ABOUT SOUTH GEORGIA TRAVEL AND WHO WE ARE.......

Business Profile

              South Georgia Travel was opened in this community in 1963 by Jim Trantham, and incorporated by him in 1964 as South Georgia Travel, Inc.  At that time, this was the only travel agency in the community.  The business was purchased in 2002 by Sara Jane Shelton and Richard W. Shelton, and a new business was formed, S J Shelton, Inc. d/b/a South Georgia Travel.  Jane became the President of the corporation and manages the day-to-day operations of the business.  South Georgia Travel is located at 1300 Baytree Road, Valdosta, Georgia.

South Georgia Travel’s mission and motto is “Personalized Vacation Planning.”   It is the desire of the agency to provide service to the community and surrounding areas in the form of travel consulting and reservations.  The business is based on courteous and prompt service, honesty, and professionalism.  South Georgia Travel believes in community involvement and that building relationships in the community builds your business.

It is the goal of the agency to match the travel experience, whether it is corporate travel or leisure travel, with the client’s expectation.  This involves getting to know clients and building relationships.  The more you get to know about your clients, the more apt a travel consultant will be in matching the vacation to the client.  With a new client, communication is the most important tool of the business as it involves the skill to ask questions and determine the supplier that meets the needs of the client.  As a representative of both the client and the supplier, it is the job of the agency to engage in the appropriate research necessary to determine the best fit between the client and supplier.  The wrong fit can result in a vacation disaster, and the correct fit results in return business!  The supplier of travel can be a hotel company, car company, rail company, airline, cruise company, tour company or an individual.  Someone making reservations on the internet may not be familiar with a particular property, tour or cruise company, and may not choose the best fit for themselves, thus we are helping you travel smarter by having this knowledge.  Defined, best fit, simply means a person’s likes, dislikes, dreams and experiences.

South Georgia Travel encourages clients to purchase trip cancellation and protection insurance to protect the client’s investment.  This gives the traveler the peace of mind to enjoy their trip and know they have a safety net in the event of an emergency.

Biography

              Sara Jane Shelton is the President of South Georgia Travel, located at 1300 Baytree Road, Valdosta, Georgia.  She has served as an active board member of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, including the Chairman of the Small Business Owners’ Network.  Jane graduated Valdosta State University in 1996, and served as a board member of the Valdosta State University Alumni.  Jane has served on the advisory board of Hospice of South Georgia since 2005, and is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Lowndes.  Jane has been a member of Quota International of Valdosta since 1990, a civic organization that supports disadvantaged women and children, with emphasis on the speech and hearing disadvantaged.  She was a charter member of a branch club in 2009, Azalea City Quota Club.  Jane is a Past President and currently served the Eighth District of Quota International as District Governor for two years.   Jane has served as chairman for the Disadvantaged Children’s Christmas Party, Disadvantaged Back to School Children’s Party, Christmas Giftwrap for Charity and Taste of Valdosta for Quota.   Quota International of Valdosta raises on average $30,000 annually and returns the proceeds to the community to such worthy recipients as The Haven, Hospice of South Georgia, Children’s Advocacy Center, LARC, Break Bread Together, America’s Second Harvest, Big Brothers Big Sisters, ACTO, LAMP, and many others.  Jane was nominated by Quota in 2003 for the Woman of the Year Award.  Jane also served as Elder of the First Presbyterian Church and was Chairman of the Fellowship Committee. 

Jane is married to Richard Shelton, Lowndes County State Court Solicitor-General and they reside in Valdosta.  They have four children and five grandchildren residing in Georgia and Minnesota. 

              Jane and her husband, Richard Shelton, purchased South Georgia Travel in 2002, and she is the manager of six employees.  Having a talent to communicate, Jane has always made a special effort to find the vacation that fits her client.  As a business owner, she passed this instruction down to her employees.  It is very important to listen to what a client says they want to do or not want to do, so that their experience matches their expectation. 

              A couple of innovative ideas that Jane has put in place are a company newsletter titled “Going Places,” and expanding into the Moultrie-Colquitt County area with a branch office, and also neighboring Thomasville-Thomas County.