Pavlik Travel Group covers the global viltage from Deep Cove By Joha Gooiman Contributing Writer DO you know where you'll be on Canada Day this year? Janet Pavlik is planning to leave the country. Pavlik Travel’s president wiil be in New York City on July 1 to co-ordinate an evening of Canadian choral music at Carnegie Hall with seven choirs from across the country. That a Deep Cove businesswoman would attempt such an ambitious undertaking may not be so surprising once you know a little about her and her company. Pavlik Travel Group Ltd. is the going concern of the long- time Deep Cove resident, along with her husband John. The ‘ couple have operated their ON LOCATION: business on the North Shore Pavlik Travel for 21 years and have devel- oped strong ties with both the travel industry and the Deep Cove community. 2221 Panorama Dr. North Vancouver, B.C. 929-7911 (phone) 924-0634 (fax) Jobn Pavlik worked for many years with Canadian pavlik@infomatch.com Airlines and is a 25-year member and past-president of the Mount Seymour Lions. The District of North Vancouver honored Janet with a Heritage Award in 1994 for her community involve- ment. She was one of the founding members of the Deep Cove heritage association and at one time wrote a weekly col- umn for The Citizen called “Around Deep Cove.” Janet's early experiences in the travel industry seem to have pre ared her well for this era of specialization. During the 95Gs she worked for a London firm that helped British vaca- tioners find the Spanish sun. Prior to leaving for Canada she was introduced to the world of music through a job at a con- cert artist booking agency. The *60s were boom years in western Canada: “People were travelling like mad. Rich farmers were taking their Cadillacs over on the Queen Elizabeth.” Janct was employed with Jim Burritt’s agency in Regina before moving on to Vancouver and a five-year stint at Alitalia Airlines. In the early 70s she promoted student tours and building on that base she and John formed their own company in 976. “We realized there was a need for an agency in Deep Cove and the student tours were an anchor for the new company,” remembers Pavlik. “Diversification was important for success. Business came from all over B.C. with the student tours.” Pavlik Travel was one of the original members of the Advantage network which now has over 250 offices across the country. Through Advantage they are also affiliated with WIN, the Worldwide Independent Travel Network. There are now five independently owned and operated Advantage centres covering the North Shore — Pavlik; Edgemont’s Mercury; Dundarave’s Aguarins, Folkestone Photo submitted” ENGLAND’S Kennet and Avon Cana! at Devizes fails steeply through 29 locks. Way’s Panorama and Marine Drive’s Prime Travel. Independence to make your own decisions is important to the Advantage philosophy says Pavlik, and the network “gives us the clout of being part of a larger travel community.” Specialization in the 90s is an undeniable fact of the indus- try and Pavlik Travel is no exception. Their Deep Cove water- front office concentrates on two areas — the travel agency and the specialized tours division. The Advantage Travel component is maintained by agency manager Tracy Baker, senior consultants Margaret Thistle and Maureen McClements and junior consultant Paulina Valledor. They offer full service support for cruises, corporate and gen- eral travel planning. Group consultants Misha Pavlik and Erica Bent assist Janet with the specialized rours division which focuses on European river cruises and Neworld Discover, music educational stu- dent tour programs. These areas have been built up to their present levels over a number of years. _ Pavlik Travel acts as a wholesaler for European river cruise companies. Janet Pavilk kee track of office. PAVLIK Travel compeny affairs from her Deep Cove “Coming from the U.K. Pd always been aware of the canals and no one over here was handfing them,” says Janet. “It’s something different.” The agency receives bookings from across Canada for this popular holiday option. The romantic concept of discovering Europe by. way of its forgotten canals is not a particularly hard sell and the different price structures make it affordable for many vacationers. “All sorts of vessels ply the waters,” says Pavlik. “The British tours are the most economical. The French are more upmarket.” Daughter Misha had the opportunity to cperate her own river cruise company in Britain. “We were hoping she'd go away for the summer and come back and run the business but she stayed away for seven years.” Misha Pavlik rerurned over a year ago and works with Erica Bent on the canal boat cruise bookings. Last spring the two consultants escorted agents from across Canada on a barge tour of their French suppliers. At France’s Tourism Trade Show in April of 1996 Pavlik Travel was awarded Tour Operator of the Year in Canada honors. The last piece of the Deep Cove company’s pie is the Neworld Discovery music program. Pavlik purchased the already-existing business in 1992 and created a new division to service its clients. Each year the calendar is full of events worldwide where music students can perform in culturally-charged settings. The concerts range from this month’s Rei des Arts carnival in Nice, France to customized itineraries in China where bands may perfom in several cities. The piéce de résistance of the Neworld program is Pavlik’s Canada Day extravaganza at Carnegie Hall on Juiy 1. Seven choirs “from PE{ to Vancouver Island” will perform with guest conductor Robert Cooper on New York City’s premiere concert stage. This is the second time Pavlik has put on the event — on July 8, 1995 Vancouver’s own Bruce Pullan conducted a diverse program which ranged from the Hillsborough Girls Choir performance of R. Murray Schafer’s Gamelan to the L’Ensemble Vocal Sainte-Anne rendition of the Acadian folk- lore piece Le p’tit "boenf. ; the Canada Day celebrations are huge undertakings — “We sent out invirations across the country. It took us two years to organize,” enthuses Pavlik. The look in her eyes télls you she’s already pianning the next one. —jobng@nsnews.com Hawaiian restaurants have undergone a tasty revolution FIRST time I came here a friend met me at the airport in a Mark 10 Jaguar. The walnut table in the back sported a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, and as we drove off his wife fired the cork through the open sun roof. That, however, was about the extent of our high living not least because Hawaii was not known for great food or wine. People used to say that the best meal they had in Hawaii was on the flight over. Sadly, it was no joke, although it was also true that few of them sought out small restaurants such as the Mekong, where travel talk treshly-made Thai food was tasty and inexpensive. Since then there has been a revolution in the islands’ kitchens and the hottest topic over mai- fais is where to eat out and which celebrity chef bas gone where, although the local best-selling book Chicken Skins by Rick Carroll is about ghosts nor cog au vin. Along the way a smorgasbord of small places has popped up, great coffee bars such as the Lava Java on the Big Island are not hard to find, and every morning Pd walk evo blocks away fron; my Waikiki hote! for the Patisserie’s fresh bread. And when you’re THE Canoe House vestaurant at the Mauna Lani Bay Hote! on the Big island of Hawail, Waikiki, is quite informal and good for both wallet and waistline. See Eating page 2