Brian Wellmeier
The Times
Published: Jun 5, 2023, 5:20 PM
A Savannah-based travel agency recently expanded into northeast Georgia, with the opening of its newest location at 4336 Cornelia Hwy. in Lula.
President Don Adams said the latest location of Kelly Tours, filling a void left after the relocation of travel agency Daniel’s Charter, provides up to 40 local jobs and facilitates both long and short distance trips to groups and organizations of any size.
From vacations to Canada or a drive down to Truist Field in Atlanta for a Braves game, the agency has a fleet of 60 motor coach buses prepared to haul large volumes of passengers.
“This is really the first time we’ve come in and built a facility specifically for our program,” he said. “We do anything that requires a package for a group – whether it be an eighth grade Washington, D.C., trip or a golf tournament that requires transportation. We haul the UGA Redcoat (Marching) Band. We haul athletics for colleges, and that requires equipment.”
The site of the new $2.2 million operation in Lula, Adams said, is equipped with a maintenance facility, cleaning station-area and four bays to maintain its bus fleet.
“It’s a really nice pocket we have up there (in Lula),” Adams said. “There’s so much of that type of business surrounding that office, so we’re doing good out here.”
Founded in 2019 by Adams and his wife Kelly – for whom the company is named – Kelly Tours was dealt a potentially fatal blow after a year in business with the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19, which devastated travel agencies nationwide.
Still, Don and Kelly Adams continued to network with future customers, and the company ultimately persevered through the pandemic. Now, three years later, the business has expanded from Savannah to Hall County.
“What ended up happening is we never gave up and we kept communicating with future customers throughout the whole thing,” he said. “We were able to weather the storm.”
Kelly Tours’ specific model, Adams explained, is based on what he described as a “group leader concept” – a person at the center of an organization who looks to make something happen. Kelly Tours then makes it happen.
“(The group leader) is the shepherd, and they can bring in the sheep, for instance,” he said. “We would come in there and provide all the marketing materials, the itinerary and put a date on it. We support the (leader) and anything they need. We make all the reservations for the bus, the hotels, all the meals, all the attractions and we package all that together … we have a great software that collects the money so that the (leader) has a seamless job.”
Adams said prices for specific packages vary based on destination, time of the year and the number of people traveling.
“(We) always keep our finger on the pulse of the business,” Adams said. “I’m always available to talk to anybody who wants to talk. Whatever we tell (people) we’re going to do, we try to back that up and do what we tell them we’re going to do. That creates a very loyal customer.”
The City of Lula is proud to see Kelly Tours new addition to their successful business call the City of Lula home!
Kelly Tours can be reached at Kellytours.com or 470-472-4200.
