Rita Milenkovic and Michael Merrithew,
new partners in Merit Travel Group Saskatchewan.

April 28, 2010

We are in exciting times at The Travel Gallery!

I am so pleased to advise you that we have reached an agreement to join forces with Merit Travel Group Inc., Canada's largest specialty travel company, to create the newly formed Merit Travel Group Saskatchewan. Merit Travel Group, led by Chairman & CEO, Michael Merrithew, shares our corporate values, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to high qualilty customer service. This partnership will introduce three of Merit’s specialty brands to Saskatchewan:  MeritBiz (business travel management), Global Specialist Markets (global business travel management services), and Merit Vacations (specialty leisure travel).

For our corporate clients: In joining forces, we will be rolling out enhanced services to our corporate clients, including: a suite of new technological tools including an online booking engine; global service capabilities through our partnership in Global Specialist Markets (GSM); increased benchmarking and savings opportunities, and much more. Over the next year as we transition our internal systems, we will be reviewing our clients’ business travel programs to see how each can directly benefit from this new partnership.

For our leisure clients: We will continue to lead and develop our programs related to women's and luxury travel for the entire Merit network.  We will also offer a more diverse range of products and uniquely-branded specialty vacations, including: Merit Ski Vacations, Merit Golf Vacations, Merit Longstays, Exclusive Tours (small ship cruising), and many other customized niche travel programs to serve the travel needs of Saskatchewan’s leisure travel market. 

As Merit and The Travel Gallery share a strong commitment to client-focused service, throughout this transition, our valued clients will see no disruption in the premium service you receive from your trusted travel provider. This joint venture will result in no staff changes and I will be staying on as Partner, and President & CEO, Merit Travel Group Saskatchewan.

We are very excited about this opportunity which we believe will take us to a new level for both our corporate clients and individual leisure travellers.  Over the coming months we will be communicating exciting enhancements to our service levels, including the phasing in of our new name and brand. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions and join me in welcoming Merit to Saskatchewan.

Sincerely,

Rita Milenkovic, President & CEO, Merit Travel Group Saskatchewan (The Travel Gallery)
306.790.3310 direct / 306.581.9433 mobile
rmilenkovic@mytravelgallery.com

More About Merit Travel Group
Merit, founded in 1991, has grown to become the largest privately-held specialty travel company in Canada. The combined Merit Travel Group serves over 500,000 individual and group travellers, with a staff of more than 450 travel professionals located at 56 offices across Canada. For more information, please visit www.merit.ca.