Word: travel
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Prices are still low in Spain. More than 250,000 U.S. vacationers are expected this year, v. 50,000 in 1953, when Ralph Reed persuaded the Spanish government to join American Express in a travel promotion program that touched off Spain's tourist boom. Palma de Majorca, in the Balearic Islands, is still the top tourist attraction, but the coves of Spain's Costa Brava and Malaga's sandy beaches will pull thousands of American sun worshipers...
When Greece's King Paul summoned the American Express chief to Tatio to make him a Knight of the Order of St. George in 1953, Reed for once overstayed a 15-minute appointment, spent an hour talking travel with the King. Reed was so proud of the decoration that for days afterward, whenever he spotted an acquaintance, he would insist on showing off his medal, exclaiming delightedly: "Look what I've got!" In addition to decorations from France, Norway, The Netherlands and Belgium, Reed was honored recently by the Five Flies, an Amsterdam restaurant, which installed a copper...
...debts, the company has always handled its investments with spinsterish conservatism: all but 6% of the millions in its kitty (Jan. 1, 1955 total: $460 million) is invested in gilt-edged securities and bonds. American Express earned only .16% on its $3.4 billion worth of banking and travel business in 1955. But investment income hiked the net to $5,400,000. Dividends have risen steadily, from 51? a share...
...Weekend. To boost company revenues, as well as to speed travel, Reed cultivates most of the top businessmen and Government officials in the U.S. and abroad. One postwar venture for the company was suggested by President Eisenhower, with whom Reed occasionally plays golf. Europe-bound on the Queen Mary in 1946, Reed was called in by Fellow Passenger Ike, who suggested that American Express could set up recreation, banking and sightseeing services for U.S. occupation troops. As a result, American Express now operates 115 overseas offices and 54 mobile units for G.I.s, has 30 agents to handle sailors' tours...
...cutting passport and customs red tape. "Visas and other certificates and fees cost as much as $147," says he, "or 10% of the cost of the transportation for a trip to eleven countries." Reed points out that the 0.5% of disposable income spent by U.S. tourists on foreign travel has decreased from the 0.8% peak in 1929. But as travel becomes faster and cheaper, he predicts, foreign countries will lure more than 2,500,000 U.S. tourists a year by 1960, an increase of 50%. Says Reed: "American Express is already planning the jet age weekend in Europe...