Mission: Our Mission: We strive to be the world leader in international travel, adventure, and discovery for American travelers over 50—providing impactful and intercultural experiences that significantly improve the quality of their lives.
Two days into Spring and it's a rainy day here in Boston - thinking about hopping on a plane to somewhere warm...
#travel #wanderlust #getaway #overseasadventuretravel #grandcirccletravel
Chris Benton, a Sales Consultant, has been with the company for over 8 1/2 years. Chris decided to travel to on our Grand Circle Travel tour, Impressions of Italy: Amalfi Coast and Tuscany. He always knew he wanted to travel on this tour and was lucky enough to share the experience with his partner, who's family originated from there!
His favorite moment was first arriving to the Amalfi Coast and turning the corner to be met with gorgeous scenery which was followed by some Lemoncello to celebrate the moment.
#traveltuesday #italy #amalficoast #tuscany
Grand Circle Corporation is a global enterprise committed to changing people’s lives through international travel. Our family of travel companies—which you can read more about below—offers a variety of innovative trips to more than 60 countries, serving Americans age 50 and older. To date, more than 2 million people have traveled with us, including more than 110,000 people in the past year.
Our Grand Circle family includes:
Grand Circle Travel (GCT): Established in 1958 by Ethel Andrus, educator and founder of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Grand Circle Travel offers 19 unique vacations, all based on the pillars of comprehensive value, leisurely pacing, varied choice, and cultural discovery.
www.gct.com
Grand Circle Cruise Line (GCCL): Our cruise division was established in 1998 and now includes 13 river ships, three 50-passenger ships, the 98-passenger M/V Corinthian, and exclusive charters. With this fleet, we offer 33 Small Ship and River Cruise tours to Europe, Antarctica, Burma, South America, the Panama Canal, and beyond. We’re proud to say that for the past three years, readers of Condé Nast Traveler have named Grand Circle Cruise Line the “World’s Best River Cruise Line” in its annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT): Established in 1978, Overseas Adventure Travel is the leader in small groups on the road less traveled. We offer 44 adventures around the world in small groups of just 10-16 people by land and up to 24 people by sea. Our travelers are guided off the beaten path by expert, resident Trip Leaders, who connect them with locals through day-long visits to their communities, schools, and villages. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure our travelers journey to the heart of their destination by experiencing local modes of transportation, staying in authentic lodgings, and indulging in the culture.
www.oattravel.com
Our Mission: We strive to be the world leader in international travel, adventure, and discovery for American travelers over 50—providing impactful and intercultural experiences that significantly improve the quality of their lives.
Associate Responsibility: We will provide an environment that fosters professional development and encourages personal growth for our associates. We will maintain competitive compensation and benefits packages relative to the industry and community. We will conduct business with respect for each individual and their role within the organization.
Customer Responsibility: Grand Circle Corporation, through direct marketing, is committed to providing experienced American travelers with the most exciting travel, adventure, and discovery programs in the world at unequaled value. We strive for 100% customer satisfaction.
Financial Responsibility: We will operate Grand Circle Corporation in a sound financial manner, to create growth, and increase its value.
Social Responsibility: Global citizenship is central to the success of Grand Circle Corporation. We will commit time, people and funding through the Grand Circle Foundation to local, national, and global communities in which we live and explore, thus creating a better world for our travelers to discover.
Our Core Values
What sets Grand Circle apart from other companies is our unique culture. It’s based on a set of core values that we work to employ every day. As an employee, you’ll be expected to work (and play) hard in a results-driven environment and demonstrate our core values on a regular basis.
Bottom line: We’re not your typical company, and we’re not looking for typical applicants. We want to meet people who are just as passionate and unique as we are.
Our Location
We’re located at 347 Congress Street in Boston, Massachusetts—in the heart of the fast-growing Fort Point neighborhood.
Check Out Our Office
You’ve probably never worked in an office that looks quite like ours. As you enter our building, you’ll be greeted by sounds from around the world (perhaps including bird calls, Greek bouzouki music, or Buddhist chanting). Here, you’ll also see our giant sculpture of Raju—a Thai elephant—and Mahout—his steady rider.
Each of our six floors is designed to reflect a specific region of the world where we travel, with displays that include indigenous art and artifacts, architectural details, native textiles, and informational placards. The second floor, for example, is dedicated to Africa and the Middle East, and is filled with costumes and artifacts that represent the vibrant culture of the Maasai people.
In our basement, you’ll find Grand Circle Gallery, where Alan and Harriet Lewis, Grand Circle Corporation Chairman and Vice Chairman, display their extensive collection of travel posters with the public. Also on this floor is Harriet’s Corner—an open and dynamic space that acts as a gather place for our travelers, visitors, and community partners.
Two associates painting at a "Rebuilding Together" event in May of 2017 in Dorchester, MA.
How We Give Back
At Grand Circle, one of our greatest passions is giving back to our Boston community, as well as communities around the world. Because of this, we try to make it as easy as possible for our employees and travelers to assist the organizations that mean the most to them, working together to make the world a better place.
Supporting our Community
We’re proud to say that every year, more than 97% of our employees in Boston participate in community service, whether by donating blood, participating in the Pan-Mass Challenge, or lending a hand at the Greater Boston Food Bank. We also offer a Matching Gift Program for our Boston employees, meaning that we’ll match any donation they make of $25 or more—up to $500 per year.
However, our Boston associates are not the only ones dedicated to bettering their communities. Employees in our 36 offices around the world also organize their own service events, and in the past, have rebuilt homes in a flooded village in Cambodia, painted classrooms in a South African school, entertained the elderly at a nursing home in China, and much more.
Lending a Hand Around the World
In 1992, Alan and Harriet Lewis founded the nonprofit Grand Circle Foundation[CG1] to give employees and travelers the chance to give back to the world we travel. Through the Foundation, which is an entity of the Lewis Family Foundation, we’ve pledged or donated more than $130 million to support 300 organizations around the world—including 60 villages and almost 100 schools that lie in the path of our trips.
http://www.grandcirclefoundation.org/
The above video was filmed at an "Up and Out" Event. We assist Veterans with housing thorugh the New England Center for Homeless Veterans (NECHV).
Helpful (1)
I have been working at Grand Circle Travel full-time (More than a year)
Pros
I have had a very positive experience since joining Grand Circle Travel more than a year ago. I have a great manager and enjoy the people that I work with who are extremely nice, hardworking, and passionate about what they do. The company offers generous benefits which include health, dental and vision, transit and parking subsidies, 401K with a match program, tuition reimbursement, casual dress code, travel benefits, and much more. One of the unique benefits here is the Wellness Program, including an onsite gym. Through the Wellness Program employees can participate in onsite Yoga, Reiki, Meditation and have access to a full-time Wellness coach who is amazing and inspirational. We work hard, but we also get to play hard and enjoy fun things like summer BBQ’s, departmental celebrations, and the annual holiday party. The company motto is “We help change people’s lives” which is evident not only by our traveler’s testimonies but also by the Community Service work that is done both locally in and around Boston and globally. Grand Circle employees are able to participate in monthly events that help to give back to the local community and through the Grand Circle Foundation, the company is very generous in giving time and money to the underserved and underprivileged communities around the world. I am very proud to work for a company that does so much good in the world and that truly helps to change people’s lives.
Cons
I have no cons to express at this time.
Application
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Grand Circle Travel in September 2018.
Interview
They went over your resume and asked very specific questions that made you felt very uncomfortable provided that it is only an entry level position. At the end of the call, they lost interest in me and ended the call without letting me know when I will hear back.
Interview Questions
