Four Children Battling Critical Illnesses Fulfill Their Dreams Thanks to Travel Leaders Group and SELECT

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Four children battling life-threatening illnesses, along with their families, experienced dream trips to travel to Africa, Iceland, France and Italy, thanks to contributions from Travel Leaders Group's SELECT Hotels & Resorts program and agency brands ALTOUR, Protravel International and Tzell Travel Group.

"We are honored to bring joy to the lives of these children and their families through Make-A-Wish^®," said Michael Heflin, Travel Leaders Group Senior Vice President of Hotels. "As the leader in the travel industry, every day we create customized luxury travel journeys that makes dreams come true for our clients. We are happy to pay it forward and do the same for these children and their families."

These once-in-a-lifetime trips include flights, tours and accommodations. Travel Leaders Group's SELECT team worked with their colleagues at each of the three luxury brands and the company's supplier partners to sponsor the trips through Make-A-Wish. Specifically:

• Tzell Travel Group recently fulfilled the wish of Garrett, an 18-year-old boy with a nervous system disorder, to visit Iceland to see the Northern Lights, an incredible natural phenomenon. They also covered the expenses for his parents and younger brother to join him during the trip.
• Protravel International made it possible for Skye, a 10-year-old girl with lymphoma, to travel last month to Nairobi to meet an elephant named Murit, which she has been sponsoring through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for the past four years. Her parents and two siblings joined her on the trip.
• ALTOUR will sponsor the upcoming trip for Mario, a 15-year-old boy with leukemia, and his family to travel to Paris so that he can visit the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Paris Saint-Germain stadium and Palace of Versailles. His parents and two siblings will travel with him.
• ALTOUR also sponsored a fourth trip and covered the flight expenses for Elvin, an 18-year-old boy with leukemia, to visit Florence and Venice, two of Italy's most popular cities so that he could fulfill his dream of taking cooking classes and explore his passion of Italian cuisine. His parents and brother traveled with him.

Travel Leaders Group recently featured Make-A-Wish initiative in a special episode of its SELECT Insights, a podcast for all things travel hosted by Heflin and Karen Magee, Vice President of Partnerships & Leisure Services for Tzell Travel Group.

"Travel Leaders Group has a history with Make-A-Wish through our employees who have been volunteering with the charity. The passion our advisors and leaders demonstrated in making these wishes come true has inspired us to continue this partnership into the future," said Heflin.

Travel Leaders Group is committed to helping to improve the lives of others and participating in worthwhile causes. For the last few months, through the Tzell and Pro Foundation, the organization has been raising funds to contribute to the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral. This summer, employees joined together for a "Day of Giving" to combat hunger. They raised thousands in cash and food donations and volunteered at local food banks as part of that campaign.

To find out more about Travel Leaders Group's SELECT program visit ALTOUR SELECT, Protravel SELECT, or Tzell SELECT.

About Travel Leaders Group
Travel Leaders Group (www.TravelLeadersGroup.com) is transforming travel with a commitment to our vacation and business travel clients through our progressive approach toward each unique travel experience. Having already assisted millions of travelers, Travel Leaders Group manages leisure, business and franchise travel operations under a variety of diversified divisions and brands. With over 6,000 agency locations, Travel Leaders Group ranks as one of the industry's largest travel agency companies.  Travelers also have access to The Travel Collection by Travel Leaders Group, a portfolio of select travel offers including discounts on international and domestic flights, value-added benefits at lodging establishments, shipboard credits on cruises and savings on escorted and vacation packages. Membership to The Travel Collection is offered at no additional cost to U.S. American Express® Gold Card, Business Gold Card, Platinum Card® and Business Platinum Card® Members. For more information visit www.TheTravelCollection.com  

About Make-A-Wish
Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We seek to bring every eligible child's wish to life because a wish is an integral part of a child's treatment journey. Research shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight their illness. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Make-A-Wish is the world's leading children's wish-granting organization, serving children in every community in the United States and in more than 50 countries worldwide. Together, generous donors, supporters, staff and nearly 40,000 volunteers across the U.S., grant a wish every 34 minutes, on average, somewhere in the country. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 315,000 wishes to children in the U.S. and its territories; more than 15,600 in 2018 alone. For more information about Make-A-Wish America, visit wish.org.

Contact: Dina Ruden
212-409-9554
[email protected]

SOURCE Travel Leaders Group

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