Orange County News Wednesday, April 14, 2010 �

Business

By Lindsay Taylororange County news

“we plan every trip based on the needs of our clients. It’s never one size fits all,” Kathy orr says. and she should know – orr has been a co-owner and manager of La Palma travel for most of the agency’s nearly thirty years.

In fact, chances are that if you live in northwest orange County and have recently booked a trip through a travel agency, you’ve done it through La Palma travel. this is particularly likely if you’ve traveled to Jamaica and the Caribbean; La Palma travel has partnerships with such well-known resorts as san-dals, Beaches, Breezes and royal Plantation. tourism in that area has only grown in recent years with the growing popularity of destination weddings – orr also specializes in honeymoon travel – and the recent influx of tour-ists, typically Mexico-bound in winter, who have decided to try out the islands instead.

orr’s parents, Bill and trudy Carroll, opened La Palma travel in 1984. a few short years later, orr joined the family busi-ness and has since helped her parents collect clients across southern California and na-tionwide. their typical clients are retired Californians in the orange County and Los ange-les areas and honeymooners, though members of affinity groups – such as high school and college alumni classes – and sports or other teams aren’t far behind.

although La Palma travel often deals with large interna-tional hospitality companies, the agency is typical of a family busi-ness: small and friendly, with orr and only a couple of her col-leagues occupying their Cypress office. As such, Bill and Trudy Carroll’s decision to go into the travel business was based largely on their love for travel, making their interaction with each client personal.

“I love France,” trudy says of her favorite destination. origi-nally from holland, trudy has traveled throughout europe. “even after world war II, most of the country south of Paris was untouched. every village was like

a museum. It was beautiful.” her husband Bill, a patent-

holding aerospace engineer and history buff, also has a wealth of travel stories for clients – and anyone else – eager to listen.

“history was just a fun class

for me,” he says of his favorite subject. “I studied French in high school and was in French Morocco when I was in the navy. I also love english literature, and so going to england and scotland and getting to see and visit the places where those books were written was just wonderful.”

although La Palma travel books escorted tours all over the world, Bill is quick to note that theirs aren’t your typical escorted trips.

“they remind me of this old movie, If It’s tuesday, this Must Be Belgium,” he says of trips that

herd tourists on and off buses like livestock.

“ours aren’t quite like that,” he says with a grin. and indeed they aren’t; the Carrolls have taken tours of geology museums in the Canadian arctic, cruised through

the straight of Magellan in south america, and traveled up the norwegian coast on a mail boat, to name a few.

according to orr, business is booming despite the economic downturn, as the industry is coming up on its peak season.

“we book lots of trips between January and June and there are usually a lot of last-minute sum-mer trips,” she says.

though the travel industry has encountered hardships with airlines going out of business, not much seems to put a damper on the agency’s friendly spirit.

even with the advent of name-your-own-price trip booking online, La Palma travel is doing remarkably well.

“things like expedia are tools, and they do made traveling easier,” orr says. “If a client is booking a trip to Vegas, we’ll def-initely recommend that. we’re here to help plan the really big trips.”

Indeed, La Palma travel books trips all around the globe. so, when you spend your days tailor-ing trips to clients’ needs the way orr does, what does that entail?

“I really like planning get-aways. I specialize in Jamaican vacations, and I like places where you can just lay back and relax,” she says.

and where do you go next?“Italy. I’m going in on a tour

in May for a couple of weeks,” orr says, although she’s quick to say that you don’t have to leave the country to go on vacation. “take a day or weekend trip – go to Vegas or san Diego. Just get your mind into vacation mode and relax.”

Photo by Lindsay Taylor

The La Palma Travel family in their Cypress office. From left: Kathy Orr, Trudy and Bill Carroll, and colleagues Marissa and Cherese.

Family travel agency brings its passion to community

Women’s Division LuncheonElks Lodge11551 Trask Ave. Thursday, April 15 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Business Education Committee MeetingGarden Grove Chamber Board Room12866 Main St., Suite 102Friday, April 1612 – 1:30 p.m.

Networking MixerHyatt Regency11999 Harbor Blvd. Wednesday, April 215:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Kaye’s Kitchen Grand Re-Opening12939 Main St. Saturday, April 246 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Board of Directors MeetingCommunity Meeting Center11300 Stanford Ave. Tuesday, April 277:30 – 9 a.m.

Chamber Calendar

“I really like planning getaways. I like places where you can just lay back and relax.”

– Kathy Orr earth Day is a great way to show support for the future of your community!

on wednesday , april 21st, the orange County news will be featuring all the news and events surrounding the 40th anniversary of earth Day.

are your services or busi-ness environmentally friend-ly? would you like to take part in this special earth Day edition? space is limited, so call today to reserve your spot!

Call Cathie salai at 714-220-0292x240 or e-mail ggwM@localnewspapers.org to find out how.