Roswell Business Owner Honored with Prestigious Golden Legacy Award

Travel Leaders recently bestowed its highest annual honor – the Golden Legacy award – on franchisee Tim Kennedy, owner of six Travel Leaders locations, including Travel Leaders of Roswell.

Kennedy received his award this past weekend during a special presentation at the 2012 Travel Leaders National Meeting taking place in Dallas, TX, at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion. The Golden Legacy award honors Travel Leaders Associates (franchisees) whose lifetime achievements best exemplify the franchise system’s entrepreneurial spirit and highest quality standards. 

“When Tim entered the travel business, he began by purchasing a small, fledgling leisure travel agency. Over a quarter of a century – with a steady hand, even temperament and goals that include top-notch customer service, diversification and growth – he has successfully navigated innumerable changes in the industry. That one, small agency has become six, highly-profitable businesses throughout Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi,” explained Roger E. Block, CTC, President of Travel Leaders Franchise Group. “In addition, he has been steadfast in his support of our organization and has readily shared his ‘best practices’ with fellow Travel Leaders agency owners. On behalf of the hundreds of Travel Leaders franchise locations throughout the United States, I’m proud to salute Tim’s extraordinary legacy and I’m honored to congratulate him on receiving Travel Leaders’ most prestigious award.”

The agency Kennedy and a business partner purchased in 1987 was located in LaGrange, Georgia, and its yearly sales were a mere $500,000. Within two years, Kennedy bought out his partner and devoted himself full time to the travel agency business. By using his business background and what many might call “out of the box” thinking, he was able to turned a little leisure agency, into a major player in the business travel world. Today, his agency mix is roughly 80 percent corporate travel and 20 percent leisure travel, with yearly sales of approximately $90 million for the six locations.

Block noted that Kennedy takes great pride in his business being very customer service-oriented. 

“Tim’s agents are empowered to provide the best service, day in and day out.  He doesn’t set limits as to what they’re able to provide their clients. In addition, he is always open to suggestions from his staff on ways they can become even better at what they do. It’s particularly important to Tim that his agencies ‘stay ahead of the game,’ so he’s always looking to offer the newest technology to his staff and clients,” he said.

In addition to today’s Golden Legacy award, Kennedy was also honored with Travel Leaders’ “Agency of Excellence” award. Only 25 franchisees nationally were honored with that distinction. To earn the “Agency of Excellence” award, Travel Leaders agencies are scored in several categories that reflect business growth; utilization of marketing programs to effectively reach local consumers; participation in key training programs to enhance service to their clients, as well as in local and national business networking meetings, and their overall promotion of the Travel Leaders brand, which includes the brand promise, “When your journey includes us, you travel better.”

The six Travel Leaders franchise agencies owned by Tim Kennedy include: Travel Leaders of LaGrange, located at 101 Corporate Plaza Drive; Travel Leaders of Roswell, located at 200 Mansell Court E., Suite 340; Travel Leaders of Sandy Springs, located at 220 Sandy Springs Circle NE, Suite 157B; Travel Leaders of Montgomery (AL), located at 6983 Halcyon Park Drive; Travel Leaders of Tallahassee (FL), located at 1834 Hermitage Boulevard, Suite 100; and Travel Leaders of Starkville (MS), located at 100 Russell Street College Park. 

To learn more, call 706-882-9381 or visit the Travel Leaders website.