Enron's Agency Changes Name, Reaffirms Corp. Commitment

The Travel Agency In The Park, a Houston-based agency that grew exponentially in recent years along with its largest corporate client, the famously bankrupt Enron Corp., remains committed to the corporate market.

"We're alive and well," said co-owner Maureen Rafoul. "Its taken a little restructuring on our part." While the company has "skimmed down," Rafoul said a name change to Alliance Worldwide had nothing to do with the impact of Enron's bankruptcy. According to Rafoul, The Travel Agency in the Park's lease in a building called The Park expired, requiring a move and triggering the name change. "The name change with ARC had been anticipated for months," Rafoul said. "It was a strange confluence of events. We think the new name is more reflective of what we do, which is corporate travel, as opposed to the name from 20 years ago when we were a much smaller agency."

The name change occurred despite the company's marketing of its original name in print advertising as recently as Oct. 8. Rafoul acknowledged that the situation "may have some strange appearances." Nonetheless, she said, "We are courting new business and have the time and energy to devote to a lot of new corporations." Both Enron and The Travel Agency In The Park first appeared in BTN's Corporate Travel 100 in 2000, in which Enron's 1999 US-booked air volume was reported as $45 million. It grew to $87 million the following year.