Traveling in 2021? A Travel Agency CEO Shares Her Insights, and Her Passion for the Travel Industry
“Due to COVID-19, the Travel Industry has seen one of it’s most challenging years ever.” With travel plans on a halt, and new safety regulations each day, 2020 has been an unusual year for travelers. Today’s woman dreamer, Anita Teig, is the CEO of Alanita Travel Agency, a venture she runs with her husband, Alan. She shares her essential insights on what travel will look like next year, how Covid-19 has affected the industry, what sparked her interest in the travel business, and her intriguing thoughts on women empowerment!
1) Tell us your story. What sparked your interest in the travel industry?
I own a Travel company that I started in Boston back in 1994. With very little experience about the travel industry I worked hard to educate myself of all the ins and outs of the Travel Industry including ticketing, marketing and sales. This was a passionate pursuit for me as I had a love for traveling but it did take many years before my own travelling really began. When I moved to Boston, I met my husband Alan who has played a major role in the growth of my business which today is known as Alanita Travel. Al and myself, Anita combined to make our travel company name. Our travel company provides tickets to Indians in and out of the United States to go back and forth to see their families and loved ones. To this day I am proud to say that we have been running strong for 25 years with now 4 offices globally! Boston, MA and Irving, TX in the United States. Chennai and Hyderabad in India.
2) How did you learn the ropes of the business? What achievement are you most proud of in your life?
I started out small. Only to grow bigger in sales, customers and employees. An achievement I am proud of was able to accomplish a successful clientele base starting with the Boston area. Thanks to my original clientele in the Boston area, many of whom were software engineers in the late 90s and early 2000’s who spread the word of my newly opened travel agency by posting on their companies intranet. At first I had no idea why I was getting calls from as far as California, North Carolina, New Jersey, etc. etc. In addition to this I left paper flyers everywhere I could to spread the word. Successful grassroots marketing was the achievement and the publicity was definitely something to be proud of! One other achievement I am very proud of is the charity work we started back in 2006. We have two collective charities one for babies that need food and another for food for needy families all based in Chennai, India. Both in which have provided a numerous amount of support for families that are in need of food and for babies that are in need of nutrition and milk, which we supply on a monthly basis. This is important to me as I am blessed to be able to give back to my community and serve those who need more than they can afford and to take care not only themselves but their families and babies that require a substantial amount of food to live a long and healthy life.
3) You also have a passion for women empowerment. Why is women empowerment important to you?
Well to start with, I’m a woman! I have pride in being a woman! There shouldn’t be anything to prove to a man that I am no less than him and this goes out to all the women out there! As a woman I know there are several things that equal me to a man and more. I’m smart, I’m powerful, I am a leader, and I’ve come this far for my success. Why look down on a woman? We reason well, we’re patient and understanding, we emotionally give and invest. We take our time to make decisions, we’re bold and can win an argument any day. We forgive and learn as much as men and I’m equal to all that men bring to the table. Women empowerment is important because there’s a reason we are on this earth, we come with the same responsibilities, equal importance and a fair balance with and to men! This is 2020, we are raising our daughters to be greater and to stand out in the name of equality.
4) The travel industry has seen major changes during Covid-19. How has this affected your business, and what is your advice and insight for travelers in 2021?
On a separate note, due to COVID the Travel Industry has seen one of it’s most challenging years ever. Travel will hopefully open up more now that the vaccine has come out, even more so when it has actually made an impact and made life safer. People are desperate to travel having not seen their family for a whole year, due to the virus or visa restrictions. It will also take time for many countries to open up their borders and relax these visa restrictions. For our business we will just need India to open up beyond the repatriation flights. If all goes well we hope for 2021 to show an increase in travel, but I think 2022 will be a time when lots of pent-up travel plans will come to reality to a point where it will be very difficult to get seats. As far as we are concerned, we are here for clients when and if they are ready to travel.