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Jo Ann Taylor got into the travel business in 1974 purely by accident. Having majored in fine arts, she never even thought about travel as a career until she moved from her hometown to Houston and went to take an old college friend who worked for a travel agency out to lunch. They never made it to that lunch. The agency handled travel for the Houston Aeros Hockey team and their game schedule had changed. Everyone in the agency was busy hand-writing new tickets and Jo Ann was put to work.
It was the possibilities of seeing all of the art and architecture I had studied that initially appealed to me. But it ended up being the people I came into contact with that really turned this business into a passion.
Not only has it been thrilling to help people fulfill their dreams and create wonderful memories, I've been able to explore other cultures and communities first hand. Over twenty-five hundred years ago Diogenes exclaimed "I am not an Athenian or a Greek but a citizen of the world. " I believe we should all adopt these words as our own. Certainly, over the years I have seen the world become a much smaller place. The people of China and Botswana are not just on the other side of the world, they are our neighbors.
I think a lot about our role in the travel industry, and it is so much more than facilitating leisure time. We have an opportunity to spread understanding throughout the globe by helping our guests to learn about or even immerse themselves into other cultures when they travel.
Jo Ann started working for Holland America Line in 1981. She took a short stint from working when she had a baby, worked for five years with Virtuoso and went back to Holland America Line in 2001.
Last year I had the opportunity to move to corporate headquarters in Seattle to be the Manager of the Mariner Society. The Mariner Society is our group of past guests who are the most loyal and wonderful guests in the world. And it's such a great time to be here and be a part of the evolution of the program. We'll be rolling out some exciting benefits later in the year so stay tuned for the announcements in late summer.
I am really enjoying getting to know our guests. I'm escorting a 16-Day Northern Isles Adventure on Aug 8 on the new Eurodam from Copenhagen to New York. We'll be overnighting in Edinburgh to see the Military Tattoo festival. And on November 9 I'm escorting the Volendam's Southeast Asia cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore. We have lots of wonderful activities planned.
For more information on these special Mariner Society cruises call Tom Lazenby : Brownell Travel
at 800.999.3960.
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