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First In Service Travel

First In Service Travel

Travel Weekly23-06-2025
2024 sales: $359 million
Previous ranking: 45
Employees: 76 full-time
444 Madison Ave., 30th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 398-6555
Website
$359 million4576 full-time444 Madison Ave., 30th FloorNew York, NY 10022Phone: (212) 398-6555
Executives
CEO/CO-FOUNDER: Fernando Gonzalez
CHAIRWOMAN/CO-FOUNDER: Erika Reategui
CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER: Gina Gabbard
COO: Robert Blair
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Awilda Gonzalez
MANAGING DIRECTOR, EU/U.K.: Barry Whittaker
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CANADA: Willa Griffin
COMPANY FACTS
* Privately held.
* Owned by Erika Reategui (51%) and Fernando Gonzalez (49%) since 1991.
* Global network of advisors and affiliates in nine offices in Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.
* Works with 216 independent contractors.
* Sales: 34% business, 34% leisure, 21% entertainment, 11% group.
* A member of Virtuoso since 2015 and a Forbes Travel Guide-endorsed agency.
DEVELOPMENTS
* Hired a new leadership team to lead reorganization of all departments.
* The partnerships/supplier-relations team reorganized and strategically recruited an international team based in each time zone where the company has offices. All partnerships, including air, are now part of the global partnerships team regardless of segment.
* Launched its One Global Network (1GN) philosophy with four company pillars: first culture, fanatical service, frontierless and fiercely independent.
* Launched F1S Around the Sun, 24/7 support for advisors in all time zones.
* Launched the F1S entertainment hotel program in Q1 2025, with more than 250 hotels around the world, with enhanced commission and amenities catering to the entertainment market.
* Introduced its 501(c)(3) charitable arm in the first quarter of 2025.
* Hired a new marketing team in Q1 of 2025, relaunching B2B digital monthly communications segmented by country in native languages, allowing for global and regional partner promotions.
LOOKING AHEAD
* Expanding in Canada with the opening of the Montreal office.
* Introducing several culture and partnership initiatives, including advisor master classes for continued learning, supporting advisors' growth and think tanks to foster greater engagement between advisors and supplier partners.
* Continuing focus and investment on IC growth in the luxury leisure and entertainment verticals.
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