By JESIKA MILLANO
AL DIA TODAY
MELBOURNE – There is a trip for every kind of traveler.
If you prefer to relax and not worry about planning the itinerary or have a limited amount of time to plan, organizing your vacation with an agency may be the best option.
Taking the stress and work out of planning vacations was what inspired Geraldine Blanchard to create Global Tours and Travel in 1995.
This passion was instilled in Blanchard by her mother, Ana Armand, who also dedicated her life to traveling the world and organizing complex trips.
From Haiti, where Armand lived and had her agency, every year she took several groups of travelers to Europe.
On each trip, Armand took one of her four children with her to show them not only her love for this work but also the beauty of faraway places.
Blanchard became so passionate about helping people travel that she decided to start her own agency in Melbourne.
“After living with my husband in the Middle East for seven years, I decided to return to the United States and pour myself into this business,” said Blanchard, a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Blanchard has a bachelor’s degree in languages and another bachelor’s degree in business from Universidad Loyola and the Universidad Católica. Her dedication to providing excellent service has been the central element in the success of Global Tours and Travel.
She fluently speaks four languages (English, French, Spanish, and Italian) and has 20 years of experience in commercial administration. She also spent five years working as a contract coordinator with the global services division of Pan American World Airways, known as Pan Am, and was a travel specialist in the Sultanate of Oman.
In the latter position, one of her numerous responsibilities was the coordination of complex trips for employees and families of the Oman Airports project.
“Doing this work makes me feel so proud,” Blanchard said.
“I feel that so many people enjoy themselves when traveling with us that I have opened up the rest of the world to them, and that fills me with joy.”
Global Tours and Travel, located in Suite 138 at 4100 N. Wickham Road in Melbourne, offers a wide variety of tourist and business trips, special groups, and mission trips. The agency specializes in planning and executing difficult trips, especially those traveling to Christian sites around the globe.
“This year, we are planning on going to Ireland, Scotland, Greece and the Holy Land,” Blanchard said.
“In general, people don’t know how to best organize their vacations, so we do our best to give our clients the best,” said Blanchard who, in addition to organizing every detail of these excursions, frequently goes on group trips with clients to ensure that everything goes perfectly.
Whether it is a family vacation or just a couple’s retreat, Blanchard helps customers plan their best trip.
For more information about Global Tours & Travel call 321-676-0049 or visit www.globaltours.com.