A
Meet Travel
Titan Pamela
Hurley-Moser
s someone who does a lot
of travel research, I couldn’t
wait to interview travel
titan, Pamela Hurley-Moser...
after hearing about her,
I knew I had to meet this woman.
One of only 120 worldwide
representatives qualified to sell
Virgin Galactic’s Sub-Orbital
Space Flights, Pam focuses on the
extraordinary and runs a profitable
business at the same time. When
others faltered, Pam soared.
The best way to share her journey is
to share our interview:
Maralyn D. Hill: Pam, share a
little about yourself and Hurley
Travel Experts?
Pamela Hurley-Moser: I’ve been in
the travel business for twenty-five
years, and my mission continues to
change, as I journey through life. The
one thing that stays constant is my
commitment to offering the finest
travel services we possibly can.
Raising the bar is very important
to me – and surrounding myself
with fun, positive people.
MDH: You’ve grown a business 30% in
spite of the recession in the economy.
It’s amazing you started a Travel
Agency in 1993 during excessive fare
wars, commission caps in 1994, and
Internet pricing availability. Can you
elaborate on your insight?
PHM: I targeted and started in
adventure travel. I didn’t know it at
the time, but the experiential travel
area lacked agencies with travel
expertise. I was a world traveler
at a young age. When earning my own
money and going to Travel Agencies,
I would say, “I want to go hiking in
Nepal.” They wanted to sell me a
Carnival Cruise. I realized there was
a need for experiential travel. I liked
making people happy and travel is
exciting, travel makes people happy.
Back then, I was all about the
vacation traveler.
I got into travel incentives, business
retreats, as a client was talking
about this vision he had about trying
to sell more liquor. Suddenly, we
had several hundred people going
to Cancun, Mexico. I learned as I
went along.
I started my own agency and was
getting press around the adventure
and experiential travel aspect of the
business. Corporations called me to
come in and meet with them and I
thought, “Okay, corporate travel,
that’s interesting.” What was
interesting is I remember getting
three requests for proposals within
a couple weeks for large corporations
in Maine. I thought it would be neat
if I got one, and I landed all three.
It was a good problem to have. I got
into the corporate business overnight
and basically delivered. I made
promises on these RFPs and was
determined to keep them, and did.
In 1994, when commission caps came,
I was working hard, learning how to
run a business. A fax came through
from Delta Airlines, saying, “Dear
Valued Travel Partner, as of midnight
tonight, we will be reducing your
revenue by 20%.” The first was 10%
to 8%, and I knew my profit margin
was around 10%. While not a financial
genius, I realized I would be losing
money when I opened the door. I
called my customers and set up
meetings, asking them to pay more
money. I was charging $5 service fees
for tickets before anybody else. That
was one of the reasons I was able to
grow. Now, it would be $10. Nervous
about asking for more money, it was
an “a-ha moment”—the value of
relationships, face-to-face,
connecting with people, having
them understand your vision.
You have to constantly redefine,
invent yourself, and change your
business model to respond to the
marketplace.
MDH: Reading your website, you’ve
targeted the corporate travel market,
retreats, luxury vacations, travel for
tourism. Having written travel
incentive programs, I believe breaking
into that early was good for you. How
did you discover what was involved
for an Accredited Space Agent?
PHM: My Director of Marketing
brought it to my attention. An email
from Virgin Galactic stated that
there was an essay contest. Richard
Branson was going to select 50 people
to represent his new space product.
Richard Branson is somebody I have
admired for his entrepreneurialism.
I met him when I was in my 20s and
I have a photo with him on my desk.
Interestingly, my Director said,
“I think you should fill out this
application. If selected through an
interview, you go to Kennedy Space
Center for mission training.”
I looked into it for January. Well, it
was a snowy end of November and I
was nine months pregnant. Wonderin