Top Bar
SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS—an organization fostering the promotion
of travel, tourism and hospitality within San Francisco and throughout
the world. We are open to all professionals employed in these industries,
unified to further the cause of bringing people across the globe together
through understanding, education and the travel experience, here and abroad.
SFTP - SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS
A History, Then & Now
Founding Members, The Travellarians 1928
Our
organization was originally known as the Travellarians, a thirteen-letter
word coined by Kitty Crabtree in recognition of the original 13
travel bureau girls. They
agreed to meet on the thirteenth of each month. Their first outings
in 1928 were hosted inspections by the Hotelman’s Association in
Yosemite and along the Central California Coast. The purpose of the tour
was to acquaint them with the hotels and points of interest along the
route. It
was on May 13,1928 that four of the ladies, including our chapter member,
(Miss) Elsie May Kirker, discussed the formation of an organization composed
of women, while on a 6-day tour from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. This
enterprising group of ambitious women were up against the odds in a predominantly
man’s world.
Their purpose for the organization was to develop a spirit of
cooperation, to establish and maintain a means for the exchange of ideas
and methods, to afford a mutually pleasurable getting together, and to
promote better service to the public, employers and to those for whom
the members of this organization would act as representative
The Original 1928 Thirteen Charter
Travellarians and Patron
Donna Williamson—Hotel Whitcomb
Travel Bureau President
Mildred Bolton—American Express Vice President
Ina Liebhardt—Peck-Judah Secretary
Elsie May Kirker—American Express
LeMoine Wright—Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Wood Railway
Eleanor Beck—San Francisco Convention & Tourist League
Mary Murphy—San Francisco Convention and
Tourist League
Mildred Sperry—Californians, Inc.
Kathryn Switzer—San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
Mary Clifford—Oakland Chamber of Commerce
P.E. (Kitty) Crabtree—Crabtree Travel Service
Original
co-writers of the Constitution and Bylaws:
Mabel Johnson—San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
Mae McKeown—the Fairmont Hotel Travel Bureau
Patron:
Mr. Jean Julliard—owner of the San Carlos Hotel in
Monterey
On June 13, 1929, Elsie May Kirker, as
a delegate, attended a meeting in Los Angeles where her mission was
to encourage a Los Angeles affiliation to the San Francisco Travellarians.
The Los Angeles chapter was subsequently organized with 13 charter members
and officially became the Travellarians of Los Angeles. Permission
to use the name of Travellarians was sold to the Los Angeles group
for $25.00! On
October 5, 1931, the Travellarians filed papers of incorporation to protect
the name of the organization.
An article in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York, February 1933, gave a glowing report
of the Daily Eagle’s dinner meeting with
the San Francisco Travellarians—“The liveliest lot of travel
specialists you ever saw”! At the time, Stella M. Dill of
Berkeley, chairman of the publicity committee, was corresponding with
a Brooklyn group regarding the formation of a New York chapter of the
Travellarians.
It must be remembered,
the Travellarians worked at a time when it was not in fashion for women
to work outside of the home. When
World War II began this left the women in charge of many of the offices.
The club was suspended from the summer of 1942 until March 1947 in recognition
of the war.
In June 2000, (Mrs.) Edith Jones was interviewed for her perspective on
the club's origins and attended a meeting at our invitation and verified
the information describing the beginning of the organization, and even
pointed to her own image in the photo shown in this brochure. She stated
she was very pleased to know that their efforts had not been in vain and
expressed encouragement for the continued success of what they (the original
13) had started in 1928
The
yearly history is richly recorded in our scrapbooks with the original history
written by Elsie May Kirker in the 1930s. The
second rendition of the clubs growth was updated and catalogued in the
1950s. There are several books with newspaper articles,
club pictures and other memorabilia, which are displayed yearly at our
organization’s Annual Business and Initiation Meetings.
—Excerpts from Elsie
May Kirker’s
Original History Document
And Excerpts January 5, 2003 by Ruth Gardner, CTC – American
Express Travel, SFWIT Past President, 2002-2003 Club Historians
The International Federation of Women's Travel Organizations
The Travellarians didn’t stop with their original beginnings but in
the year 1967, Blanche Berger and Marian Sullivan, two active Travellarian
members, presented their idea to commence an organization for women in the
travel industry throughout the
U. S. and the world that would be similar
in nature to our own club. The idea was accepted with great enthusiasm and
through the efforts an eager committee for the next two years International
Federation of Women’s Travel Clubs (later to become IFWTO) was born
in 1969 and continued for 38 years and consisted of chapters in over 90 countries
throughout the world, including the U. S., Canada, Europe , Asia and Africa.
Eight
organizations attended the founding meeting in Burlingame, California, for
what was called the International Federation of Women’s Travel
Clubs. All the guest organizations joined along with the San Francisco
Travellarians to become the charter members of the new organization:
San Francisco Travellarians
Philadelphia Women’s Travel Club
Travellarians of Los Angeles
South by Southeast Travel Women’s Club of Miami
Women’s Australian Travel League of Sydney
Chicago Women in Travel
41 Degree/74 Degree Club of New York
Association of Women Travel Executives of London
In
1977 the organizational name was changed from the International Federation
of Women’s Clubs to the International
Federation of Women’s Travel Organizations with the new logo
of IFWTO. Other changes in the Federation brought modern clarity of
purpose:
- To improve and make more effective the status of women within the travel industry through the exchange of ideas and personal participation (1977).
- To further promote international goodwill and understanding (1977)
- To assist in the development of women’s travel organizations in areas where none presently exist (1977).
- To prepare members through professionally and personally oriented educational programs to participate more fully in the positive growth of the industry (travel) (1981).
Also, in the period of innovations and in
support of the worldwide women’s movements that lasted more than
2 decades, c.1960,the
San Francisco Travellarians became SFWIT – San Francisco Women
in Travel. Many of the Federation’s clubs also took up similar
names.
In 1989, SFWIT – San Francisco Women in Travel hosted the
20th Anniversary International Convention. It was attended by 370
delegates representing IFWTO’s roster of then 64 member organizations
from 14 countries. These conventions continued to 2006 when the
36th annual convention was held in Athens, Greece.
Other Federation innovations
continued as its headquarters opened in Phoenix Arizona and annual awards
were established: The Spirit
Award recognized and honored a Federation member’s
faithful service; The Berger-Sullivan Tourism Award, honored
a person’s or company’s significant service to the travel
industry; The Susan B. Thomas Award was presented
to the most deserving Federation organization.
As we began the new century,
the headquarters moved to Spain and IFWTO had in excess of 3100 members
in 60 clubs representing 33 countries!
Sadly, in 2007 the Federation ceased
to exist, and informed its membership that due to the many changes in
the travel industry and declining membership, it could no longer financially
operate.
Never shying from a challenge, under the direction of President Naydine
Booth and with original Travellarians like Betty Shanahan and Blanche Berger
on SFWIT’s 2007 Executive Board, it was decided to update our organization
into a new business model: to become the premier travel networking organization
in the San Francisco Bay Area, serving industry professionals of all genders.
Our membership in February 2007 adopted a new Constitution and By-laws
which extended our membership to all professions actively engaged in the
selling of travel and/or travel promotion. To honor these changes
a new name, a new logo and a new Mission Statement were adopted. We
are now proudly SFTP – San Francisco Travel Professionals. The
new business model will be launched spring, 2007 with our new Mission Statement
. . .
SFTP - San Francisco Travel Professionals is an organization
fostering the promotion of travel, tourism and hospitality within San
Francisco and throughout the world. We are open to all professionals
employed in these industries, unified to further the cause of bringing
people together through understanding, education and the travel experience
here and abroad.
Submitted by Naydine Booth & Members
of the Executive Board 2007- SFTP
Naydine Booth, President, Park Place Travel
Beth Ringhofer, Vice President, Publishing & Marketing,
Roster, Siemer & Hand Travel
Maureen Manuel, Corresponding Secretary, Qantas Airways
Stephanie Spears, Treasurer, Blue World Travel
Christina (Tina) Liadis, Bylaws, History & Electronic Distribution,
Geographic Expeditions
Betty (Ty) Shanahan, Membership, Portal World Travel (Retired)
Robin Morales, Programs and Venues, & Marketing, EmpireCLS
Worldwide Chauffeured Services
Blanche Berger, Newsletter, Cable Car Travel Productions
Past Presidents of SFWIT
| 1928 | Donna Williamson | Whitcomb Hotel Travel |
| 1929 | Mildred Bolton | American Express |
| 1930 | Lemoine Wright | Thomas Cook & Son |
| 1931 | Grace Pew | Panama Mail Steamship |
| 1932 | Kitty Crabtree | Crabtree Travel |
| 1933 | Elsie Mae Kirker | American Express |
| 1934 | Natalie Botteon | US Intercoastal Conference |
| 1935 | Myrtle Nelson | Yosemite Park & Curry Co. |
| 1936 | Laura Robins | Redwood Empire Association |
| 1937 | Ruth Fitzer | Greyhound Lines |
| 1938 | Lenore Norris | National Automobile Club |
| 1939 | no listing | |
| 1940 | Stella Dill | National Automobile Club |
| 1941 | Louise Lawrence | California State Auto Association |
| 1942-1946 | Inactive | |
| 1947 | June Ross | Southern Pacific Railroad |
| 1948 | Teresa Ted Isasca | Californians, Incorporated |
| 1949 | Mildred Keith | Matson Navigation Company |
| 1950 | Ruth Fisher | Pan American Airlines |
| 1951 | Alberta Framer Oswald | Southern Pacific Railroad |
| 1952 | Ivel Gerdes | Pope & Talbot Steamship |
| 1953 | Mozelle Copeland | Greyhound Lines |
| 1954 | Dorothy Golen | Scandinavian Airlines |
| 1955 | Mary Ann Lockridge Culwell | George Smith Hotels |
| 1956 | Frances Jung | American Express |
| 1957 | Frances Croy | Milwaukee Railroad |
| 1958 | Patricia Morey | Hilton Hotels |
| 1959 | Edith Dalle-Feste | Cartan Travel |
| 1960 | Yona Pahl | Sabena Airlines |
| 1961 | Waun Sheetz Healey | Portal World Travel |
| 1962 | Dorothy Wiseman | Furness-Withy Steamship Company |
| 1963 | Evelyn T. Mulpeters | The Gray Line |
| 1964 | Marion Mathis Peters | American Airlines |
| 1965 | Blanche Berger | Santa Fe Railroad |
| 1966 | Betty Ty Shanahan | Portal Travel Service |
| 1967 | Viola Franke | American Airlines |
| 1968 | Shellah Jacobs | Cathy Pacific Airlines |
| 1969 | Rae Rutledge | Redwood Travel Advisors |
| 1970 | Elana Andersen | Hyatt Corporation |
| 1971 | Nancy Henry | San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau |
| 1972 | Lorna Bridges | New Zealand Government Tourist Office |
| 1973 | Carol Leone | General Steamship Company, Ltd. |
| 1974 | Mildred Pierce | Go, Go Tours, Inc. |
| 1975 | Marty Sarbey de Souto | Cal-Farm Travel Services |
| 1976 | Mildred Pierce | Go, Go Tours, Inc. |
| 1977 | Jodi M. Kuhn | Tradewinds Travel |
| 1978 | Hela Campbell | Air California |
| 1979 | Betsy Sanderson Caudell | China Airlines |
| 1980 | Jodi M. Kuhn | Malaysian Airlines Systems |
| 1981 | Ellen B. Metzger | Super 8 Motels |
| 1982 | Christine Azevedo | Odyssey International Travel |
| 1983 | Sheila B. Hyman, CTC | Henderson Travel |
| 1984 | Sheila B. Hyman, CTC | Henderson Travel |
| 1985 | Carole Wood | Placerville Travel |
| 1986 | Sheila Gorsuch | Hong Kong Tourist Association |
| 1987 | Marty Sarbey de Souto | Unique Adventures |
| 1988 | Janet M. Denninger, CTC | Close-up Expeditions |
| 1989 | Janet M. Denninger, CTC | Close-Up Expeditions |
| 1990 | Loretta Lechich, CTC | American Express |
| 1991 | Michelle Abrate, CTC | Bryan International Travel |
| 1992 | Michelle Abrate, CTC | Bryan International Travel |
| 1993 | Janette Rabin, CTC | CTN/Executive Travel Advisors |
| 1994 | Janette Rabin, CTC | CTN/Executive Travel Advisors |
| 1995 | Stephanie Spears | Rascals in Paradise |
| 1996 | Stephanie Spears | Rascals in Paradise |
| 1997 | Michelle Warren | Adventure Express Travel |
| 1998 | Robin Morales | Australian American Chamber of Commerce |
| 1999 | Ruth Gardner, CTC | American Express |
| 2000 | Ruth Gardner, CTC | American Express |
| 2001 | Dawn Roberts | Hyatt Hotels |
| 2002 | Beth Ringhofer | Siemer & Hand Travel |
| 2003 | Beth Ringhofer | Siemer & Hand Travel |
| 2004 | Beth Ringhofer | Siemer & Hand Travel |
| 2004 | Joanie Dragon | El Al Israel Airways |
| 2005 | Joanie Dragon | El Al Israel Airways |
| 2005 | Christina (Tina) Liadis | China Travel Service |
| 2006 | Christina (Tina) Liadis | Geographic Expeditions |
| 2007 | Naydine M. Booth | Park Place Travel |
| 2008 | Naydine M. Booth | The Cruise Experience |
| 2009 | Naydine M. Booth | The Cruise Experience |
Honorarium
Both SFWIT and IFWTO have honored selected
members for their on-going contributions to the travel industry and or to
the organizations by bestowing on such individuals Life Membership or Honorary
Membership. The
following members are award recipients:
Blanche
Berger |
SFTP | SFWIT | IFWTO |
Ernestine Fruits |
SFWIT | ||
Evelyn Mulpeters |
SFWIT | ||
Betty (Ty) Shanahan |
SFTP | SFWIT | |
Eleanor M. Wilford |
SFWIT | ||
Carole Wood |
SFWIT | ||
Sheila Gorsuch |
SFWIT | ||
Elana Andersen |
SFTP | SFWIT | IFWTO |
Faye Alexander |
IFWTO | ||
Ingrid Oakes |
IFWTO | ||
Richard Forster |
SFTP | HONORARY SFWIT |
SFWIT Life Membership and Honorary Membership designations are recognized by SFTP for all active members.