Travel + Leisure's 2014 A-List Advisors

It’s that time of year when Travel + Leisure rounds up its picks of the best travel advisors in the business. Editors evaluate hundreds of travel advisors and pick their favorites for this edition of the A-List of Top Travel Specialists. The list includes the top 133 advisors organized by area of expertise. 

The Travel + Leisure 2014 A-List of Top Travel Specialists are…

Super Agents


Maita Barrenechea (Mai10, Buenos Aires)
Jack S. Ezon* (Ovation Vacations, New York City)
Lisa Lindblad (Lisa Lindblad Travel Design, New York City)
Mary Ann Ramsey* (Betty Maclean Travel, Naples, FL)
Guy Rubin (Imperial Tours, Beijing)
Anne Morgan Scully* (McCabe World Travel, McLean, VA)
Pallavi Shah (Our Personal Guest, New York City)
Jim Strong* and Nancy Strong (Strong Travel Services, Dallas, TX)
Valerie Ann Wilson (Valerie Wilson Travel, New York City)

Joel A. Zack (Heritage Tours Private Travel, New York City)

United States and Canada


Hawaii – Carolyne Brandon (Altour American Express Travel, Cupertino, CA)
Hawaii – Marilyn Clark** (Lighthouse Travel, Huntington Beach, CA)
Hawaii – Ed Phillips* (Frosch Travel, Burlingame, CA)
Napa Valley, California – Michelle Murré (Azurine, San Francisco, CA)
New York – Lisa Batkin** (In the Know Experiences, New York City)
Pacific Northwest – Sheri Doyle** (Pacific Northwest Journeys, Seattle, WA)
Western U.S. – Harold Jenkins (American Express Corporate Vacations, Lake Forest, IL)

Caribbean


Margie Hand (Andavo Travel, Birmingham AL)
Janet McLaughlin (Provident Travel, Cincinnati, OH)
Liz Sadie Sutton* (Alabama World Travel/ Sutton & Associates, Montgomery, AL)

Africa and the Middle East


Africa – Sandy Cunningham (Outside Go, Santa Fe, NM)
Africa – Lisa Lindblad (See Super-Agents)
Africa – Michael Lorentz** (Passage to Africa, Cape Town)
Africa – Dana Welch (The Travel Society, Denver, CO)
Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia – Craig Beal (Travel Beyond, Wayzata, MN)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Dan Achber (Trufflepig, Toronto)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Elizabeth Gordon** (Extraordinary Journeys, New York City)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Tim Lapage (Safari Experts, Park City, UT)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Mark William Nolting (Africa Adventure Company, Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Kent Redding** (Africa Adventure Consultants, Denver, CO)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Jackie Rush (Frosch, Washington, DC)
Eastern and Southern Africa – Sunit Sanghrajka (Alluring Africa, Winter Park, FL)
Egypt – Malaka Hilton (Admiral Travel International, Sarasota, FL)
Family Safaris – Leora Rothschild** (Rothschild Safaris, Denver, CO)
Israel – Rachel Epstein (Frosch, New York City)
Kenya and Tanzania – Volker Altvater (Big Five Tours & Expeditions, Stuart, FL)
Middle East – Jean Newman Glock (JNG Worldwide, Washington, D.C.)
Morocco – Michael Diamond (Heritage Tours Private Travel, New York City)
Namibia – Chris Liebenberg** (Piper & Heath Travel, San Diego, CA)
South Africa – Tamsyn Fricker** (Travel Artistry Africa, Houston, TX)
Southern Africa – Cherri Briggs (Explore Inc., Steamboat Springs, CO)
Southern Africa – Julian Harrison (Premier Tours, Philadelphia, PA)
Southern Africa – Teresa Sullivan** (Mango African Safaris, Portland, OR)

Europe


Central Europe – Nathalie Nagy (Protravel International, New York City)
Central Europe – Ellison Poe (Poe Travel, Little Rock, AR)
France – Murielle Blanchard (Black Pearl Luxury Services, Salt Lake City)
France – Bob Preston (EuroPanache, New York City)
Germany – Virginia Giordano (Culture Trip Germany, Berlin)
Greece – Mina Agnos (Travelive, Bloomfield, NJ)
Greece – Christos Stergiou (TrueGreece, Maroussi, Greece)
Greece – Petros Zissimos (Hellenic Holidays, New York City)
Ireland – Carol Cornell (Covington Travel, Fort Wayne, IN)
Italy – Joyce Falcone (The Italian Concierge, Far Hills, NJ)
Italy – Emily FitzRoy (Bellini Travel, London)
Italy – Andrea Grisdale (IC Bellagio, Bellagio, Italy)
Italy – Uri Harash (Perfetto Traveler, Rome)
Italy – Beth Rubin** (Select Italy, Chicago, IL)
Italy – Marjorie Shaw (Insider’s Italy, Rome)
Paris – Yaron Yarimi (Frosch, New York City)
Russia – Greg Tepper (Exeter International, Tampa, FL)
Scandinavia – Tor Jensen (Jensen World Travel, Wilmette, IL)
Scotland – Claire Schoeder (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)
Spain – Virginia Irurita (Made for Spain, Madrid)
Spain and Portugal – Joel A. Zack (See Super-Agents)
Switzerland – Ilene Koenig (Let’s Travel (a division of Plaza Travel), Santa Monica, CA)
United Kingdom – Ellen LeCompte (Brownell Travel, Richmond, VA)
United Kingdom – Linda M. Raymer (Travelink, American Express Travel, Nashville, TN)
United Kingdom – Susie Worthy (NoteWorthy Events, London)
Western Europe – Anne Morgan Scully* (See Super-Agents)
Western Europe – Jim Strong* and Nancy Strong (See Super-Agents)
 


Asia


Burma – Rebecca Mazzaro (Asia Transpacific Journeys, Boulder, CO)
Cambodia – Andy Booth** (ABOUTAsia Travel, Siem Reap, Cambodia)
China – Stan Godwyn (TravelStore, Sacramento, CA)
China – Guy Rubin (See Super-Agents)
China and Tibet – Mei Zhang (WildChina, Beijing)
Hong Kong – Laura Woo (West University Travel, Houston, TX)
India – Jonny Bealby (Wild Frontiers, London)
India – Pallavi Shah (See Super-Agents)
India and Sri Lanka – Carole A. Cambata (Greaves Tours, Highland Park, IL)
India and Sri Lanka – Ashish Sanghrajka (Big Five Tours & Expedition, Stuart, FL)
Indonesia – Jarrod Hobson (Asia Transpacific Journeys, Boulder, CO)
Japan – Noriko Townsend (Altour American Express Travel/Japan In Style, Fort Collins, CO)
Japan – Duff Trimble (Wabi-Sabi Japan, Toronto)
Maldives – Justin Parkinson** (Linara Travel, Eagle, Idaho)
Southeast Asia – Catherine Heald (Remote Lands, New York City)

Mexico, Central and South America


Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay – Maita Barrenechea (See Super-Agents)
Argentina and Chile – Jordan Harvey (Knowmad Adventures, Minneapolis, MN)
Brazil – Martin Frankenberg (Matueté, São Paulo, Brazil)
Brazil – Paul Irvine (Dehouche, Rio de Janeiro)
Central and South America – Emmanuel Burgio (Blue Parallel, Potomac, MD)
Chile – Brian Pearson** (Santiago Adventures, Santiago, Chile)
Galápagos – Brian Morgan (Adventure Life, Missoula, MT)
Mexico – Zachary Rabinor (Journey Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)
Peru and Bolivia – Marisol Mosquera (Aracari Travel, Lima, Peru)
South America – Barkley Hickox** (Indagare Travel, New York City)
South America – Beth Jenkins (McCabe World Travel, McLean, VA)
South America – Eric Sheets (Latin Excursions, Aventura, FL)
South American Food & Wine – Liz Caskey (Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Experiences, Santiago, Chile)
 


Family Travel


Julia P. Douglas* (Jet Set World Travel, Chicago, IL)
Jessica Griscavage (McCabe World Travel, McLean, VA)
Sam McClure (Small World Travel, Austin, TX)
Kara Slater** (SmartFlyer, Los Angeles, CA)
Kathryn Sudeikis* (Acendas, Mission, KS)
Kimberly Wilson Wetty* (Valerie Wilson Travel, New York City)

Cruising


Small and Large Ships – Scott Kertes (Hartford Holidays Travel, Garden City, NY)
Small and Large Ships – Paul Niskanen* (Cruise Masters/Concierge Travel Advisors, Portland, OR)
Small and Large Ships – Ruth Turpin (Cruises Etc., Fort Worth, TX)
Small and Large Ships – Mary Ann Ramsey* (See Super-Agents)
Small Ships – Betsy Patton (Hurley Travel Experts, Naples, FL)
Small Ships – Marcella Rappoport (Ovation Travel, New York City)

Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific

Australia – Cassandra Bookholder (Camelback Odyssey Travel, Phoenix, AZ)
Australia – Suzy Mercien-Ferol (Touring Treasures, Brighton, Australia)
French Polynesia – Robin Turner (American Express Travel, Chicago, IL)
French Polynesia – Susanne Hamer (TravelStore, Los Angeles, CA)
New Zealand – Jean-Michel Jefferson (Ahipara Luxury Travel, Central Otago, New Zealand)
New Zealand – Donna Thomas (New Zealand Travel, Langhorne, PA)

 

Special Interest

Adventure – Betty Jo Currie (Currie & Co. Travels Unlimited, Atlanta, GA)
Adventure – Brooke Garnett (Absolute Travel, New York City)
Adventure – Tom Marchant** * (Black Tomato, London)
Adventure – Susan Sparks (Points of Interest Travel, Aspen, CO)
Adventure – Doris White (Cadence Travel, La Jolla, CA)
Air Travel – Michael Holtz (SmartFlyer, New York City)
Business Travel – Steve Orens** * (Plaza Travel, Encino, CA)
Business Travel – Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg (Valerie Wilson Travel, New York City)
Culture/Education – Margery Hunter (Rudi Steele Travel, Dallas, TX)
Destination Celebrations – John Clifford (International Travel Management, San Diego, CA)
Destination Celebrations – Jack S. Ezon* (See Super-Agents)
Diving – Robert Becker (Protravel International/Beckersphere, New York City)
Fly-Fishing – Betsy Donley* (Camelback Odyssey Travel, Phoenix, AZ)
Fly-Fishing – Mollie Fitzgerald (Frontiers International Travel, Gibsonia, PA)
Food and Wine – Lynda Turley Garrett (Alpine Travel of Saratoga, Saratoga, CA)
Gay and Lesbian Travel – David Rubin (DavidTravel, Corona del Mar, CA)
Golf – Jani Miller* (Central Travel, Toledo, OH)
Hotels – Peter S. Carideo** (CRC Travel, Chicago, IL)
Hotels – Valerie Ann Wilson (See Super-Agents)
Hotels – Bobby Zur (Travel Artistry, Franklin Lakes, NJ)
Luxury Travel – David Lowy* (Renshaw Travel, Vancouver)
Spas and Wellness – Karen Benson (Camelback Odyssey Travel, Phoenix, AZ)
Value/Affordable Travel – Kathleen O’Connell** (Frosch, Deerfield, IL)
Weddings and Honeymoons – Harlan DeBell and Kara Bebell (The Travel Siblings at Tzell Travel Group, New York City)
Weddings and Honeymoons – Peter Lloyd (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)

*Member of the Travel + Leisure Travel Advisory Board (TAB). The T+L Travel Advisory Board (TAB) of 14 travel agents collectively employ 3,000 travel advisors representing all aspects of the travel industry. The group, which convenes regularly to discuss and share new research, trends, and market conditions, provides T+L's marketing partners with intelligence and insights to enhance their businesses.
 
**New to this year’s Travel + Leisure A-List.