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01 May 2007
The Better Business Bureau Serving Northwestern Ohio and Southeastern Michigan, Inc.
2007 Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics |
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 Central Travel & Ticket
2007 Medium Business Category Winner
Central Travel was established in 1971 and is locally owned and operated. The full-service agency with 43 employees and nine locations in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan has found that all the little things, consistently done well, create a company that defies duplication. The company is driven by its mission statement:
Through cultivating personal relationships, our team of specialists pledges to create customized travel experiences at exceptional value, making us your travel professional of choice.
In pursuit of the company’s mission, its values are straightforward. They encompass people, service, and profits, according to company president, Jani Miller.
Miller believes that when people are placed first, they will provide the highest possible service and profits will follow. Four company goals guide the organization:
Customer goal: To focus on the customer and his needs as our number one priority which will enable us to expand our satisfied customer base by providing service of the highest caliber.
Associate goal: To recognize our people as our greatest asset and nurture supportive, open communication which will encourage a challenging and positive environment, rewarding achievements of quality goals and objectives with a fair and equitable compensation program.
Community goal: To acknowledge our responsibility as a corporate citizen in being responsive to the needs of the community within which we serve and function.
Profitability goal: To obtain profit levels that will assure continuity, stability and growth of Central Travel by focusing ongoing efforts on client satisfaction, marketing strategies, commitment to preferred vendor selling and effective management.
In the mid-1980s, Central Travel worked with the University of Toledo College of Business Administration to develop a formal Performance Appraisal and Review System (PARS), a process that is followed for every associate, ev-ery year, without exception. PARS facilitates open and honest communication and assists with each employee's growth and development. In addition, Central Travel conducts an annual 360 degree review to glean feedback from all employees on how to improve the company.
The company’s specific ethics policy and guidelines are enumerated in the employee manual and through its affiliation with Virtuoso, an exclusive, membership by invitation only, organization for top leisure travel agencies in North and South America, the Caribbean, and Australia.
The company’s membersip in the American Society of Travel Agents, The Travel Institute, the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau provides a community of knowledge and insight on ethical and innovative business practices.
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