During the anniversary celebration, MacNair Travel Management honored Chrissy Limetti from ASCO, with a Travel Leadership Award for Domestic Travel Program of the Year, and Judia Turner from Creative Associates International with a Travel Leadership Award for International Travel Program of the Year.
ALEXANDRIA, VA – MacNair Travel Management, a privately owned American Express Representative Office, continues to celebrate its 25th Anniversary this year and President and CEO Mike MacNair is preparing to embark on the next 25 years. Recently, the MTM team came together over a 2-day celebration honoring the transformation the company has made, recognizing its valued partners, charting out a course for the next two and a half decades, and concluded with funding a field trip to Mount Vernon for some of the families enrolled in the New Neighbors Program through Alexandria’s Campagna Center.
As Mike reflects on his company’s growth over the past 25 years, he realizes that a highlight is how far he and his team have come from its meager beginnings in challenging times, and how tremendous the people are he works with daily – from staff to customers to supplier partners.
“We have bootstrapped ourselves and have become a top travel provider in the country in a very difficult industry during times that have changed the entire travel paradigm,” according to Mike. “What we do, how big we are, what our focus is couldn’t have been determined 25 years ago. I am so excited to see what the next 25 years bring.”
MacNair Travel Management began with the support of Karen and Ed Didion and their company Didion Travel & Associates. Mike and his wife Ellen purchased a then small travel agency (four desks and two employees in an Old Town Alexandria location) and within three years, the MacNair duo paid their debt to the Didions.
“Looking back, we knew nothing about business and not much about travel agency operations. We had passion and nothing to lose. We just did it” explains Mike. “We just asked a lot of people to use us, tried our best to serve them well, hired great people, and tried to change and evolve. It was simple and this simplicity has become the fly wheel of our success.”
As the company started growing, Mike began recruiting the best travel consultants and management professionals he could find from both the travel and general business sectors. “We always knew we were a business first and in travel second. We just kept adding great people and their wisdom. We shared hard work and fun with them and built a family,” he adds. “I am also proud that we not only added professionals who expanded MTM’s expertise to large scale business travel management, group travel, vacation travel, online travel, and T&E management, but we moved to the cloud a few years ago enabling us to recruit the best from around the nation. We have staff in 12 states.”
As the team watched a presentation showcasing the past 25 years, Mike reflects, “It was wild to see pictures of us all so many years back. The fun we had, the offices we shared, our family members, how we once operated – it was all just only yesterday. It was heartwarming and I am so proud of the success we have shared and the family atmosphere we have created.”
Among the many things Mike is most proud of is the amazing customers his organization now serves including some of the most prominent membership organizations, government contractors, political organizations (seven Presidential Campaigns), law and PR firms, and VIPs of many types.
During the anniversary celebration, MacNair Travel Management honored Chrissy Limetti from ASCO, with a Travel Leadership Award for Domestic Travel Program of the Year, and Judia Turner from Creative Associates International with a Travel Leadership Award for International Travel Program of the Year.
“Our ability to work with true professionals and quality committed organizations such as ASCO and CAI also are attributes to our overall success,” explains Mike. “Our team’s painstaking dedication to deliver measurable ROI to their corporate travel programs is something that we could not do effectively without these dedicated and valued partners.”
Looking ahead to 2015 and through 2039, Mike made a presentation to the entire team and said “I can’t wait to see what happens in the next 25 years. We have more experience, resources, tools, people and support than we could have imagined during our infancy. There is no stopping us.”
As Mike moves the company forward, he believes it is important to be clear. “The brain can only focus on specific goals not general idea,” he says. He went on to list his 25 year vision. “We will work with the best game changing companies who credit us as helping them solve key T&E issues allowing them to reach their amazing goals. We will continue focusing on developing more unique and proven tools to solve customer issues. We will grow from over $60 million in sales to over $200 million; yet, will be recognized as a ‘Small Giant’ recognized for greatness not merely size in our niche markets. We will be recognized by Forbes as a Great Place to Work. We will have systems and processes in place that enable us to not only deliver consistently quality, but we will be able to bring youth into our industry and move them up a clear ladder to success and recognition. We will be ‘Travel Evangelists’ because we believe in quality procurement processes for T&E and have a real passion for travel – we will change the world’s view on these items in what we say and do. And we will be great citizens by not merely contributing to local organizations, but by making a real difference with our own foundation which will be called ‘The Dream Trip Fund’.”
As he delivered this message there was a combination of fear and jubilation. The reaction that Mike said he was looking for. “You have to have vision to be a leader and to keep great people looking forward. Most people don’t think travel agencies exist anymore. And while we aren’t a travel agency (MTM refers to itself as a Travel Management Company), our travel business has grown and become so successful and that the momentum isn’t going to stop any time soon,” adds Mike.
“We have faced incredible challenges as if they were the best opportunities – every time – and now is no different. Much of what we will do in the future will be different, but I can bet you we will be doing it, and we will be doing it well. It’s going to be amazing – whatever ‘it’ is.”
Photo caption: MacNair Travel Management, President and CEO Mike MacNair.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
