The owner of Salem Travel Jeannell Charman has announced she has entered into a business partnership with Nikki Holland that will eventually allow Charman to retire.
Charman began her travel career in 1972 working for a luxury travel agency in Clayton, Missouri. She worked in agency management and other ownership positions before returning to her hometown and opening Salem Travel in 1990.
“We’ve had several offers from out-of-town travel agencies to purchase us as a satellite office and our intent was to stay local, stay small and stay in Salem serving our local community. So I’m happy to announce that we’ve done that.”
Holland joined Salem Travel this past year and brings knowledge of running a small business and a passion for traveling. She is first stepping in as agency partner.
“We are going to work together over this next year and plan for everything to be seamless and business as usual. We have 6 agents in the office here and 5 outside agents and we expect to keep everybody and it should just continue as usual.”
Charman says she is looking forward to spending more time with her husband, Mike, who retired from Norwegian Cruise Lines 10 years ago and to travel to visit family and friends around the globe.
Holland and her husband Marcus will be escorting the NCL Prima cruise in February and the Italy tour group in October. Charman says the Holland’s are very well-traveled and will continue the agency’s tradition of annual escorted tours and cruises.
The public is invited to attend the travel preview at two Saturday afternoon, January 28th, at the Marion County Savings Bank Annex to learn about the upcoming escorted trips already scheduled for 2023 and 2024 and to meet Holland.
Salem Travel is a full-service travel agency specializing in all-inclusive packages, cruises, European travel, Disney vacations, honeymoons, and customized trip planning for budget-friendly itineraries to luxury escapes. You can find out more about Salem Travel by calling 618-548-6000 or by visiting salemtravel.com.
