Portal World Travel’s Jo Ann Giovannoni On Smart Trips

Lakeside Village travel agent Jo Ann Giovannoni finds joy in helping people vacation.

Giovannoni, who lives in Diamond Heights and Cupertino, got a taste for travel at a young age. Her father worked for the federal government, which took the family all over the country, and developed her passion for adventure. She bought the 1947-founded travel agency Portal World Travel in 1979 and began selling air, land and sea experiences and packages.

“I can't travel as much as I used to,” Giovannoni said. “I relive the trips by selling them.”

Between shifts at the travel agency, Giovannoni taught part-time at City College in its travel and tourism program for 37 years, retiring in 2022. Many of her students went on to work in the travel industry, with some even working for her at Portal World Travel.

Giovannoni and her team of six agents give hands-on customer service, she said. They are available around the clock and go beyond offering just brochures, but rather, they take the time to get to know their clients and select unique destinations tailored to their needs.

“Give us a try,” Giovannoni said. “We say with no obligation, we work our hearts out.”

The Ingleside Light caught up with Giovannoni to learn more about her business and the travel industry.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does a typical day at Portal World Travel look like for you?

This time of the year, it's starting to slow down, so I'm working on mostly Christmas reservations. They've been paid for and reserved for months, and now it's getting ready. I had to put the tickets together, and I do whole packets and everything else — forever the teacher in me. If you book online, you get a confirmation number. If you book with me, you get a packet that outlines the airline tickets, all your hotels, all your activities and everything.

Why should people book their travel through an agent versus doing it on their own?

I think if you Google why you should use a travel agent, they'll tell you you can save probably 50% depending on what you're doing, and if you have a problem on the internet, good luck. They have an 800 number, but if you're in Jamaica and your hotel room just blew up because of the hurricane, there's no one there to help you. We're on call 24/7. My email is accessible 24/7, much to my husband's chagrin.

What are some of the changes in the travel industry you have noticed over the years?

I'll tell you, the really monumental change was Sept. 11, 2001, because prior to that, we weren't concerned about security. And I've tried to tell my students, but there's a certain percentage of students who don't even know what Sept. 11 is all about, and so that was a problem. Now, coming back from Covid, we were all closed for a long time. It took a long time because we didn't know what was going on. We lost so many people in the industry that now the people who are at the airport are not well-trained. It's not their fault that they don't have the depth. You stop and think about it, like with my employees, what were they going to do? I didn't want them on the street. I didn't want them to lose housing and go hungry, but what do you do, like right now with the air traffic controllers?

I took my husband to Reno two weeks ago for his birthday, and I said to every TSA agent, “Thank you for working for no pay.” And they all said, “Well, we can do it for about a month. But if it goes into two months, what are you going to do?” People need to be paid. I think the airlines weren't thinking that when they furloughed all these people, and the same thing is happening in Washington, D.C. now. You get rid of all these people, they've got to make a living, so they're going to take other jobs, so then when you need them to do the work, who's going to be training them?

What is one piece of advice you have for someone who wants to get into the travel industry?

It's a passion, there's no question about it. My recommendation would be, and I tell people this all the time, it's getting harder. If you have a travel agent who you've worked with, an agency that your family's worked with, or there's one in your neighborhood, then go and ask if you can volunteer to learn the business.