Editor’s note: This story is part of Women in Business 2012, a special advertising section produced by Wednesday Journal and Forest Park Review. Click here to view the entire Women in Business Section.
Lydia I. Villanueva-Soto, president and owner of Tan Travel, has being in the travel industry for over twenty years. She has a passion for her clients that the internet or a computer cannot provide. She works with her clients’ needs, and is committed to providing lasting memories. Lydia works to build relationships with her customers, recognizing “they are the bread and butter of my business, and what drives me to work hard every day.”
The travel industry was at its peak before 9/11 and nowadays travel agencies are few and far between. With the rise of online booking engines, some folks have decided to go that route. But lately she’s noticed more and more people are coming back into the agency and asking for her personal opinion. The internet is great for research, but Lydia and her customers know that nothing beats face-to-face communication. Especially when planning something as important as your destination wedding or a dream vacation, you cannot always trust what a computer website might say or not say.
“When Lydia was a little girl growing up in the west side of Chicago, she would spend days looking through encyclopedias and atlases dreaming about one day being able to go and visit all the different places and cultures around the world. After high school, she decided to take a travel and tourism class, and twenty-two years later is the owner of her own travel agency. She still haven’t been able to go to all the places she dreamed of, but at least she gets to book trips for other people and see the world through their eyes.
When asked what the favorite part of her job is, Lydia says that number one has to be interacting with her clients—both old and new. She enjoys getting to know people and learning about them as individuals. As a “people person” she craves conversation and enjoys owning a business that allows her to make and adjust her hours to spend more time with family and do the other things she loves—like cooking.
Tan Travel is located at 964 S Oak Park Ave, Oak Park, IL. Their website is TanTrvl.com. Their phone is 708-386-6363, and fax is 708-386-6471.