Field Trip To Pique Travel with Jim and Linda Bendt
Our Program on April 22nd was a field trip to Pique Travel in Excelsior with Jim and Linda Bendt. Pique Travel occupies the old wood milling structure on 3rd Street that has been transformed yet keeping a rustic looking interior. The Bendts fell in love with the structure as a place to create a new concept in travel agencies and specifically Excelsior because of its long history linked to tourism.
Jim Ben
dt presented a multi-media presentation about Pique Travel and contrasted it with current online vacation planning. With the advent of the internet, travel agencies have decreased from 46,000 to 14,000. Pique is one of the survivors and provides trip and vacation planning that is worry free for the consumer that doesn’t want to take the 40-48 hours to plan a trip and the worry of making disastrous choices relating to tours and lodging. Pique makes trip and vacation planning an experience and tailors it to their clients wants and needs at a competitive price. Moreover Pique has clients and providers throughout the world that are reputable and creditable. Unlike most travel agencies their staff is salaried so that they can build relationships with their clients rather than just being focused on “selling” you a trip. They can offer tours and cruises for the same price as on-line bookings but the client gets Pique’s collaborative knowledge and experience to guide them to wise choices. Also because of their worldwide network and contacts they can get many amenities (like 400!) added to their customized vacations. Jim Bendt explained that their goal is to provide insight and value to their client’s cruises, Disneyland vacation packages, individual and group tours, and quality four-star hotels.
dt presented a multi-media presentation about Pique Travel and contrasted it with current online vacation planning. With the advent of the internet, travel agencies have decreased from 46,000 to 14,000. Pique is one of the survivors and provides trip and vacation planning that is worry free for the consumer that doesn’t want to take the 40-48 hours to plan a trip and the worry of making disastrous choices relating to tours and lodging. Pique makes trip and vacation planning an experience and tailors it to their clients wants and needs at a competitive price. Moreover Pique has clients and providers throughout the world that are reputable and creditable. Unlike most travel agencies their staff is salaried so that they can build relationships with their clients rather than just being focused on “selling” you a trip. They can offer tours and cruises for the same price as on-line bookings but the client gets Pique’s collaborative knowledge and experience to guide them to wise choices. Also because of their worldwide network and contacts they can get many amenities (like 400!) added to their customized vacations. Jim Bendt explained that their goal is to provide insight and value to their client’s cruises, Disneyland vacation packages, individual and group tours, and quality four-star hotels.