MLT Vacations celebrated 15 years as a Minot business cornerstone on Thursday, Feb. 12.

The ceremony consisted of a ribbon cutting joined by the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce, remarks on the anniversary from MLT Vacations vice president Shelley Knight and Chamber Ambassador Committee Chairperson Missy Feist-Erickson, with employees celebrating 15 year employment anniversaries in the ceremony’s midst.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, MLT Vacations is one of the largest providers of vacation packages in America. The company manages brands including Delta Vacations, in partnership with Aeromexico Vacations, Air France Holidays and Alitalia Vacations, and offers its customers vacation packages in more than 250 locations on every continent except Antarctica, a total of over 4,000 hotels and resorts worldwide, including a broad selection of activities and excursions.

With headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., MLT Vacations opened an operations center in Minot 15 years ago; its name has since been changed to Customer Engagement Center. This center manages more than 80,000 customer inquiries and provides sales to more than 35,000 vacation passengers per month.

“The customer is our number one focus,” said Knight. “To provide them an awesome travel experience and the vacation of a lifetime is our mission day in and day out.”

Although MLT Vacations has grown from fewer than 100 employees when it first opened in Minot to nearly 300, Knight said the main area of growth that the company has experienced is expertise. With one of the requirements for hiring being a passion for travel, and a good amount of money spent by the company for training, or in other words sending employees to destinations around the world in order to do research and figure out the best travel experience in these places, Knight said that they have travel experts.

“It’s a major asset that keeps people coming back,” said Knight. “Our employees care so much about making the experience the customer is about to go through a great one. It’s not just a job for them; it’s a way of life.”

Mixed into the group of employees celebrating the 15th year anniversary of MLT Vacations was a number of people who have been working with the company since it first opened in Minot. Around 30 percent of the total employees have been with the center since it first opened in 2000.

One such 15-year employee, Michelle Cowper, was originally hired to help staff the new workforce. Now she is the director of workforce development.

Though she said the industry is ever-changing and no day is the same as the last, her years at MLT Vacations have been enjoyable.

“I think I’m just like everyone else here, I love travel,” said Cowper. “To be in Minot and have travel association is exciting.” Cowper also said that because a good amount of the workers have been there for all 15 years and have grown into their positions, the work environment feels like family.

Overall, Knight is proud of the growth within the company and all that the 15 year anniversary stands for.

“It seems like a huge milestone,” she said. “It’s worth celebrating the employees who have dedicated so much of their life to helping this company.”

When asked if she had any goals for the future of the company, Knight said that their main goal will always be to keep the customer happy.