The Mark Travel Corporation Employee Reviews about "travel industry"

Pros

LME's core values are constantly reinforced in everyday activities. If you live by the core values you will be successful in this organization. There is a lot of opportunity to grow within the organization and I've been promoted twice (Specialist to Associate Manager to Manager) since 2014. The employees are very respectful of each other and like to have fun. Wellness is heavily promoted and HR does an amazing job to encourage work/life balance, even promoting non-work related activities during normal business hours. Vacation/Illness/Personal time is accrued quicker than any company I know. 401k is competitive and generous.

Cons

Salaries in the Travel Industry tend to be lower-than-average compared to other industries that hire college graduates and this company follows that trend.

Pros

This place is a blast to work at! I love collaborating with other people here and the HR department does a really fantastic job of making sure they have the right people in the right roles. It's such a pleasure to be working with other people who are so passionate about their work. Most of all I love how smart and knowledgeable my coworkers are about the travel industry. There's a lot to learn and I'm still getting there but my coworkers are such a valuable resource that I'm not worried at all.

Cons

Lots to learn and always something to do. Not necessarily a con but people should be prepared for how big the travel industry is and understand that they'll have to learn a lot. As I said earlier though, look to your coworkers for help because they are invaluable resource.

Pros

I enjoy what I do and having the ability to combine my career passion with my one of my favorite hobbies (travel) is part of what keeps me excited every day. The Mark Travel Corporation has outstanding core values that are truly ingrained in all aspects of the business. The wellness program offers amazing opportunities to Be Well, Work Well, Live Well. I feel that my wellness & well-being are genuinely important to the owners of the company. There are many opportunities to promote from within and work on team projects outside of your own department. Travel discounts are a great benefit - I've personally used them with friends and family numerous times during my time here to visit some fantastic places.

Cons

The travel industry is constantly changing and fast paced - if you don't enjoy change it may not be the right place for you.

Pros

I have never felt so appreciated at a job. They regularly tell me how happy they are with my work and really make me feel like an important member of the team. I never feel nervous about going to my supervisors for help, questions, or advice. I even felt very comfortable during the hiring process. My recruiter Lindsay made me feel at ease and welcome at the company even before I was hired. Even from the beginning of my recruitment, it was clear that this was a nice place to work with good people. In general, the atmosphere of the entire company is that of togetherness, and even across a large corporation, they tend to make us feel like one team. Some other highlights: Great benefits - I've spoken with co-workers and friends who have had other jobs who tell me benefits don't get much better than this. The premiums haven't been raised in 7 years, and this is largely due to their awesome wellness program. Wellness program - Speaking of the wellness program, I love it! You can meet with their company wellness ambassador on a bi-weekly basis about anything health-wise you'd like to improve. They even have wellness day in the summer with good, healthy food, chair massages, etc. They're very much about all-over wellness - mind, body and soul. That's why one of the core values is "Be well, work well, live well". Good atmosphere - Like at any company, you'll have people who will complain and bring you down a bit, but for the most part people love their jobs here and have a good outlook. The supervisors and leads are dedicated to making your job more enjoyable. They care about the company and take things seriously, but also like to have fun. Tuition reimbursement - If you're planning on furthering your degree like I am, this is a great benefit. They offer much more than most companies do, but it's merit-based so make sure you get good grades and they'll cover 100% of a class up to a certain amount. Vacation time - You pretty much can't beat the vacation time that is offered here. After being with the company for 8 years as a full-time employee, you get 5 weeks paid vacation as well as 3 floating holidays. Most of my coworkers with this much time off can't even use it all. They're a travel company, so they very much encourage you to get out there by giving you the time to do it. Room for advancement - The company is very much about providing you the tools to further yourself in your career. They would rather promote within than higher from the outside.

Cons

The only things for the most part that come to mind are things that happen at any company, like having to get used to coworker's differing attitudes/personalities. I'd also say the salaries aren't superb, especially as a college graduate, but that can also be partly attributed to our bad economy. Also the travel industry is just recently getting back on its feet, so as the company grows, they are willing to be more generous with payroll, especially if you're willing to work hard and participate in things. My salary already went up after 6 months because my work ethic was recognized.

Pros

Bill La Macchia Sr. is an icon in the travel industry - the real deal. Sincerely dedicated to his customers and employees.

Cons

Remainder of executive leadership is hit or miss. Travel industry is extremely competitive, and some solid managers that helped transform the company have left over the past few years.

Pros

Travel benefits are abundant. Generous time-off system to enable travel. Prefer to hire from within. Large organization with lots of opportunities for advancement (mainly Milwaukee corporate office). Teams are well assembled and management cares about team and individual success.

Cons

As with many jobs in the travel industry, wages are low for the talent and skill levels. Again, as with much of the travel industry, jobs are not secure. Changes in consumer purchasing habits often impact vacation travel first and hardest. Upper management often fragmented on direction. Technology and advertising providers are mainly in-house (Trisept Solutions and BVK) and overtaxed. This often led to ivory-tower decisions and long waits to get solutions. If you work in a satellite office, opportunities for advancement are not nearly as abundant as Milwaukee.

Pros

1. Leadership training is provided for management (Strategic Coach). Though time-consuming, this is a rare thing to get these days and the tools provided have proven valuable and useful long after leaving the company. 2. Great work-life balance with good vacation time. 3. Bill LaMacchia Sr. deserves his reputation for being a very kind and respected figure in the industry. He makes it a point to look you in the eye and greet all levels of employees (often by name). He treats everyone there with respect, and seems to really care about each individual employee. 4. A wellness program is in place – which is supported by senior management. 5. Discounts on travel are offered to employees. 6. This is a great company for recent college grads to get entry-level experience. The pay is low – but you will get work experience for your resume that you can use to kick-start your career.

Cons

1. It's a boys club. Though there are more women than men working there, I watched men get promoted very quickly (faster than female coworkers who were also high performers) – leading me to the belief that men get promoted faster. 2. Getting a promotion is difficult - and even when promised, you’re asked to perform the duties of the new role for months before they will compensate you for it. 3. Some of the senior leadership at the company are not respectful of their employees and create an environment of fear and tension among their teams. I saw this as being especially true on the Funjet team. 4. Salaries here are low. (Though in fairness, this is supposedly a common reality of those working in the travel industry.) 5. Overall the company is filled with bureaucracies and bottlenecks. Innovation is demanded, but employees are not always given the time or resources to execute. Thus, it is VERY difficult to be innovative on a larger scale at Mark Travel.

Pros

Some advancement opportunities exist, travel industry, exciting products, great people to work with, and solid history within their competitive set.

Cons

Poor benefits, salaries low, poor top leadership, lack of innovation, inability to change with times/industry, too many long-term employees want to keep status quo, not much reason to stay there anymore, reputation has become poor within industry, executive direction is sporadic and ineffective. They continue to lose business units at an alarming pace and they are no longer stable in the a very unstable industry.