Written By: Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC
Living in San Diego has some amazing benefits. The beaches, restaurants, weather and open land are just a few but one of the benefits that we find enjoyable is being just down the street from one of our great clients, Avoya Travel. Upon receiving news that Avoya had brought on a new Vice President, we took it upon ourselves to learn more about Mr. Jeff Lavender and what plans Avoya has for this new addition to their already stellar team.
Andy Ogg and I made a visit with Brad Anderson, Co-President of Avoya and Jeff Lavender, the newly appointed Vice President of Avoya in their offices in Vista. It was not only a pleasure just to meet Jeff and spend some time with Brad, but it was great to learn more about Jeff’s new role at Avoya and the experience he has brought with him.
Jeff comes from a very robust background in the travel industry with more than 20 years of global experience in varying positions, both domestically and internationally. His extensive background includes leadership roles in some of the largest travel companies. He has worn many titles in his career but has had such responsibilities as driving global sales and product development, all while enhancing relationships with supplier partners and customers.
Jeff began his career in this fantastic industry as a travel agent and shared that he always knew the travel business was where he was supposed to be. Some 20 years later he has found a perfect fit as part of the Avoya team. “I led a strategy for joint ventures and acquisitions for Travelocity and just after that, did some consulting work for Avoya. I love to help companies grow and Avoya is an established brand with an impeccable reputation, the opportunities are endless,” spoke Lavender.
When we asked Brad about Jeff’s role he shared, “Jeff is bringing to Avoya the right expertise to continue to improve the customer experiences of our mutual guests. He has experience with big enterprise. Using some of those best practices and putting them in place at Avoya will bring a substantial increase in the growth and success of the Avoya Network.”
“Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network have done very well under our Shared Success™ model. Our award-winning, patented Live Leads™ program has played a huge role in their unrivaled success and is the travel industry’s best and most successful lead distribution program matching travel professionals with vacation-seeking clients. Jeff’s travel industry experience will be integral in enhancing this and other programs benefiting Independent Agencies, supplier partners, and travelers.” said Brad Anderson.
In closing, there is not doubt that everyone at Avoya Travel is thrilled to have Jeff as part of the team. Brad said it well, “With Jeff’s tremendous experience, vision and expertise, we knew he would be a great fit for Avoya in helping us take our brand to the next level.”