Three local travel agencies become The Travel Group

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Ozark World Travel, Thomas Travel and Consulting Travel finalized a deal in January to merge into one company called The Travel Group LLC. The merged company will occupy an office on the ground floor of the Plaza Towers building by June, according to Linda Overend, who, with her husband, Don Overend, MD, owns Ozark World Travel and is a principal and majority shareholder in the new company.|ret||ret||tab|

"The industry is really changing, and we felt that it's going to be very hard for a smaller agency to compete ... we felt that if we could consolidate, we could minimize our expenses and concentrate on the latest in technology," Overend said. |ret||ret||tab|

The other principals in the new company are Larry Ollis of Thomas Travel, which opened in 1972, and Sara Krutsinger and Susie Cummings of Consulting Travel, which opened in 1978. Ozark World Travel opened in 1976. |ret||ret||tab|

Former Ozark World Travel co-owner Georgia Christy retired in September 1999 and will not have a role in the new company, according to Jan Copeland, Ozark World Travel manager. |ret||ret||tab|

Copeland will serve as The Travel Group's manager once the three companies are under one roof. |ret||ret||tab|

Overend said the three agencies, which had been discussing the possibility of merging for more than a year, had been friendly competitors for years and all had something to bring to the table.|ret||ret||tab|

"We had an agency that was primarily corporate, an agency that did a lot of upscale leisure, and (Ozark World Travel) was sort of middle of the road ... among the three agencies, we could cover all that and not lose sight of the fact that our cornerstone is service," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

Ollis said the time was right for Thomas Travel to merge with the other two agencies because it had gotten increasingly difficult to offer the services he wanted to offer to his clients with only four agents in the agency's office in the Glen Isle Shopping Center.|ret||ret||tab|

Ollis said each agency's business is being transferred to the new company's name and Thomas Travel, Consulting Travel and Ozark World Travel will cease to exist after the transaction is complete and the agencies occupy the same office. No money changed hands as part of the deal, he said. |ret||ret||tab|

"From my standpoint, the merger offers the ability to offer more in-depth service for our customers," Ollis said. "We've lacked things in the mass market that the other two agencies bring to this. I think this is the best thing for our clients." |ret||ret||tab|

The Travel Group will move into the space now occupied by Ozark World Travel and the adjacent space formerly occupied by Aussies Oyster Bar & Grill on the ground floor of the Plaza Towers. Ozark World Travel's office is located behind the former restaurant space and work is being done to combine, renovate and decorate the two spaces. |ret||ret||tab|

The new company will employ a total staff of 15 and will hire more agents after its new office is complete, Overend said. |ret||ret||tab|

The Travel Group's services will include both corporate and leisure travel, cruises and tours, convention and meeting planning, currency exchange, passport photos and applications, visa applications and processing, and travel medicine referrals. |ret||ret||tab|

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