Leslie Tillem Doniger
Leslie Tillem Doniger Helps People Fulfill Their Bucket List
Leslie Tillem Doniger calls herself a “travel baby.” Her parents owned travel agencies while she was growing up. Eventually, she helped them open new offices. After college, they encouraged her to open her own agency. That was 30 years ago.
Today, she spends her weeks traveling between New York and Florida, overseeing a team of seven travel advisors from her office in the Paramount Plaza building on Broadway. Her agency handles luxury leisure and corporate travel.
“Travel should be an exciting time in your life,” says Tillem Doniger. “Helping my clients fulfill their bucket list and the details that make it special is what I love.”
Her agency is a part of Tzell Travel, handling what she refers to as “the platinum and black card holder” market. Tzell Travel is owned by Travel Leaders Group, ranked first among the nation’s largest leisure/corporate travel management companies.
Although the internet has made it easier to book online, it doesn’t provide the concierge services of a luxury advisor who has been to the destinations and knows the operators on the ground.
“Travel is like a puzzle with a million pieces to it, so, if one is missing or torn, I am the one you are calling,” she says. “If they book online, they have no one to get them through it.”
Travel has changed since Tillem Doniger started. While places such as Paris and London remain popular, the younger generation is looking for more immersive and unique experiences.
“When I was a kid, everyone went to Florida or on a Caribbean cruise,” she says. “Today, I get requests for more exotic places and experiential travel destinations.”
Her clients are mostly referrals, repeat and even legacy business.
“I just finished a honeymoon for a couple whose parents’ honeymoon I booked,” she says. “He told his wife, ‘We are going to use Leslie for the rest of our life.’ Those kinds of comments make my job so rewarding.”
Tzell Travel is located at 1633 Broadway, New York. For more information, call 212-999-5505 or visit tzell.com.
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