No.8, Great Southern Travel

“In the city of Springfield at one time travel agencies were as plentiful as Chinese restaurants,” said Kris Conley, executive vice president and managing director of Great Southern Travel. “It seemed like travel agents could just move from agency to agency, so in our industry there was a lot of turnover at one time.”
The events of Sept. 11 caused some travel agencies to close and customers to travel less. Supply and demand in the travel industry was drastically different.
How time heals. Now, Conley said, with more confidence in the economy, travelers are booking in advance and “we’re seeing things fill up a lot more.”
And nomadic travel agents settled down – at least those at Great Southern Travel. In the last three years, the annual turnover rate at Great Southern Travel has been less than 2 percent. Great Southern Travel’s staff has increased by 30 people in the last two years, Conley said, bringing the company’s total to 115 employees, 80 of which are full-time.
The company’s growth isn’t limited to its increase in employees.
He declined to share company revenues, but said gross sales increased by about $4 million from 2002 to 2003, and by more than $20 million from 2003 to 2004. “That was through growth and acquisition,” he said, adding that about $14 million of the growth in 2004 came from the acquisitions of House of Travel and McDaniel Travel. “So we experienced about a $6 million growth in 2004 over and above the acquisitions.”
Employee retention is an important aspect of acquiring other travel agencies. “I’ve got to be very comfortable with the fact that we’re going to be able to retain real close to 100 percent of the employees, and we want to make sure there are the type of employees there that we want to keep,” Conley said. When Great Southern Travel bought House of Travel and McDaniel, he said, “We literally kept 100 percent of their employees and still have most of those except for two that have retired.”
Great Southern Travel now has 12 locations – three in Springfield and one each in Branson, Lebanon, Joplin, Carthage, West Plains, Kansas City, Berryville, Ark., Harrison, Ark., and Pittsburgh, Kan. More locations are in the works.
Conley declined to discuss specific plans, but he said new locations and more acquisitions are under consideration.
“We’re not in a buy-crazy type mood,” Conley said. “It’s not just growth for the sake of growth. It’s got to be good business decisions.”
Growth of Great Southern Travel will likely follow Great Southern Bank. “Right now the bank has loan production offices in northwest Arkansas, Kansas City and St. Louis, and we’re very aggressively looking at all of those areas to have retail travel agencies in those areas,” Conley said.
The balance of Great Southern Travel’s business has changed as well. For the bulk of the company’s history, business stood at 80 percent corporate travel and 20 percent leisure travel. Now, he said, business is 50/50. He points to three reasons for this change – the opening of the Vacation Center at 3424 S. National, the company’s office at the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport and a growing Internet presence.
The 7,700-square-foot Vacation Center, which is open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, enhanced the company’s presence in Springfield. The extended hours at the Vacation Center, along with extended hours at the airport location, have helped Great Southern Travel serve customers when they need to be served. The airport location, open 6 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week, closes only on Christmas Day. If flights are delayed or canceled, Great Southern Travel customers can turn to agents they are familiar with. “Our (customers) after hours don’t have to talk to strangers, and it’s helped us develop business relationships outside of our time zone,” Conley said. Through the company’s Web site, www.greatsoutherntravel.com, clients may research their travel options and purchase tickets. The Internet, Conley said, has become an asset for the company.
“I got in this business in 1980, and if you’d have asked me seven or eight years ago … I’d have said the Internet is going to be the death of the retail travel agency. Boy, have I done a 180 on that,” Conley said. Savvy travelers, he said, are comfortable with the Internet, but still want someone to rely on when there are problems.
“Our goal for 2005 is to have about 30 percent of our corporate (business) coming across via our Internet product,” Conley said, adding that about 10 corporate accounts now use the product.