MacNair Travel Management, a privately owned American Express Representative Office, is celebrating 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 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,” explained Mike. “We had passion and nothing to lose. 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.”
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.
Looking ahead, Mike made a presentation to the entire team and said that he can’t wait to see what happens in the next 25 years.
“There is no stopping us,” he said. He added that the company now has more experience, resources, tools, people and support than they could have imagined during their infancy.
MacNair Travel Management, www.macnairtravel.com