By Shaun Scott, Puyallup Tribal News
The work cell phone can buzz at any hour of the day. This especially rings true for the Puyallup Tribe’s Travel Department.
Travel Director Aimee Anderson, Travel Coordinator Laricia Garcia and Travel Coordinator Rose Oakley agreed being available 24/7 is something they take pride in.
The trio is responsible for taking care of travel itineraries for Tribal employees on their work trips. Their duties consist of booking flights, hotels, arranging transportation, booking work conferences/trainings and informing employees of what to expect once they reach their destination.
“We are pretty much a travel agency for the employees of the Puyallup Tribe,” Anderson said.
Oakley said it is a great feeling knowing Tribal employees can count on them.
“We could be getting a call at 5 in the morning, and next thing you know, all three of us are on the computer at the same time and are on the phone doing a conference call,” Oakley said.
Anderson said typically 20 employees a week request work-related travel arrangements and accommodations. Anderson has worked in the Travel Department since May 2018 and was promoted to her travel director role in January 2020. She said some travel requests are received months in advance while others come in at the last minute with an emergency to go out of state.
“The three of us will get to work. One of us will be on the phone with them, one of us will square away the airfare, one of us will start researching hotels,” Anderson said of the last-minute requests.
The trio said some of the challenges in the industry include flight delays, flight cancellations, inclement weather conditions and unexpected issues with transportation/lodging. Anderson said there are times when employees visit a place they’ve never been before and naturally have questions that come up.
“Sometimes they will call one of us to touch base. It is a good feeling to help reassure them so they know we were here for them every step of the way,” Anderson said. “We are just a phone call or a text away.”
Oakley said if a Tribal employee has an issue with a hotel, their phone line is always available.
“Instead of waiting to get home and saying it was a terrible hotel, we want to know as soon as you get there,” Oakley said. “It is best if they tell us right away and we can move them.”
Garcia said issues are dealt with quickly because of their 24/7 availability.
“We’re on it if we get those complaints. We are going to move you (hotels). We accept all the comments and suggestions from everyone so we can make the next trip better,” Garcia said. “They contact us because they know we’re going to answer and get things done.”
Garcia said she feels like she is on the actual trip with the employees themselves at times, especially when a Tribal Elder is on a trip. She said she doesn’t mentally rest until they return home.
“Sometimes I won’t sleep. I just want make sure they are OK,” Garcia said. “It is great to have that feeling once they are home safe with their families or with their team. I can now breathe and know that everything is good.”
Oakley said flight cancellations and delays become an issue in the winter months, particularly on trips to the East Coast.
“Sometimes, we have to be on the phone waiting for hours to get through to someone at one of the airlines. We’re always trying to figure it out and have to be ahead on the weather, too,” Garcia said. “Once one of us hears something, we get ahold of each other and say to ourselves, ‘OK, what are we going to do?”
To prepare employees for their trips, Garcia and her team delve into the details in ways a tourist might if they were booking their own excursion.
“We do a lot of research so we learn about the destinations they are going to. We learn so much about those places. Sometimes you will say, ‘That is where I want to go one day,” Garcia said.
