Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
In an August 4 business piece, the New York Times cited a report by Forrester Research which claimed that a number of travel-minded customers, frustrated by complex Web sites, have abandoned online booking and re-embraced the services offered by travel agencies. Shane Paquette, manager of En Route Travel in Pacific Palisades since 1998, verified this trend on Tuesday. ’People are being bombarded with different rates and specials and trying to sift through everything to find the best deal,’ Paquette said. ‘But it’s not just about getting the best deal. There’s also the experiential value you need when planning a trip. I like to consider us more as professional advisors. We go out, we experience these places. We’re offering services and knowledge and a skill set that the average person does not have.’ In October 2002, the Palisadian-Post profiled En Route Travel at a time when many Americans were still reluctant to travel following the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Paquette and En Route employee Gloria Welles (whose expertise includes hiking and walking vacations) were listed among the country’s 70 top ‘super agents’ in Travel and Leisure magazine, and Paquette was honored in Cond’ Nast Traveler. He also talked enthusiastically about dating a Brazilian law student, whom he would visit in South America, and skiing the slopes of Europe and New Zealand. In the intervening years, the travel business has been down and up and, at present, down again. ’It’s definitely a weak time,’ Paquette said, ‘but if you have the money and you feel comfortable, right now is the time because there are so many deals for luxury trips. You can pay 30 or 40 percent less this year for the exact same year a year ago.’ The economic meltdown may also prove more damaging to the industry than 9/11. ‘This is probably worse because that was a psychological blow,’ Paquette explained. ‘We had to give people the confidence to get on a plane again. This is more lasting. It’s more like, Wow! Maybe we should rethink our lifestyle.’ Paquette noted that 2004 through 2008 was a robust time for business. ‘Up until August of last year,’ he said, ‘every year was better than the one before it. For the past six months, it’s been very lean, just like in every industry at the moment. ’Our business has been affected, but the number of passengers and departures hasn’t been affected much. We just haven’t had the growth that we’ve seen.’ Originally from Montreal, Shane’s mother, Carol Paquette, moved to Pacific Palisades in 1976 and founded En Route in 1984. She still works at her agency, which was located on Via de la Paz for 17 years before moving to its current Sunset address (between Swarthmore and Monument). Shane graduated from Santa Clara University with a marketing degree in 1995, then spent three years post-college traveling the world. Carol told the Post, ‘When I opened the agency, he was 12 and going to Corpus Christi. We lived in the Highlands and I opened the agency on Via so he could come over after school. I guess he was exposed to travel all his life. However, I wasn’t expecting him to join the travel business.’ When he returned from his post-college travels, Carol asked her son to help her create a promotional ad, as part of En Route’s affiliation with Virtuoso (a consortium of top U.S. travel agencies). ‘It was supposed to take a month but he never left,’ Carol said. ‘He loves it. And I’m thrilled because he’s young and he’s so much better with the technology than I am. He has also brought in a lot of good people to work for us.’ En Route’s well-traveled team includes Welles, Arlene Fink (a Palisadian who has been at the agency for 18 years) locals Christy Greer and Candy Overland, Amber Ringler, Anna April-Ross, Caitlin Dobson and Terry Bahri. Shane’s sister, Laurie Paquette, works from her South Bay home and specializes in group cruises. So as we exit summer, where did Palisadians travel? ’Everywhere,’ Shane Paquette said. ‘Europe, Laos, Tahiti has been popular, so has cruising the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Australia, New Zealand. Vietnam and Cambodia have become popular. Hawaii is always a favorite.’ This fall, he said, ‘We’ve been booking a lot of Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Napa Valley.’ Family celebrations and multi-generational travel are increasingly popular, said Paquette, noting that ‘cruises are very popular, especially given the dollar’s woes.’ He recently returned from a junket to visit the Ranch at Rock Creek, a Montana destination opening this winter. ‘I also found a phenomenal ski resort called Kicking Horse in British Columbia.’ And speaking of family, whatever became of Paquette’s Brazilian girlfriend? Well, Bianca and Shane, married since 2004, have two boys, Cody, 3, and Nico, 3 months, and reside in Malibu. ‘My wife and I were in Australia in 2005, South Africa last October,’ said Paquette, who, despite settling down, still has places to see. ‘I would like to go to India and Bhutan.’ En Route Travel, 15221 Sunset Blvd. Contact: (310) 459-9955; info@enroutetravel.com.
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