they were named amongst the Top 5 and are very proud to have accomplished such a feat.

Selection criteria was based on members’ 2008 sales performance. The sales award was presented to Joe McClure, President of Montrose Travel by Ensemble Travel Group President Jack Mannix on Oct. 22, 2009 during the organization’s 2009, Ensemble Travel Group International Conference held at The Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta, Canada. More than 750 travel executives attended the key industry meeting.

“Congratulations to Montrose Travel and its team of highly successful travel professionals,” said Mannix. “Montrose Travel’s track record of superior sales and service has created a strong following of loyal customers. The agency’s consistent, solid performance reflects its keen insight and resiliency during these tough economic times.”

Ensemble Travel Group is an elite circle of nearly 900 travel agency members in the U.S. and Canada. Headquartered in New York, Ensemble creates special vacation experiences exclusively for its member agencies. Clients of Montrose Travel enjoy a number of exclusive travel perks and services because of its affiliation with Ensemble Travel Group.

MONTROSE, California - January 20, 2010 - Montrose Travel, a $115 million full-service travel and host agency, has closed 2009 with a bang! With the decline of the economy, the travel industry as a whole has definitely felt the repercussions; however, Montrose Travel has risen above and beyond. To celebrate their achievements and continued success, they held their annual Year-End Holiday Party on December 5, 2009, at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, California. This formal affair - highlighted with great food, live entertainment, over 300 quests and an inspiring year-end video - is when they award their employees and partners by recognizing their individual achievements that have collectively helped this company become the success that it is today. One of the most esteemed awards, the Partner of the Year Award, was rightfully presented to Travelport for their excellent and continued support.

Montrose Travel works with many partners throughout the year, and each year they choose a partner that has gone above and beyond the call of duty, presenting them with the “Partner of the Year” Award. The 2009 winner of this award was presented to Travelport - the umbrella company that owns Apollo, Galileo, Worldspan, Travelbound, THOR, Orbitz, and Cheaptickets. Travelport combines a traditional and online travel distribution service that is utilized by travel agencies, suppliers, websites, and corporations alike to provide top-of-the-line products and services for travelers worldwide. With their continued support and excellent customer service, Montrose Travel felt they were more than deserving of this prestigious award.

Accepting the award on Travelport’s behalf were Kevin Hemminger and Jean Allison. “While there are many, many people within Travelport that have been beyond wonderful to us, both Kevin Hemminger and Jean Allison have set the bar as the role models for customer service. I’ve personally sent them more than 250 emails this year, to which they’ve responded to each and every one,” says Joe McClure, President of Montrose Travel. The evening concluded with cocktails and dancing - a tribute to all the hard work and effort that went into making 2009 a successful year. The success of Montrose Travel is based on diligence, loyalty, and a sense of family. No one person can do it alone; it is the synergy of their employees and partners that continue to move Montrose Travel forward, and that is cause for celebration.

Though the recently announced settlement in the California case by no means puts YTB out of business, it will significantly reshape the company by pushing it in the direction of a travel franchise operation, de-emphasizing its multilevel marketing division and making it less lucrative.

Yet, despite Brown’s victory cries, the settlement failed to produce a court ruling that answered the root question: Was YTB guilty of operating an illegal pyramid scheme?

Nevertheless, with the ink barely dry on the California settlement, Illinois jumped on the bandwagon. A suit filed this month in the state’s courts also accuses YTB of running an illegal pyramid scheme.

It is a charge the company has consistently denied. But determining which side is right depends on what differentiates a legitimate multilevel marketing model, also known as an MLM or network marketing model, from an illegal pyramid scheme. James Toma, the California deputy attorney general most involved with the YTB case, said that when reviewing a possible pyramid, the state "looks at the actual operation of a scheme and not just the literal description," seeking evidence that people are paying for a product they don’t technically have to buy, because they intend to use that product as a model to help recruit others into the scheme.

California concluded that some YTB sales reps have been signing on as referring travel agents merely as a way to recruit other prospective RTAs, which explains why the settlement requires that by June 1, YTB must provide a free demo site for the recruitment of new RTAs.

In addition, Toma said California looks at the portion of an MLM’s income that comes from recruitment-related sales vs. how much stems from selling a retail product to outsiders.

"The public needs to know," he said, "because that determines how long the company can survive."

Although Toma said there are no set formulas for judging these criteria, the YTB settlement will change the balance between its multilevel marketing and travel revenues by limiting the income of recruiters who sign on a high number of other recruiters and by requiring recruiters to reveal to their prospects the grim facts about attrition rates and the portions of investors who earn little or nothing.

While agreeing to sweeping changes as part of the settlement, YTB did not admit to any wrong doing.

The company has been controversial since it became large enough to attract attention more than two years ago, generating unusually passionate pro and con views about its operations. Its critics will see the California deal as proof of an illegal pyramid; ardent supporters will see the opposite.

In this highly charged crucible, the company’s critics and supporters alike — but especially its critics — have made a lot of claims about YTB on blogs, in forums and in letters to the editor.

Some are simple statements of fact. Some are pure myth. Many fall somewhere in the middle, representing a nugget of truth distorted in the heat of argument.

In an attempt to add nuance to myriad heavy-handed generalizations about YTB, Travel Weekly sought out experts and former RTAs and asked them to assist in affirming a variety of claims. Some are quoted by name, but many asked not to be identified.

What follows is a list of the most common assertions about YTB by critics and others, followed by Travel Weekly’s analysis of their merits:

[Excepts from current Montrose Travel Home Based Agents who were formerly with YTB]…

• YTB is built on RTAs pointing family and friends to their websites for direct bookings.

True. But there is more demand for offline services than the model anticipated. RTAs who want a travel business often make the bookings themselves, either at their YTB site or by calling suppliers directly.

Catherine Brock of Long Beach, Calif., said that referring family and friends to the Web "is not as easy as YTB says it should be." Her host now is Montrose Travel.

• RTAs are driving suppliers crazy by asking dumb questions.

There is some truth to this, but some former YTB agents pointed out that everyone was a newbie at some time. Patty Jo Attwood of Cape Coral, Fla., now with Montrose Travel, said she had not realized how unwelcoming her supplier contacts were being until she experienced warmer responses once she began identifying herself with another host.

• YTB tells prospective RTAs they will earn commissions on others’ travel and their own, take deeply discounted agent trips and get healthy write-offs for travel and other expenses. It tells website sellers they can become millionaires.

Mostly true. YTB makes canned presentations available to sellers that paint a bright picture of "traveling as an insider" or enjoying access to proprietary YTB Exclusives at deeply discounted prices. They also highlight the possibility of deducting travel spending and other expenses on taxes.

On the marketing side, Lloyd Tomer has said he will make millionaires of some sales reps, and a few reps indeed made more than $1 million in cash or stocks in 2008.

Nevertheless, YTB’s thousands of freelance reps sometimes make grander — or sillier — promises, which led the California attorney general’s office to conclude that YTB was making "wildly misleading claims" about the income potential in the travel business.

Richard Smith of Greenville, S.C., now with Montrose Travel, recalled being told that by selling websites he would be "well off" in a couple of years. Attwood said she was told it would be "easy" to make "five figures and above."

Virtually none of the Management Team was hired from the outside into a managerial capacity; most people joined the company prior to moving into the management ranks. Front line agents range from entry-level people emerging from travel school to seasoned veterans. In fact, Montrose Travel is one of the few companies who will bring someone on with no prior travel experience as long as they demonstrate a strong sales and customer service aptitude. Training is provided.

“Our company has seen tremendous growth over the past twenty years and with it has come the opportunity to recruit and retain some of the most talented people in the travel industry. People want to belong and contribute to a successful organization. And, our strategy of promoting from within has paid off in large dividends to both the company and our people,” says Joe McClure, President.

For Nancy Bland, Business Development Manager for the Groups/Meetings/Incentives Division, the motivation to stay with Montrose Travel for 34 years is two-fold. First and foremost, she knows she is cared for and her contributions are recognized. Second, she is attracted to the stability of the company which offers job security. “I am not a number. The owners of Montrose Travel care for me and care about my family. Over these 34 years, as one can well imagine, there have been several personal family matters that I have had to handle. Each time I was told the same thing…. you take care of your family…. they come first. That is the real reason I have been here so many years,” says Bland.

Rhonda Holguin, General Manager, celebrated her 20th year with Montrose Travel in 2008. The reason why she has stayed so long? “Caring about people and their travel plans has allowed me to develop relationships with some marvelous people. Being part of the growth and development of a dynamic travel management company under the leadership of Joe McClure and Andi McClure-Mysza has been the driving force behind my 21-year career with Montrose Travel.”

In 2008, 19 employees celebrated milestone anniversaries. At Montrose Travel’s Year-End Holiday Awards Party, employees celebrating these special anniversaries each received a handcrafted, 14 karat gold and diamond studded longevity pin. For each 5-year milestone, they receive another diamond on their pin.

During his remarks at the Award Ceremony, company President, Joe McClure, said this about this year’s longevity award winners, “I’d like to take a moment to recognize a group of people that have successfully helped manage your company through the continuous and disrupting flow of change while making us one of the Top 50 travel agencies and Top 5 host agencies in the United States. Without this team, our company wouldn’t be where it is nor would it have the soul that it does.”

“Very simply,” says Andi McClure-Mysza, President of the MTravel.com Home Based Agent and Independent Contractor Division, “the longer people stay, the more valuable they becomeContinuity is critical and as our success continues, we take retaining our people very seriously. Ultimately, we are one big family and we respect each other.”

ABOUT MONTROSE TRAVEL

Celebrating 52 years in business, Montrose Travel, a family owned travel management company, has grown from 14 employees in 1990 to more than 150 today and is now firmly established as a Top 50 Travel Management Company and a Top 5 Host Agency nationwide at $110 million. Montrose Travel strives to provide the highest quality services and most complete leisure, corporate and group travel management solutions for its customers and home-based travel agents. Growth has been solely out of the reinvestment of profit and positive cash flow. Montrose Travel “will be here tomorrow to back up our promises of today!” Montrose Travel can be reached at 1-800-MONTROSE (666-8767) or by visiting www.montrosetravel.com. Visit Montrose Travel’s Corporate Division at www.montrosecorporatetravel.com or call 1-(800) 766-4687. Home-based independent agents may visit www.MTravel.com, email andi@montrosetravel.com, or call 1-(800) 870-5799.

“Effective technology that saves busy agents time and money ranks high among the reasons professional home based agents chose to affiliate with a Montrose Travel as their host agency. Smart agents know smart technology greatly helps them and helps their client,” Andi Mysza, president of MTravel.com said in an interview with Travel Agent.

A good example is MTravel.com’s newly enhanced proprietary agent support site, Agent Connex, which is designed to serve MTravel.com’s 500, independent agents. Agent Connex is part of the host’s technology package that targets its growing base of business minded agents.

Agent Connex offers new user-friendly capabilities including an easy to follow menu, search functions to find information instantly, enhanced online personal sales and commission statistics and new accounting modules. “We have consolidated the information and tools agents need into one application- especially important to new agents,” Mysza says.

Agent Connex is content rich. It helps agents with a variety of tasks from operating procedures to training, marketing, sales ideas, group formation and support as well as commission tracking to blast email tools and FAQ’s. It also includes tools such as destination guides and objective hotel reviews.

The dynamic accounting tools eliminate double work when reporting bookings for commission payments, for example, and an invoicing feature is forthcoming. An enhanced training calendar has also been added with a response function for attendees. In addition, Agent Connex has a complete training archive for those agents who are unable to attend the live sessions. These files can be downloaded to an iPod.

Mingle, the new social networking site, is a clear winner with an early adoption rate of 40 percent of all agents after just 60 days. “We’re encouraged by the early usage of Mingle and believe it will play an important role in agent interaction down the road. Agents also get to know our staffers who support their business”, says Mysza.

Among the features of Mingle is the networking capability that puts agents into contact with other MTravel.com agents and encourages dialogue and sharing of ideas and answering questions. One result cited by Mysza is the formation of niche groups that were sparked by inter personal agent-to-agent contact via Mingle.

Another feature benefiting MTravel.com agents is Agent Connex’s ability to communicate with and train agents. Mysza notes that MTravel.com agents benefit from over 150 webinars annually on every topic including supplier product presentations, development of sales skills and marketing.

“Agents who use MTravel’s resources effectively generally benefit with increased productivity and profitability. Agent Connex empowers them whether they are selling cruises, tours, groups or serving corporate clients,” Mysza says.

MTravel.com also offers its agents Client Connex, a free and powerful proprietary database and marketing tool. “Travel agents prefer to keep their client data within their own hands,” Myza says. “And, with the knowledge that marketing is essential to growing their business, MTravel.com agents can maintain total control over their client data. E-mail marketing can be done by the agent at their convenience, anywhere with an internet connection.”

Technology also gives MTravel.com agents the ability to serve and compete for corporate clients. Montrose Travel offers CliqBook, an online tool for corporate customers as well as MontroseCorp, for smaller, unmanaged corporate accounts.

Other corporate oriented technology includes FlightStats for clients to track their flights and receive notification of significant delays or cancellations on their itinerary.

Also launched is Travel GPA that enables corporate customers to assess how well their travel program is being managed, while MTravel.com’s CorpConnect Portal offers a one-stop resource for travel information.

Private labeled websites are another key feature of MTravel.com’s program. This includes online booking by consumers for air, hotel, car, cruise and dynamic packaging. Online pricing includes web, consolidator and published airfares, as well as discounted hotel, car and cruise pricing. Travelport’s Galileo is their primary global distribution system provider.

Mysza believes that MTravel.com’s decision to develop and invest in its own proprietary technologies allows MTravel.com to tailor, customize and control its company’s tech evolution rather than replaying on third party systems. “We can also respond to agents needs more quickly. We have a strong IT staff who ensure we remain on the leading edge.”

MTravel.com has the advantage of being part of Montrose Travel with sales in excess of $110 million and a strong track record of performance and solid financing. An Ensemble Travel member, Montrose Travel has six divisions in addition to MTravel.com that agents can tap into for support, including leisure/honeymoons, corporate, entertainment, groups and incentives.

Mysza notes that travel agents must be aware of the evolution of how client’s research and book travel and remain competitive. “One key goal is to build a sense of community among our agents and give them technology tools that fit their personal needs. We will continue to invest in technology and expect the net result to be increased productivity, profitability and superior service quality for leisure and corporate agents.”

Visit www.MTravel.com or e-mail andi@montrosetravel.com.

The 2008 roster of the Presidents’ Club lists 40 winners, seven of which are brand new to the Club. For the first year of the Presidents’ Club there were only 12 of winners; now it has grown to its largest group ever. Over 100 people will be traveling on this year’s trip, including the winners, their guests, and management from Montrose Travel.

“Our President’s Club growth is due to the retention and recruitment of amazingly strong agents who find a long term home with us,” said Andi McClure-Mysza, President of the Independent Contractor Division.

Also eligible are Montrose Travel’s on-site Independent Contractors and 500 Home Based Agents. Cathy Nilson, a top-selling Independent Contractor in the corporate sector says, “I’m honored to be inducted into the Presidents’ Club for the 9th time. It means that I am included with the elite agents of Montrose Travel and rewarded with a wonderful weekend for a year of hard work and commitment to meet my sales goals.”

Each winner receives a weekend trip for him/herself and a guest. Past years’ trips included stays at luxury resorts and weekend cruises. The trip for 2008 winners will include something new: a chance for the winners to bring their kids. “Based on feedback from our previous superstars, it was suggested that we include and allow kids to come on this trip. Since Montrose Travel has deep family values, we thought it was a terrific idea”, said Joe McClure, President.

The annual Year-End Holiday Awards Party in early December is when the honorees are announced and recognized. Montrose Travel congratulates those who met the elite standards for eligibility to the 2008 Montrose Travel Presidents’ Club.

# # #

ABOUT MONTROSE TRAVEL

Celebrating 52 years in business, Montrose Travel, a family owned travel management company, has grown from 14 employees in 1990 to more than 150 today and is now firmly established as a Top 50 Travel Management Company and a Top 5 Host Agency nationwide at $110 million. Montrose Travel strives to provide the highest quality services and most complete leisure, corporate and group travel management solutions for its customers and home-based travel agents. Growth has been solely out of the reinvestment of profit and positive cash flow. Montrose Travel “will be here tomorrow to back up our promises of today!” Montrose Travel can be reached at 1-800-MONTROSE (666-8767) or by visiting www.montrosetravel.com. Visit Montrose Travel’s Corporate Division at www.montrosecorporatetravel.com or call 1-(800) 766-4687. Home-based independent agents may visit www.MTravel.com, email andi@montrosetravel.com, or call 1-(800) 870-5799.