Another business that hasn't laid anyone off...

MTA Travel - Mobile Travel Agents - is a progressive travel management and life experience company.

So what do they do? And how are they beating the odds in this recession? Here's Managing Director, Roy Merricks:

We pioneered home working for travel consultants in Australia and after almost 10 years we are in the top 2% of travel agencies in Australia and now have more than 170MTA mobile consultants, comprising former agency managers and international and domestic specialists with exceptional product and destination knowledge.

What is your attitude towards the recession?

The recession is real. To us it represents the economy running at 95% instead of 105%We pay attention to our clients and suppliers and can only be guided by them. We are of course mindful of, but pay less attention to the media when it comes to our take on the effect of the GFC on our business and clients. It has never been a better time to travel, with amazing offers we haven’t seen the like of before.

Do you have a recession plan?

We aren’t really doing a whole lot differently to our usual business plan. We are mindful however of changes in our clients attitudes and travel requirements as a result of tougher financial times, but generally speaking it’s business as usual for us and it is proving to be a sound plan because we are still growing.

How do you keep staff happy/uplifted?

M&M’s. That’s the key!

Seriously though, we are a strong company that can offer security to its employees. We actively reinforce job security to them. They often tell us how fortunate they feel, because in these financially troubled times so many of their friends and relatives tell them how concerned they are for their jobs. MTA Travel was independently [Travel Weekly 2008 survey] voted the ‘happiest agency group’ in Australia. The ‘M&M factor’ symbolizes the fun factor of our office.

What's the biggest challenge you feel your company faces, and how do you inspire your employees to meet it head on?

The expectation of many clients, in particularly new ones, of a discount. In our leisure business we are promoting ‘life experiences’ and once clients have enjoyed one of them they understand what it is all about. We create the sorts of experiences that are remembered for a lifetime. Priceless. Our best advertising is word of mouth.

http://mtatravel.com.au