LaMacchia: A name with a lot of history in the travel industry.
This legacy name is making moves and innovating once again; this time as LaMacchia Jet Stream, a new host agency with the integrity and family feel that’s synonymous with the name LaMacchia.
Behind the slick new website and pro-level social media presence, LaMacchia Jet Stream humbly began in Tom and Monica Karnes’ home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in March 2020.
“Right at our dining room table, that’s where it started,” Tom says.
First, a Quick History
Tom and Monica are the husband-and-wife team behind LaMacchia Jet Stream, as well as their travel agency, LaMacchia Travel, and their luxury romance division, LovinAway. LaMacchia Travel’s roots go all the way back to the early 1900s when Eugenio LaMacchia sold steamship travel to Italian citizens wanting to immigrate to the U.S. His service went beyond that, as he also offered things like translations and help with immigration matters. But LaMacchia Travel was formally founded in 1931 by Eugenio’s son Edmund who, with the support of his wife, Emma, became one of the first travel agencies in the state of Wisconsin to add air travel to the rest of its travel products. Edmund and Emma later welcomed their son Eugene to the family business. Then came Bill LaMacchia in the early 1960s who a few years later would go on to start The Mark Travel Corp.
Tom joined the family business in the early 1980s, working with the same focus on service and value the agency had always been known for. In 2009, Tom and Monica purchased LaMacchia Travel, passing the family business on to the third generation of owners. LovinAway launched in 2016 and in late 2020 came LaMacchia Jet Stream, just before LaMacchia Travel’s 90th anniversary in January 2021.
Why a Host Agency, and Why Now?
“We wanted to build a community,” Monica says.
In March 2020, like many Americans, Monica and Tom were working from home, feeling the doom and gloom that was reverberating throughout the world and the travel industry. “And we thought, why don’t we start a host agency?” Monica says.
So they brought it to their team at LaMacchia Travel, who welcomed it with a lot of excitement.
But first, Tom wanted to ensure that everyone knew they were still an important part of the business. “For our frontline agents, I wanted to make sure they knew that as LaMacchia Travel, we’re going to be there for them long term,” he says.
The marketing and administrative side of the business was ready.
“They were really excited to build it. Within 72 hours, Nolan Flynn, our marketing and operations manager, had a logo and a name. He was the one who came up with the name ‘Jet Stream,’” Tom says.
A jet stream is a strong and fast flow of wind — and the agents who make up LaMacchia Jet Stream will create their own collective force together, with the host agency offering “the support the modern travel advisor really needs to soar in this industry,” according to their website.
“We want everyone who joins Jet Stream to be behind each other, to support each other and to provide their experience, knowledge and mentorship collectively,” Tom says.
Ready for Launch
In December 2020, just nine months after that dining room table idea, LaMacchia Jet Stream was ready to accept membership applications. That’s right — there is a vetting process to join the agency.
“We want to know every one of our contractors by first name. We want to know all of them and we want to be able to know where we fit in to help them,” Tom says.
“It’s a true partnership,” Monica adds. And implementing an application process can help Monica and Tom ensure that each advisor they welcome to the business is a good fit and just as dedicated as they are.
So who is the right fit for LaMacchia Jet Stream?
“The [advisors] who have a passion for travel, for what they do and of course for their clients,” Monica says.
She said they’re looking for trendsetters. Modern agents. Forward-thinkers. Aficionados. Even up-and-coming agents.
“In the last five to seven years, it’s been so exciting to see this new genre of travel agents, the ones who can work anywhere, the ones that are embracing social media,” says Tom.
And LaMacchia Jet Stream is set up to embrace agents like that — agents who want to pack up and travel for a month at a time — because it doesn’t charge monthly membership fees. The advisor portal makes a jet-set lifestyle even more attainable, putting everything a LaMacchia Jet Stream advisor needs in one spot.
If an agency is looking for a new opportunity, Monica, Tom and the team are looking for that, too.
“We’re looking for the agencies who want to eliminate the whole ownership thing and just sell,” Tom says. The solution for that is Jet Stream Agency Solutions, which includes enhanced agency reporting like subagent reports along with access to industry events and training.
Full Stream Ahead
Monica and Tom see a hopeful future for the travel industry and clearly see the role of a travel advisor as key to that future, otherwise they would not have entertained the idea of launching a host agency when they did. They credit their ability to dive headfirst into this new venture to having the agility of a small business and the creativity of their team.
“We’re so blessed to have people on our team who believe in what we do,” Tom says.
Monica agrees. “There are people behind us who are super creative and bring so much to the table, so many great ideas,” she says.
So with a supportive team, a clear vision for the business and a never-ending passion for travel, LaMacchia Jet Stream is ready for 2021 and beyond.
“We’re going to give it our best, we’re going to do our best, we’re going to do it with integrity and stand behind our word to our members who want to join us,” says Monica. “And that’s the most important thing.”
Originally appeared in the spring 2021 issue of The Compass Magazine.
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