 EDINA,
Minn., August 3, 2005—
Cindy Tyo, owner of Travel Travel in Fargo, N.D., is the winner of the July 2005 MLT
Vacations Inc. IRIS Award, a program established to
recognize excellence in the travel agent industry.
Tyo won the award for her creation of Passport
Day, a half-day event held at the agency
designed for clients to acquire or renew passports.
“We had 67 walk-ins that
day and we sold about a dozen vacations,” Tyo
said. “Our customers were thrilled. They
couldn’t believe they could get it all done right
here at the agency, and they didn’t have to go
stand in line downtown.”
Tyo came up with the idea of
processing passport applications on site a few years
ago when the agency held its re-grand opening at
it’s new location. Because passport regulations
are changing soon and Fargo is just a short drive
from the United States border with Canada, she knew
many people would need to update or acquire a
passport. So she checked with government officials,
who were willing to send a representative to her
agency to process applications. The first Passport
Day event was held June 14, 2005.
 “When
we first approached the passport officials, nobody
had ever done this before,” Tyo said. “But it
was a huge success—more than 60 applications were
processed in four hours. We’ll hold another event
in October and already customers have signed up
online. Passport officials tell us they will send an
extra person.”
 Tyo
said the agency has also been scanning customers’
passports, both new and old. This accomplishes
multiple objectives, Tyo said. It allows the agency
to alert customers whose passports are coming due in
the next six months, it gives the agency a chance to
learn more about the customers and where they like
to travel, and it serves as an easy-to-access
back-up if the passport is lost or stolen.
To promote the Passport
Day event, Travel Travel submitted a
calendar listing for the local newspaper in addition
to running radio ads in the four days prior to the
event. They also used their Web site.
“Overall, the event provided a good
opportunity to give our customers ideas for their
next trip,” Tyo said. “And sometimes just
providing the idea is enough incentive to get them
to go.”
Travel Travel has nine
employees and has been in business for almost 20
years; Tyo opened agency in 1986 and recently bought
it.
The MLT Vacations Inc. IRIS Award for travel
industry visionaries recognizes individuals for
inspired business practices, resourceful and
innovative ideas, and strategic thinking and
planning. Winners are chosen monthly from
nominations provided by travel industry
professionals, suppliers and agents nationwide. |
