| FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 ASTA
Names Gloria Bohan
Travel Agent of the Year |
Gloria
Bohan
President & CEO |
Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2004 – Gloria Bohan, president,
CEO and founder of Omega World Travel, in Fairfax, Va., was honored
today with the American Society of Travel Agents’ (ASTA) 2004
Travel Agent of the Year Award during the general session at ASTA’s
74th World Travel Congress in Hong Kong.
The award, inspired by Joseph W. Rosenbluth, recognizes an active
travel agent member who has made a great contribution to the travel
industry and whose outstanding influence and professional activity
have advanced the status of travel agents.
“Gloria Bohan’s influence in the industry has been phenomenal,”
said Richard Copland, CTC, ASTA president and CEO. “I am honored
to present her with this award recognizing her achievements and
talents as a skilled travel agent, entrepreneur and businesswoman.”
Bohan began her travel career when she founded Omega World Travel
in 1972. She has turned her one-person office into a conglomerate
of 200 company-owned offices with more than 1,000 employees worldwide.
Omega World Travel is now the 5th largest management company in
the United States and the largest woman-owned business in the Washington,
D.C., area. The company serves corporate, government and leisure
clients throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Omega’s
employee base is 86 percent women and minorities.
Bohan’s dedication to the industry has helped her achieve
top accolades, such as being recognized by Office Depot as the “Business
Woman of the Year” this year. Bohan’s other achievements
include being named one of the Top 500 Women in the United States
by Working Woman Magazine and one of the 25 Most Influential Leaders
in the Travel Industry by Tour and Travel News. She also received
the 2003 Entrepreneurial Visionary Award by the Women’s Business
Center.
A graduate of Marymount Manhattan College in New York, which honored
her with an honorary Doctor of Laws, Bohan started her career as
a teacher in the New York City Public School System and later worked
for Forbes Magazine. Bohan has been a member of ASTA since 1975.
This year’s Travel and Tourism Awards are courtesy of
The Hertz Corp.
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