Kim Riches
Extraordinary personal service is a given when I am planning travel for top tier executives. For me, that starts with being highly organized and thinking through every step of each trip in advance. It includes simple things such as double checking on hotel reservations and making sure that the reservation includes a notation if a client will be arriving late, or arranging for an early check-in time if they're arriving early in the morning.
It also means that I always have a plan B for when things don't go as planned due to weather, strikes or other events outside of our control, or, as often is the case, in the event that my client’s travel plans change. This often happens with business travelers, so I always am on alert. For example, a client once emailed me from his flight at midnight, requesting a helicopter so he and his associate could avoid the planned long drive to San Moritz. I was able to procure one within the hour, cancel his car and driver and arrange for a greeter meet them at the airport and whisk them off.
I absolutely adore my work and have been fortunate to have spent the majority of my career as a corporate travel agent, specializing in top tier executive travel. I got my start in the industry when I was 15 years old and worked an after-school job as a receptionist in a travel agency. I have been in the travel business ever since. At 18, I got my first full-time job as an assistant to a corporate travel agent in New York City. Then, at the age of 25, I then started my own corporate travel business, and I have never looked back.
My clients know I am there for them 24/7, and my personal relationships with key suppliers help me be responsive and ensure that they will be treated like the VIPs that they are every step of the way.