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TRAVEL IN STYLE FOR 50 YEARS, ROYAL TRAVEL & TOURS HAS HELPED CLIENTS TROT THE GLOBE, CURATING ONE-OF-A-KIND TRAVEL EXPERIENCES FOR FAMILIES ON THE NORTH SHORE. BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
If it’s an accomplishment for a company to mark 50 years in business, it’s a singular achievement for a family-run travel company. Royal Travel & Tours of Winnetka is doing just that. Founded by Larry and Kay Berke in 1972, Royal Travel initially focused on the airline industry and ticketing flights for its customers. But as the industry changed and airlines slashed commissions for travel agents, the company evolved, and for the past decade or more has provided custom, luxury travel experiences for couples and families on the North Shore. “My mom had a lot of international experiences. She had lived in Mexico and Argentina, and she was fluent in Spanish, so that was the genesis of starting a travel agency,” says Kendra Berke Thornton, who took over running the agency when her parents retired in 2015 after working there a few years. “They started from scratch in 1972, and the business really took off in the ‘80s when they were the largest family-owned agency in Northern Illinois.” It was a fax delivered to the agency in 1994 that would in part shape the company’s future. Delta informed agencies that it was cutting commissions in half, and other airlines quickly followed suit. Thornton, who was a sophomore
Kendra Thornton is CEO of Royal Travel & Tours of Winnetka. The North Shorebased company plans custom luxury travel experiences for couples and families.
studying at Northwestern University at the time, still gets choked up thinking about it. “It was such a blow to travel agencies and the whole valuation of the business was cut in half,” Thornton says. “There have been so many times when agency owners have had to pivot and that was the first big one because they had to introduce ticketing fees, which they had never done before. I tip my hat to my dad so much because he made some great decisions that allowed us to survive and thrive.” As the internet started revolutionizing the industry, making hotels, plane tickets, and other travel essentials easily accessible to consumers, Royal Travel faced a crossroads. It had to adapt. When Thornton moved to the North Shore from downtown Chicago, she began to understand the market and the types of travelers that lived in the area. Her father approached her, thinking he was ready to retire, and was considering selling the business unless she had an interest in getting involved. Thornton brought a new vision to Royal Travel, providing unique travel experiences tailored to the tastes and preferences of couples and families on the North Shore. It remains the company’s specialty to this day. Ironically, Thornton started her career working for the competition, orbitz.com, but she’s perfectly happy now running the family business. “Custom travel is why I decided to get involved with the business in the first place. My whole career before Royal was in public relations, and I worked as part of the team at orbitz.com in the early 2000s when it was being Continued on PG 6