Direct Travel advisor Sue Pechtel celebrates 50 years in travel industry

Direct Travel advisor Sue Pechtel was celebrated at a get together of some 90 friends, suppliers, clients and relatives last week at the Royal Glenora Club as she celebrated her 50th anniversary in the travel industry.

According to a press release, Pechtel was born in Victoria, where she started her career at Blaney’s Travel in 1974. Two years later she moved to Edmonton, where she would later meet and marry travel industry colleague Bill Pechtel of Globetrotter Travel.

Today she recalls days of early, clunky computers (“Resevec!”), hand-writing tickets, stamping brochures, and a lot of paperwork. The Pechtels eventually sold their agency to Vision Travel, which is today part of the North America-wide Direct Travel.

“I still sell a lot of everything – even some corporate travel – but I really enjoy selling cruises,” she says. “Bill and I have had some wonderful trips: Peru, South Africa, the Mekong, Australia and Dubai all come to mind. And we’ve escorted about 40 cruise groups, including acting as hosts on some Virtuoso departures.”

Are retirement plans in Pechtel’s future?  Not yet. “You could say I work seven days a week – but I love it,” she stated.

The couple’s favourite hobby is enjoying fine food and wine – yet another reason to enjoy cruising. Plus: “My clients won’t let me retire!” she said.

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