Greaves Travel, led by Shahrookh Cambata and Ian Cambata, recieved Travel Leaders Network's "Associate of the Year Award" for 2023, while Dave Hershberger, owner of Prestige Travel in Cincinnati, was the recipient of the 2023 "Golden Legacy Award," the highest honor bestowed by Travel Leaders Network.
The awards were presented at Travel Leaders Network’s annual EDGE conference, held May 8-10 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville.
The conference brought together travel advisors and industry partners, including airlines, cruise lines, hotels and resorts, tour companies and vacation destinations. Participating travel advisors were able to gain insight from industry leaders, connect with colleagues and choose from an extensive menu of workshops offered by Travel Leaders Network’s educational services team. At the conference’s Experience Lounge, experts were on hand to guide advisors through Travel Leaders programs and services, from booking tools to technology solutions.
Greaves Travel, owned and operated by second- and third-generation members of the Cambata family, recieved the award which is given to the franchise that best demonstrates excellence in service to clients and effectively represents the Travel Leaders brand.
In 1928, the Cambatas were pivotal in founding the Bombay Flying Club, building a fleet of aircraft for use across India. From that beginning, the family has built a global travel management company, offering support to corporate and leisure clients around the world. In 2013, Greaves joined Travel Leaders Group, a forerunner of Travel Leaders Network. In 2018, Greaves relaunched its corporate and leisure travel offerings under the Travel Leaders 365 banner. And in 2019, Travel Leaders 365 became a branch of the Tzell Travel Group.
The company, based in Highland Park, Illinois, serves corporate clients in a variety of fields including financial services, law, healthcare and technology. Its leisure travel specialties include adventure travel, vacations in Europe and New Zealand, romantic getaways and family trips. Driven by its technology background, this family-run business continues to develop new and innovative approaches, streamlining the travel process and providing a service-first approach to ensure that all of its clients’ needs are exceeded. Initiatives include ensuring that dedicated and experienced advisros are available via phone, email and live chat around the clock, proactive monitoring of flights with notifications of change/delay/cancellation through its mobile app, and price change monitoring with a 24-hour window of booking.
Greaves Tours books trips to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and the Indian Ocean islands, Nepal and Bhutan, and places special emphasis on responsible tourism and sustainability. The company works with Vermont-based nonprofit One Tree Planted to plant a tree in India for each client, an effort to offset its carbon footprint and give back to the country.
In 2021, Greaves Travel received the "Golden Legacy Award," the highest honor bestowed by Travel Leaders Network. Greaves has also received the Travel Leaders "Agency of Excellence Award" numerous times and this year, it was the top finisher among 20 franchises that were honored.
Each Travel Leaders agency was judged in multiple categories reflecting business growth, including use of Travel Leaders marketing programs, sales growth, especially among key supplier partners, participation in training programs to enhance service to clients, participation in local and national business networking meetings, and overall promotion of the Travel Leaders brand.
Separatalely, Dave Hershberger recieved the "Golden Legacy Award," which recognizes outstanding professionalism and commitment both to Travel Leaders Network and to the travel industry. It honors an associate whose career achievements best exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit and highest quality standards of the franchise system.
Hershberger has spent more than 30 years in the travel industry, working with thousands of corporate and leisure customers to book trips all over the world, from do-it-yourself vacations to fully escorted luxury tours. As former chairman of the board of directors of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), Hershberger has also taken on a leadership role in the industry. In 2022, ASTA honored him with the "Paul M. Ruden Industry Ambassador Award," given annually to a member who best represents the travel industry to multiple audiences, including the government, the broader travel industry and the traveling public.
Formore information, visit www.travelleadersnetwork.com.
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