Management Team
CEO
Corporate Travel Leadership
Jason Villacres
“Let’s make it happen.” A motivational phrase my personal training clients heard me say many, many times. Now I use it in a different context with CIRE’s clients and travel industry connections, but it still applies. Me? I’m a trainer. Business owner. Entrepreneur. I motivate, diffuse situations and am great with people – or so I’m told. Eric said he could use my help answering phones. So I took him up on his offer. I support corporate travelers. I was one. Checked in and flown in their shoes. I get that business travel looks cool from the outside, but know the hiccups and snafus that can ruin your day. Avoiding them: goal #1. Solving them is #1 when you’re in a jam. Native New Yorker in a love affair with the outdoors. Earth is a big place, but accessible. Lived in Australia. Drawn to Paris. Iceland on the bucket list. Left my heart in Seattle. (Sorry, Mr. Bennett.) Point and click DIY travel planning lands you at Dulles when your hotel is near Reagan. I know. It happened to me. It won’t happen to you with CIRE Travel. Psst! Iceland on your bucket list too? Fly out of Boston. It’s cheaper than New York for now.
Suvarna Persaud
A 20-year veteran of the travel industry (smoking was allowed on planes when I started), I know a thing or two about travelers’ dynamics and psychology. Having come from the hotel side, I understand the demands of corporate travelers and how plans change at a moment’s notice. A volcano is no match for me… Volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland in 2011 brought air travel to a screeching halt across Europe. No one was returning to the U.S. except my corporate travel clients, and their clients whose travel planners said travel couldn’t be done. A quick train ride to Paris, then a short flight to the U.S. and these business travelers were back on track. It just goes to show that anything is possible if you’re willing to go those few extra steps. I have a thing for stranded clients, and that’s when my real talent shines through. Being stranded makes business travelers highly uncomfortable and for good reason – they could miss a meeting or their child’s birthday party. I make clients happy just by answering the phone in person, anytime. Yes, just personally answering their call is a huge stress reliever. I’ve worked with Eric for over 10 years and know our corporate clients’ needs so well. Oh man, Oman is a beautiful place. It’s my favorite destination because you have the beach and the mountains right there. It’s perfect.
A plain hamburger. That’s all she wanted after a long day. A PLAIN hamburger was not on the room service menu. Called my hotel connection and it was delivered to her room. AND the hotel updated its menu to meet guests’ preferences. With travel, it’s the little things I can help with that matter most. All challenges accepted, especially when I hear, “Not available.” April storms canceling flights across the east. Still made sure a client arrived in Atlanta just in time for tee off at the Masters in Augusta. Known travel planning was my future since I was a little girl standing on the tarmac at Logan watching planes. My uncle worked for Eastern Airlines. Fast-forward 30 years. Leisure. Corporate. Group. For travel agencies. For companies. Three decades and not one day has been the same. Imagine the experience and connections made in 30 years! Not to mention my own travels. Too much to see and learn to pick a favorite. Though a fan of volcanoes, rain forests and seclusion. Africa. Europe. Central and South Americas. The U.S. – especially the 30 ballparks my mother and I visited to watch the Red Sox play and Maine, my second home that’s been in my family for more than 50 years. All this travel knowledge and my corporate connections are at CIRE’s clients’ fingertips from my hometown and CIRE’s office in Boston. At the end of a long business day, sometimes you just want a plain hamburger. I make that happen.
Group Travel Leadership
I’ve always been comfortable in a group setting because I started my career in a day care. I fell into travel when the facility closed. I’d just finished school and the college career recruiter basically insisted that I interview for an opening here in 2011. A mere six months later I went full-time and never looked back. When the opportunity to travel arises… I’m making a beeline to Hawaii where a Hawaiian sunset (and probably a fruity drink) is calling my name. Granting special requests is exhilarating and satisfying, and the more unique, the better. A special body wash in the bath… Accommodations with purple pillows… My job is to make sure your group has whatever it takes to meet their travel needs from flights, ground transportation and hotel rooms to pillows and soap. Knock on wood, but I’ve never had a group travel request that I couldn’t grant. Crickets are just gross so even though I love trying different foods, you’ll never get me to eat one.
Leisure Travel Leadership
A couple was thinking the Canary Islands, Maldives or Seychelles for their honeymoon. No. No. And no. Mauritius has the exact feel and experience their hearts desired. mawr-RIH-shuhs – I’m a pronunciation whiz. Tell me what you want to feel. What photos you want to post. What experience you want. Rely on my knowledge to make it happen. Another couple dreamed of riding elephants in Tahiti and over-water bungalows. They’d have to take an elephant in their luggage for that to happen. Sent them to Bali where elephants live. My family didn’t have money for much, but family vacations? Always. We Brits fly. It’s what we do. My first memory is chasing lizards on our patio in Malaysia where my dad worked. My mum took photos of washing me in a bucket. Still break into a rash when a camera points at me. I have a theater degree, yet prefer dramatic trips. Became an expert in U.S., Caribbean and Canada travel. After that, I mastered exotic long-haul destinations. Took a job in America and moved from the U.K. to LA. Why LA? The Kings, Ducks and best weather. LAX was behind my first apartment. I reenacted “Top Gun” racing my motorcycle against A380s. If the Qantas flight landed already, I knew I was late for work. I get lost in a paper bag in LA, but navigate Bangkok like a champ. Traveled six countries in five years to scout destinations for my clients, but taken only one vacation. Honeymoon and leisure travel are my labors of love. Where are you sending me next? That’s what I want to hear from clients.
CIRE Travel Around The World:
