35 Years in the Student Travel Industry with Greg Moore

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As of April 8, Greg Moore has devoted 35 years to the student travel industry, 10 of those with Music Travel Consultants. Congratulations from all of us at MTC!

On April 8, 1985, I started my 35 years in the student travel industry. I, along with John Sturm, departed as Great American Band Tours (GABT) Travel Directors, on a 24.5-hour motor coach ride with the Riley High School Band from South Bend, Indiana. We traveled to Central Florida. This was always one of our most brutal trips for escorts, driving three hours from Indy to Northern Indiana, experience the trip including 24 hours of travel each way, and then have to drive those same three hours back home at the end of the trip.

The Riley Band had planned, with the expertise of one Rick Campbell and his capable GABT operations team, visits to Wet ‘n Wild, Busch Gardens, Sea World, Jetty Park Beach, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot Center. Even back in 1985, a 4-night, 5-day Florida trip was somewhat epic.

1994 Greg, along with lifelong friend and fellow GABT Tour Director, Cory O'Dell, take in the view of the White House from the roof of the nearby Hay Adams Hotel. — 1994 Greg, along with lifelong friend and fellow GABT Tour Director, Cory O’Dell, take in the view of the White House from the roof of the nearby Hay Adams Hotel.

For those of you not familiar with GABT, it was a music performance travel company; a forerunner in our travel industry niche that operated from 1978-1994 as a division of World Tours, Inc., which was owned by Ron Tade.

A lot has certainly changed in the 35 years since.

June 2002 Site Visit to New York City with the Lawrence Central HS (IN) Band Directors.

Sightseeing in Key West with fellow SYTA Board of Directors during a June 2003 meeting.

In October 1998, Greg visits the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, an UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mexican Yucatan Pennsula, as part of his first SYTA Conference.

In 1985, GABT Tour Directors had just received an increase in daily pay from $15 to $25. All vendor confirmation calls were made from random payphones (can one really carry that much change?). Tour Directors hand-wrote checks on-site for balances due. Motor coaches didn’t have video screens, DVD players, power outlets and certainly not Wi-Fi. Walt Disney World® consisted of only two parks and Holiday Inns were frequented by student groups.

In March 2001, Greg visits London England and the original Hard Rock Cafe, which opened in 1971.

I’m not sure if the workload has gotten any easier or lighter in the 35 years since with all of the technology that’s been implemented, but I couldn’t fathom getting through this current global crisis without a cellphone and e-mail. “Working from home” in 1985 had a completely different connotation.

Greg, along with MTC colleagues Mark Harting & Joe Parish, take in a round of golf during the Cook Group’s 40th Anniversary January 2003 celebration in Las Vegas.

Greg, along with his daughter & fellow MTC Tour Director, Alexandra, take in the sunset at the Grand Canyon National Park South Rim while on a band tour in November 2019.

What I do know is the work ethic, attention to detail, service, and compassion for the client that was implemented back in the late 70s at GABT, is clearly in full effect at Music Travel Consultants. This makes sense considering the number of personnel that crossed over from GABT to MTC. Over the years, many wanted to find a way to, “do it even better than ever before.” And, it’s highly visible and relevant in what we’re dealing with at this very moment.

Music Travel Consultants Hits High Note With School Tours (Travel Weekly did an interview with Greg).

Read Article at this link

Back to 1985, after returning home from the Riley trip, I knew I was hooked on student performance travel.

We all have our stories of how we got into the biz. While attending Indiana University, my second high school band director, Jeff Pletcher, who had escorted in the past for GABT, recommended a close high school friend of my wife Kelly and mine, as a potential tour escort. That friend then recommended Kelly as a potential tour director who eventually recommended me to Rick Campbell. Rick took a gamble on me back in 1985 as a Tour Director and then, following graduation, Ron brought me on board in 1987 as a sales representative.

Greg, along with a number of esteemed travel industry colleagues, attends the 2001 Disney Travel Planner Symposium.

Greg visiting the iconic Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, March 1998.

Within a year, I was running GABT and spent nine total years there before coming over to Music Travel Consultants. I started at the same time as Jef Furr, at the urging of John to expand my horizons where I stayed. The next nine years from 1994-2003. I worked with various other tour companies and amazing individuals throughout the country from 2003-2018. Somewhere during my first stint at MTC, we hired some long-haired, crazy, cool cat by the name of Mark Harting.

Greg visiting Star Wars – Galaxy’s Edge at WDW Resort in December 2019.

Greg holdng a lamb at the Kissane Sheep Farm in Ireland during a March 2019 band tour.

One of my favorite travel industry moments (besides the year that I served as President of SYTA) is in 1994, while at Great American Band Tours, I was honored by Disney as an official Travel Planner at their annual tour operator Symposium. This was rewarding for the simple fact by that time at GABT, I alone was essentially handling all of the sales, marketing, & operations, and even some of the finances.

Greg and his wife, Kelly, attending the Lord Mayor’s Ball on St. Patrick’s Day 1997 in Dublin, Ireland.

Greg & TD Cory O’Dell meeting with recently appointed Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas in 1992.

I’m always asked…how can you visit somewhere like Walt Disney World® Resort, New York City, Washington DC, etc., so many times over and not be bored. I answer with two points… (1) I always look for something new in the destination as I have to keep pushing myself to be the expert and (2) to see an entirely different group interact uniquely each time with the location is always exciting. The fact that they may have never been there before and may never return in their lifetime makes it a special experience for me, as well. To know that I’ve been able to share a unique travel experience with those students is gratifying. And it never gets old.

Attending the 2003 Disney Symposium Awards presentation, along with MTC colleague Jef Furr, aboard the Disney Wonder.

At the 2007 SYTA Conference in Whistler, British Columbia, Greg zips through the snow covered peaks of the Canadian Rockies.

Being under a stay at home order isn’t exactly how I thought I’d be celebrating my 35th Anniversary in the business. But, some nine companies and a multitude of travel and business experiences later, I know I am where I’m supposed to be: back at Music Travel Consultants.

As SYTA Past President, Greg meets with SYTA President and friend, Doug Ellison at his Ontario, Canada residence during a June 2004 visit.

April 1997 at Magic Kingdom Park; one of many such visits during Walt Disney World Resort’s 25th Anniversary celebration!

In these 35 years, I’ve traveled hundreds of thousands of miles by plane, train, automobile, & motor coach to a profusion of domestic & international destinations. Thanks to clients and industry colleagues, I’ve been able to visit beautiful locales such as Ireland numerous times, stand atop the former World Trade Center South Tower, climb the ruins of Chichen Itza, zipline in the mountains of British Columbia, ascend the French Benedictine abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, experience games 1 & 7 of a World Series, participate in multiple Disney celebrations, march in the Macy’s, Rose, & Fiesta Bowl Parades, and so much more.

A summer 2015 site visit to France included the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

A Cardinal Bus, proudly displaying the Great American Band Tours signage on its side, was a key transportation partner for GABT.

I’ve been through 9/11, actually managing MTC at the time, SARS, was SYTA President at the time, and more economic recessions than I can count, as well as numerous other challenges. Even though COVID-19 has the potential to blow them all out of the water when factoring in the loss of life and financial devastation, I still remain hopeful and confident that we’ll successfully emerge and continue to provide the valued service of breaking down barriers and exploring new territory, while we provide life-changing experiences to many more student groups. There is a certain resiliency with student travel, almost as if it were a rite of passage, and it always finds a way to survive and thrive.