Fall 1999
The Travel Guys -- They’re Traveling Right
By Mikhailina Karina
Someday, Global Travel International (GTI) will be uttered in the same
breath as American Express and AOL, say founders Michael Gross ’90,
’93 and Randall Warren ’89. “We are both 30 years old and have
very large plans for building this empire.”
When Gross and Warren founded GTI five years ago with $8,000, the
company had 5 employees and 56 independent agents bringing in $500,000
in sales. This year, with more than 25,000 independent agents in every
state and 20 countries and 100 full-time staffers at the home office
just outside Orlando, GTI is poised to easily break last year’s $100
million worth of flights, cruises, car rentals, and hotel bookings. *
The idea is so obvious, people may wonder why they didn’t think of
it first: Recruit an army of independent agents who get their friends,
family, neighbors, colleagues, and anyone else who is planning a trip
to book their travel through a specific Florida travel agency that is
staffed around the clock and offers fast service and great prices.
Without lifting a finger or quitting a day job, the agent gets a nice
little commission off each sale, enjoys amazing industry
discounts—and everyone is happy.
GTI’s phenomenal success has been noted by publications, such as
Inc. and the Wall Street Journal, which also note that this no-frills
approach, where the customer becomes his or her own agent, is scaring
the daylights out of the industry’s traditional travel offices that
hold the customers’ hands and offer more personal service. Service-shmervice.
GTI thrives on outsmarting the competition.
Gross and Warren met at AU in the mid-1980s when they joined the ZBT
fraternity and eventually became roommates. The epitome of an
entrepreneur, Warren mastered the fine art of on-line reservations and
found great rates for his friends and professors, whom he booked
through a Boca Raton agency. In fact, he was operating as an
independent agent earning commissions and agent discounts. In 1989,
Warren graduated with a business degree and went on to earn a
master’s in accounting from George Washington University. But he was
kicking around an idea …
Meanwhile, Gross received a degree in public affairs in 1990 and
gradated from the Washington College of Law in 1993. Just as he was
embarking on a legal career, Warren called him up and suggested they
combine their business and legal acumen and take his lucrative
part-time college gig large scale.
With Gross as president and Warren as chairman, the two share an
office and live not far from each other in Winter Park, Florida. Both
are married, have dogs, and spend a lot of their time … what else?
Traveling. "We have a management structure that can run without
us," explains Gross. However, they say they never stop working.
"We may be on the slopes, but we’re thinking about work."
* As of August 2002 Global Travel has
over 40,000 Independent Travel Agents in 50 States and 85 Countries
serviced by a team of over reservationists and support staff in
Florida. The current price for their program is $495 with an annual
renewal of $129.
