Great Vacations ... your one stop travel manager

Charmaine Harrison will sell a snow vacation to an Eskimo! Not because of sales gimmickry, plain and simple she has the "gift of sales" and when she recommends a destination, her clients listen. Of course, it helps that the managing director of Great Vacations has a pleasing and dynamic personality and a general disposition, which she attributes to "God's Blessings".

Charmaine has the distinction of being chosen to continue the work started by Jamaica's Grace, Kennedy & Company Ltd., in the Travel and Tours industry. She has had a long career with Grace, Kennedy & Company Limited and therefore saw it as an honour to be given the opportunity when Grace Kennedy & Company took the decision to divest Grace, Kennedy Travel & Grace Tours earlier this year. She readily accepted the bold challenge, and "Great Vacations" was formed 1st March 2000. The transition was an easy one for Charmaine as she had in fact been general manager of the company since October 1996 and found that she quite enjoyed helping people plan their vacation. It's hard work, as often times customers are very indecisive, but she's enjoying every second of it. Charmaine is a graduate of the University of the West Indies where she attained a BSc degree in Management Studies and of the University of Central Arkansas where she completed a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) specialising in Marketing & Finance. She brings her professionalism, competence, experience and her enthusiasm to bear on her stewardship of Great Vacations. She concedes that these are challenging times for a travel agency, given the trend of reduced commissions from airlines and a difficult business climate. Charmaine however has "great faith in the local and international tourism industry and the resilience of Jamaicans to strengthen and grow the economy, no matter how much adversity the country may face".

Her vision for Great Vacations is to be known as "The One Stop Travel Manager". Implicit in that she says, "is a commitment to service efficiency, second to none". Charmaine expands: "when someone thinks Cruises, Air travel, tours and Destination Management they must think 'Great Vacations'. We are a full service organisation that will take care of all your Travel needs." And that's no idle boast. Great Vacations is in fact Jamaica's only authorised American Express Travel Related Service (TRS) Office, quite a prestigious and much sought-after contract. In fact, it is quite a vote of confidence in Charmaine's management of the former Grace, Kennedy Travel which was the appointed American Express representative since July 1997. So how has the first quarter of "Great Vacations" been? "Great", Charmaine says. "We're building on the foundation laid by Grace, Kennedy, and growing and developing new businesses as well. I feel especially pleased that we are living up to the expectations and repaying the confidence placed in us by people like our long standing customers of over thirty years, Messrs. Ruddy Lawson, Wallace Campbell and Teddy McCook to name a few.

This confidence also extends to the Grace, Kennedy family and in particular, Grace, Kennedy's CEO Senator Douglas Orane, Financial Director, Mr. Don Wehby and former Divisional Director, for Grace, Kennedy Financial Services, Mr. Paul Bitter, who remains as Chairman of Great Vacations. The Board of Directors has recently appointed Mr. Richard Pile as general manager. Mr. Pile who has over 15 years experience with American Airlines brings to Great Vacations a wealth of experience in the travel business. He simply loves the travel business and the team of travel professionals and support staff is working harmoniously. Charmaine holds membership in organisations such as the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) marketing committee, the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE), and the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC). She worships at Fellowship Tabernacle where she is an active member of the Reconciliation Ministries International (RMI) Prayer Cabinet.

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