Travel is a way of life for the Ueberroths.
Brothers John and Peter Ueberroth jumped into the business right out of college in 1967 with their own consulting business representing hotels, cruise lines and airlines.
They bought travel agency Ask Mr. Foster in the 1970s, then sold it to Carlson Travel Group.
John Ueberroth became president of Carlson in the 1980s.
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In 1995, he acquired a business in Spokane, Wash., for $2 million that would grow into two separate publicly traded companies with a combined market value of almost $1 billion.
He remains a principal shareholder and chairman of one of them,Newport Beach-based Ambassadors Group Inc., run by nephew Joe Ueberroth.
John Ueberroth is a former chairman of the Travel Industry Association and the U.S. Tour Operators Association.
Now he’s chairman and chief executive of Preferred Hotel Group, a hotel services company he bought in 2004.
The company, based in Chicago and run from Newport Beach, offers sales, marketing and operational help for nearly 400 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. Preferred doesn’t own or directly manage any hotels.
The company received the up and coming honor at the Nov. 16 Family Owned Business awards luncheon put on by the Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton’s Family Business Council.
Hotels are in the Ueberroths’ blood. The family jokes they visit hotels instead of museums when they travel.
They’re only half kidding.
“We’ve always been great consumers of hotels,” John Ueberroth said.
His wife Gail encouraged him to buy Preferred Hotel. She’s executive vice president.
“In every aspect of travel, the hotel is at the center,” she said.
The family since has expanded Preferred.
It now counts 388 hotels under its four brands (Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Summit Hotels, Sterling Hotels and Preferred Boutique). It has sales offices in 23 countries.
Typically, hotels that contract with Preferred for services are smaller and more intimate than big chain hotels. Families or small business groups often run them.
Some members come by way of referral. Others apply. All must pass an inspection.
Orange County hotels operating under the Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand include Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach, and Montage Resort & Spa and the Surf & Sand Resort, both in Laguna Beach.
“Preferred is known as a representative of quality hotels and has credibility in the marketplace,” said George Lysak, director of sales and marketing for Balboa Bay Club.
The hotels bill themselves as lifestyle hotels and go after travelers seeking unique, personalized service on the road as well as at home.
“Travel is fun at the (upscale) end,” John Ueberroth said. “You’re dealing with people’s dreams.”
The luxury sector accounted for 5% of the $95 billion generated by all hotels in 2005, as reported by the Hospitality Research Group of PKF Consulting in Atlanta.
Daughter Lindsey Ueberroth and brother Casey,the next generation for the legendary family,have grown up in the travel business.
As a child, Lindsey would play make-believe games about hotels.
Last year, the Preferred Boutique brand was launched on her recommendation. In its first year, that brand grew to include 76 hotels. She’s managing director of the boutique brand.
Brother Casey is area managing director for the parent company. His wife Brooke is director of corporate communications.
Lindsey Ueberroth said she’d love to see the company become the largest and most successful independent hotel brand with her own kids working in the business.
Of course, they’ll have to make time to have those children first.
In the past two months, Lindsey alone has traveled to Africa, Europe and South America to help build the Preferred Boutique brand.
John Ueberroth attributes the company’s growth to the family’s passion for the business.
But there’s another part of the equation: ethics and a sense of fair play.
Gerald M. Chizever, partner in Los Angeles-based Loeb & Loeb LLP who represented the Ueberroths in the Preferred purchase, said he couldn’t think of any other client “more ethical and fair in its business dealings, more concerned about its shareholders or more loyal to its employees and colleagues.”
John Ueberroth said his philosophy is simply to lead by example.
“If you’re not honest and fair, (employees) don’t respect you,” he said.
