Travel Talk: Cheyenne Travel Helps Boost Local Economy in a Worldwide Industry

Larry Kopke probably has countless anecdotes about how a travel agent can whoop up on one of those online giants that promise cheaper rates. But one in particular stands out. As owner/manager of Cheyenne Travel, Kopke recalls his favorite David and Goliath story:

Traveler’s Treasures: Larry Kopke, owner of Cheyenne Travel & Please Go Away Tours, works in his office amidst a vast array of treasures from all over the world. “My wife and I have traveled all over the world in our many years together, and have managed to accumulate quite a collection of souvenirs,” Kopke says. “Sometimes we can stow them away in our suitcases, but many times we’ve had to arrange for them to be shipped back to the U.S. to meet us here.”

A client asked his travel agency to arrange a $40,000 family cruise. When he learned that Cheyenne Travel was $1,300 higher than Expedia, he wanted to know why. It was very simple. Expedia had not included all the hidden charges.

“This online quote would have been like buying a car without tires,” Kopke explained. “When we compared apples to apples, we actually saved him the $15 Expedia booking fee, and were also able to obtain for him $400 worth of shipboard credits, wine vouchers, onboard photo credits and four travel totes, all of which were not available through Expedia. Needless to say, He was pleased.”

To top it off, Paula Axman of Cheyenne Travel discovered the cruise line had an even better offer than the one that existed when she beat Expedia the first time. She seized the opportunity and saved the client an additional $5,280.

“If you make arrangements on your own, you are exactly that – on your own,” Kopke said. “You have nobody to talk to, nobody to answer your questions, nobody to monitor prices.

“Everything you see advertised anywhere on the internet, TV or other news media is available in our office at the same price or better, guaranteed, with the exception of airline tickets,” Kopke said, noting the constant fluctuation in airfares.

While Kopke understands some segments of the economy are busting out from the bottom, he said Cheyenne business continues its decades-long growth.

Professional People: Cheyenne Travel employees Marilyn Kopke and Paula Axman work on planning vacations for their clients. “At any given moment, we could be planning dozens and dozens of different trips all around the world,” owner Larry Kopke says. “We provide guided tours, cruise line vacations, and so much more. If you can think of it, we can plan it.”

“The economy has never been better for those 55 and over in the Midwest,” Kopke noted. “People are rewarding themselves; they have spendable income. They decided they want to see the world. And once they get a taste of it, they want more.

“This is our 36th year of planning tours to Alaska,” Kopke added. “And this year we are taking more than before, at $5,000 a person. There are 87 going. This indicates that the economy isn’t bad for everyone.”

Cheyenne Travel, 1600 Main, is experiencing three pillars of growth:

• Personally escorted travel by someone representing Cheyenne Travel; this was a niche product that hadn’t existed in this area before Cheyenne opened Aug. 1, 1972;
• Independent travel that Cheyenne arranges for individuals, couples and small groups; and
• Private label programs for organizations that incorporate personally escorted and independent travel; Cheyenne collaborates with such entities as banks, museums and the Public Broadcasting System on these packages.

The private label packages are one way Cheyenne Travel is a “substantial silent partner in Great Bend’s business community,” Kopke pointed out. “For example, a western Kansas woman traveled with us and liked it. We introduced her to Krista Smith at American State Bank.”

The woman was so impressed with the bank’s American Eagle travel program that she wanted to be eligible to participate. So, she withdrew money from her out-of-town bank and invested it in Great Bend.

“And the added benefit,” Kopke noted, “is this woman drives to town a day before the scheduled trip and stays at a motel, buys food and fuel and does the same before returning home. This is that silent benefit and it is certainly not an isolated case… We are glad we can give back to the community.”

Wall of Fame: Larry and Marilyn Kopke have helped thousands of people take the vacations of their lifetimes over the many years they’ve been in the travel business. Many of their customers are so impressed, they come back time and time again to let the Kopke’s plan their vacations for them. “Once a couple or an individual has taken a certain number of trips with us, we post their photo on our Wall of Fame,” owner Larry Kopke says. “We have even more customers that are in this elite group than what our wall will allow, which says a great deal about the customer service we provide.”

Cheyenne Travel has three employees; it had as many as 13 at one time but Kopke said they are doing more business with three than with 13 because of the internet.

“The internet has been the greatest thing that ever happened to us,” Kopke said. “You can go online and research, and actually see a cabin on a ship. It is a magnificent research tool. People will research on their own and then come in and say ‘we want to do this. Do you agree?’ Then we can make the arrangements for them.”

The internet also allows Cheyenne Travel to be involved in “webinars,” which in the old days were referred to as videoconferences. The agency was recently involved in one about the British Isles with representatives of Pawtucket, R.I., and Kansas City, Mo.

The agency’s trademark slogan, “Please Go Away,” has received much national attention through the years. Paul Harvey mentioned it three times and national publications have picked up on it.

“We do a lot of marketing with it, and we have other travel agencies selling our Please Go Away Vacations,” Kopke said. “The slogan is worth its weight in gold.”

Cheyenne has traveled a long way from its beginnings in the back part of the building that now houses Dawson Jewelers, 1301 Main. Fritz Stoskopf built the building in 1972 and operated a travel agency. Kopke, a Pawnee Rock native who was practicing law at the time, mentioned to Stoskopf in passing that if he ever wanted to sell, let him know. Stoskopf contacted him six months later.

Cheyenne Travel Agency 1600 Main Street, Great Bend, KS 67530 phone: 620-792-2458 www.travelpleasegoaway.com

“We have grown through the years and have a repeat factor of 94 percent. One couple went on more than 70 tours with us; many are close behind.”

The fringe benefit is the travel agency has allowed the Kopkes to keep a promise they made to themselves when they married in 1961. “We vowed to go somewhere once a year; we have kept that promise,” Kopke said. “Even when we had to sleep in the car because we had no money.”

 

Tight Schedule or Budget?
Support the Local Economy with a Stay-cation!

If your schedule and pocketbook won’t allow a week or two away from home, Cris Collier has a suggestion: Become a hometown tourist. As president of the Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau, Collier is keenly aware of the many attractions in Barton and surrounding counties and encourages other central Kansans to discover their own communities.

“Sometimes people don’t know what’s in their own backyard,” Collier said. “They just assume it cannot be fun or educational or worthwhile. There are many Great Bend residents who have never been to Cheyenne Bottoms or the Historical Village.

The funny thing is, if these attractions were farther away, vacationers might make more of an effort to visit them, she added.

“People have to get into the mindset of ‘let me be a hometown visitor,’” Collier commented. For example, Collier noted, people in Stafford County might be interested in what is going on in Hoisington and vice versa. A drive between the two communities would guide the motorist along the National Wetlands & Wildlife Scenic Byway.

Mini-vacations not only support the local economy, they are friendlier to the family budget, Collier pointed out. “Stay-cations don’t cost as much as other trips so you have money to treat yourself at home,” Collier said. “You can go out to eat, go to the water park; and you are not paying extra for lodging or fuel.”

Examples of local and area points of interest include, but are certainly not limited to: the building murals, downtown quilt walk, B-29 Memorial and Oil & Gas Museum, all in Great Bend; Heartland Farm near Pawnee Rock; Santa Fe Trail Center and Fort Larned, both at Larned; Barbed Wire Museum at La Crosse; the Depression mural at the Hoisington Post Office; Garden of Eden at Lucas; House of Memories Museum at Ellsworth; the Ellinwood Tunnels; and historic buildings in Stafford.

For more information or for stay-cation ideas, contact the Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau, 620-792-2750.
www.visitgreatbend.com