VANCOUVER, B.C. - UNIGLOBE Travel (International) Inc., the world's largest single-branded travel franchise, just concluded its 19th World Congress July 9-11, 2004 at Caesars Palace in the electrifying city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

"The World Congress brought together owners, managers, agents and suppliers from all over the world to build new relationships, share best practices and celebrate all of our individual and collective achievements," said Martin H. Charlwood, President and C.O.O for The UNIGLOBE Group.

"The travel industry has gone through some dramatic shifts the last several years and UNIGLOBE Travel has made some innovative changes in the way we do business. Keeping and growing that business was the premise of this year's Congress theme - ‘Taking Care of Business'. The Congress provided franchise owners and managers with information, education and networking opportunities with other agents and global suppliers to further their knowledge in the industry and will inevitably lead to greater success in their operations," explained Charlwood.

In addition to opening Congress remarks from founder, Chairman and CEO, U. Gary Charlwood and ‘Onwards and Upwards' closing remarks from President, Martin Charlwood, attendees were educated by keynote industry speaker Graham Atkinson, Sr. Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Alliances, United Airlines. Noted author and Web Marketing expert Gerry McGovern engaged all the agents on how to improve their agency websites based on what today's customer is looking for in today's ever-changing market place. Congress sponsors including Delta Air Lines, Continental, United, America West Airlines, Amadeus, Galileo and Hilton Hotels were just a few of the preferred suppliers that hosted the Supplier Networking Luncheons where agents had key networking time with key suppliers.

‘Real Solutions' business sessions rounded out the event, where agents had the opportunity to choose from 4 different sessions designed to focus on improving specific areas of their business - from sales to website design, and from winning back the ‘do-it-yourself-er', to agency operations.

The ‘Celebrating the Leaders' Awards Program saw top performers rewarded. The Franchise Owner of the Year Award system-wide was awarded to Mitchell Hicks, owner of UNIGLOBE McIntosh Travel in Newnan, Georgia. The President's Award for largest revenue volume in the USA Region was awarded to Dick Turner, owner of UNIGLOBE Professional Travel, in Danville, CA; and the recipient of the Chairman's award for highest revenue system-wide was Irv Wight, owner of UNIGLOBE Advance Travel, in Vancouver, BC.

UNIGLOBE owners, managers and agents also had the opportunity to see up-close and review state-of-the-art technology applications in the Technology Alley featuring Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre Travel Network, GDSX and Cornerstone Information Systems.

One of the most moving and memorable moments of the Congress was the remembrance of UNIGLOBE Western Canada Regional President Laurie Radloff and the fundraising efforts done in her honor. The Laurie Radloff Foundation was created to raise funds for Girls Learning Centers in Macenta, Guinea, West Africa. Through the efforts of the UNIGLOBE Western Canada region and Congress staff team, and the unparalleled generosity of all the attendees - the prize donations from many of the UNIGLOBE preferred suppliers were raffled off and raised nearly $40,000 towards the building of a new center. 

"Our Congress events have an outstanding reputation for delivering value for our attendees.  We gathered together in Las Vegas to celebrate the remarkable accomplishment of providing 23 years of attentive, reliable and professional travel services to clients from all around the world," said Charlwood.

About The UNIGLOBE Group
The UNIGLOBE Group is the world's largest single brand travel franchise organization with 750 locations in more than 24 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Operating under a well-recognized brand name, UNIGLOBE travel agencies specialize in providing travel services to small-to-medium sized corporate accounts and to leisure travelers. The UNIGLOBE Group has its U. S. headquarters based in Irvine, CA and the world headquarters in Vancouver, B.C.