As we begin 2023, I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year from our entire team. The globe finds itself in a unique position of change and adversity and as I begin to write this, I find myself reflecting on what the past couple of years has been. There have been highs and lows through a global pandemic that impacted the travel industry in significant ways both positively and negatively.
During the turmoil of the pandemic, our team shrunk as travel came to a full stop before growing rapidly again taking us even further around the globe. There have been many late nights and there will be many more. These are things you accept when you lead a team of amazing individuals toward an enormous goal.
As I've reflected it becomes strikingly obvious that where we are is because of where we have been. Our team and core travel business existed before the mainstream adoption of the internet and before the .com boom in the late 90's. We've survived the aforementioned .com bubble, the travel impacts of 9/11, the U.S. Housing Crisis, and a complete paradigm shift in the travel industry. A member of our team is set to celebrate his 25th year with our company, a feat that very few have realized in today's digital-first job hoping market. I for one appreciate this individual's loyalty and commitment to our vision of growth without the sacrifice of either community or inclusion. The knowledge gained and more importantly shared from that experience is what excites me about our future. While tech and equity firms buy, sell, and trade youth sports without considering the consequences (yes - you read that right) there is a better path for our industry.
This vision is built on an early-day commitment to providing benefits to all of our partners. From the very beginning of our organization, when we were Competitive Sports Travel & Tours, CSTT, and most recently Sport-Travel, our focus has always been on value. This focus can not be truly about value unless it considers all partners in the equation equally. Unfortunately, this industry-wide imbalance continues to disconnect the end users from the products they wish to purchase and experience.
As we move into 2023, our team at Tournkey as part of our larger organization (Rengo Holdings) is doubling down on providing value. In 2022, we reflected on what we do well and what we can continue to do to make not only our business better but our community and ultimately our industry. We determined our success would be measured not by what we do in terms of creating company resources but instead by what we do with them. In 2023, we have three very important goals to accomplish:
Officially Launch the Tournkey Brand
To achieve this goal, our team has been busy building new and exciting features for our ever-expanding software. The greatest benefit to our experience is that we see the problems existing between the software on the market. There are amazing tools we compete with and countless more we don't but there is a secret they are all missing and we can't wait to take you on that journey. In 2022, we re-branded and soft-launched our Tournkey branding knowing there was a bigger and louder step ahead. Stay tuned for more on that.
Install a Continuous Improvement Culture
This internal goal is not only key but it may be the most important thing about our business shift coming out of the pandemic. We've been lucky enough to share time with some amazing mentors, coaches, colleagues, and friends who have sent us down a path of personal and professional growth. This concept seems obvious and fair to assume it is expected in most cases. I promise you that this is not the case. In 2023, and beyond we will share some of our learnings and how your organization can experience some of the same gains we've felt over the last two years.
Start Our Social Campaign to Give $1M
Our organization has always been an 'unofficial' social enterprise. We've always put our entire focus (and stood behind it) on providing value to our communities, partners, and consumers during a time when our competition talked predominantly out of both sides of their mouths. Starting in 2023, we are making it clear that our organization is a social enterprise that although we still are a for-profit organization is going to lead our industry to include and expand opportunities for all.
To reach this goal, our team and our business will grow to support a larger foundation for change. We have committed to providing $1M back to the grassroots by the end of 2025 in addition to the sponsorship and revenue we already drive back into the sporting community and small businesses. This commitment means athletes in need of support will have a new resource to continue their participation for years to come. We'll be announcing more about this and how you can support some of our efforts early in 2023.
Naturally, this feels like a change of direction for those reading who have been part of our community for years. To an extent this is true. We've always been tagged as a 'travel company' but now we have technology built into our DNA, we've committed to expanding our social footprint, and you'll find out later more about our organization outside of Tournkey and how it can help you.
