Travel agencies join forces, keep staffs.(Travel)(Eugene-based Journeys by Ambassador combines resources with San Jose firm)(Company overview)

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

Journeys by Ambassador, a 20-year-old Eugene-based travel agency, has merged with Peak Travel Group of San Jose, Calif.

The two privately held companies will retain their own identities, operations and staffs, Vivienne Kouba, CEO of Journeys by Ambassador, and Tyler Peak, president and owner of Peak Travel, said Wednesday.

"They're two profitable companies, so why mess it up," Kouba said.

"I don't want to change things," Peak said. "They're doing everything real well."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Journeys by Ambassador has about 55 employees and does $43 million in annual sales. Peak Travel has about 90 employees and does $73 million in annual sales.

No layoffs have occurred at Journeys, nor are any expected to occur, Kouba said.

"It's not like we're a distressed business that needed to be sold," she said. "We're strong and financially solvent. Now we're combining resources and making a larger regional presence."

Together, the combined companies will be able to negotiate for better rates with airlines, car rental companies and hotels, she said.

Each company has its own niche in the travel business. Journeys by Ambassador focuses on leisure travel, while Peak Travel focuses on corporate travel.

Peak Travel gains "great agent talent" from Journeys by Ambassador, Tyler Peak said.

"It's hard to find great travel agents," he said. "They have a terrific group of people."

Journeys by Ambassador gains some Internet expertise and tools that Peak Travel has developed, he said. For example, the company has devised proprietary software for group travel, as well as automated quality control that helps bring the cost of each transaction down, Peak said.

And if agents are spending less time on behind-the-scenes travel transactions, it means they have more time to work with customers, he said.

Journeys by Ambassador was founded in 1987. In recent years, as the popularity of Internet-based travel booking grew, traditional travel agencies suffered, and Journeys realized it had to grow, Kouba said.

"We realized to stay viable we had to get larger," she said.

So the company started acquiring other agencies, and today has offices in Salem, Lake Oswego, Beaverton and Bend.

Similarly, Peak Travel, founded in 1996, has grown by acquiring smaller agencies that were forced by market pressures to sell out.

After using Internet-based booking, many travelers have come back to traditional agencies for the service and convenience, Kouba said.

"There's been a bit of pendulum swing," she said. "In the corporate arena, there are people who are paid far too well to be booking their own travel or spending time researching things online."

Similarly, leisure travelers who don't want to try to wade through a glut of information on the Internet appreciate the personal service and knowledge provided by a traditional travel agency, she said.