SUSAN PERASON LOVES TO TRAVEL. In fact, she makes Vasco da Gama look like a bit of a homebody. The Portuguese explorer spent a lifetime on the high seas beginning in 1497. He went to India three times, African once and plenty of places in between.
But he never went to nursing school. Never raised four kids. Didn't start a travel business dedicated to helping women travel the world. On those points, Pearson, 56, is miles ahead of him - and most people.
After four years running Broad Horizons, Pearson has just sold the business to the London offices of Uniglobe Instant Travel Inc. Have no doubt, though. She will continue to be involved in the business.
"I love travelling, and I started this business with a mission to inspire women to travel," she says. "Generally speaking, women of my generation spent a lot of their lives raising kids or working outside the home. Either way, they didn't travel and spend time with other women."
Pearson founded the business with the help of her daughter, Meredith. It was based in Corunna, where Pearson had run a children's clothing store for 10 years before selling it.
"I just figured it was now or never if I ever wanted to start the travel business. Our first trip was to Ireland with 35 women, and we've been all over the world since then."
The trips are more than a standard package tour. The women often meet prior to their trip to start making friends. And they get together after their trips for reunion events, such as a recent Men Overboard cruise along the St. Clair River. At the post-trip party, they exchange photos and memories with their fellow travellers. Participants all receive a DVD with photos taken by Pearson and other organizers who travel with the groups.
Many of the women are widowed or divorced, but Pearson says about half have husbands at home who are not interested in travelling.
In the last four years, Pearson has organized dozens of trips and gone on many of them herself as a tour escort. From Mexico to Peru, Scotland to Italy, she has taken women around the world.
This spring, she began speaking with Mike Foster, co-owner of Uniglobe in London, about incorporating Broad Horizons into the larger Uniglobe fold.
"We're taking what Susan has built and offering more trips, more experiences to more women," says Bonnie Hinschberger, program director. Broad Horizons will maintain its tongue-in-cheek name within Uniglobe and will be operated from the London offices. However, clients of more than 80 Uniglobe offices across the country will have access to trip information, helping Pearson with her goal of offering trips to as many women as possible.
"We like to say we make girls out of women. They really love the experience," Pearson says.
BROAD HORIZONS
(A Division of Uniglobe Instant Travel Inc.)
Women-only travel service
Established 2005
3 employees (within Uniglobe)
National market
www.broadhorizonsnetwork.com
Written by: Christopher Clark
http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/Business-London-Magazine/BL_July_09/2009070801/
