By James McNair, The Miami Herald
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jan. 28--A California company is quietly establishing a business foothold in South Florida by combining the sales
pitch of time-sharing, the perks of travel agencies -- and marketing tactics that consumers either love or loathe.
The company is called Travelbridge Air, Land & Sea Ltd. and is based in Palm Springs, Calif. It has eight offices
in five states, including one that opened last May in Fort Lauderdale. That office, in a strip center with a doughnut
shop and an MRI center, now employs about 40 people.
Its business isn't easy to describe. Travelbridge calls itself a travel agency, but it isn't open to the public.
It's "member-based," but isn't a club. Instead, the company lures people to group sales presentations
with free, three-night stays in Orlando. If you join, you become a travel agent "associate" with access
to all of the heavily discounted vacations and cruises that full-fledged travel agents enjoy.
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