Melissa McKee

Website | http://www.collettevacations.travel

Bio | I’ve been writing for Collette Vacations since 2003 and manage the company's PR effort. I’ve traveled to the Canadian Rockies, New Orleans, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Austria, and Germany – including Oberammergau – with Collette and extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean on my own and with my family. I majored in International Relations in college and wanted to work in a foreign embassy after graduation. Instead I ended up in marketing and absolutely love the creativity of the people I work with at Collette. I’m an avid reader and a huge fan of history, art and architecture. Other interests include cycling, hiking, skiing, and boating. My all-time favorite destination is Italy—the art, the architecture, the food—it’s all pretty spectacular! Place on my bucket list include Japan and Israel.

It’s all about responsibility

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Our role as a travel company is to ensure that we’re giving back to the communities that we visit more than what is being taken away in our travels there. Our mission is to enrich the lives of children worldwide – one project at a time. Through the efforts of the Collette Foundation – an employee-run, [...]

Cheers to Wine Tours: A Top 5 List

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Do you have a glass of red wine with dinner because you heard it promotes good health? Or maybe you just like the taste of a smooth merlot?
Whatever the reason, travelers today continue to search out tours that include a wine component in the itinerary. There are many places to learn about wine making and its subtle [...]

Happy Halloween from Collette Vacations

As reported last October 31st - at Collette, Halloween is a big deal.
The games were in full swing once again last Friday for a bit of friendly decorating competition between departments – from Air, Accounting, Marketing, the Call Center/Inside Sales, Inventory, Tour Managers, Product, etc, etc.  It’s a day of fun and candy with children from local schools visiting each department [...]

Trends in transport while on tour

Our travelers tells us that one of the things they like most on their escorted tour is unique modes of transportation. I’m not talking replacing an aircraft to get to Europe. Rather, finding new and fun ways to incorporate the culture of the destination into the way travelers experience it.
Popular “rides” include:

A rickshaw through Beijing’s ancient [...]

TRAINS are the hottest “ride” in town

All aboard!
Train travel offers a combination of romance and mechanical marvel. Rail lines trace history while whisking travelers through scenery far removed from the highway. Collette passengers love our itineraries that include train journeys. That’s why we have quite a selection to choose from; programs like:

Canada’s Winter Wonderland (there’s still time to experience this tour [...]

From the Road: Collette tour managers save the day!

My wife and I just returnedf from a wonderful vacation with Collette Vacations to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe where Derrick Moscarelli was our Tour Manager.
When we left San Francisco on our way to Lake Tahoe I discovered I had lost my money clip with some of my spending money. I asked Derrick if he could [...]

Read all about it: Get your Exotics brochure today!

Collette Vacations new “Exotics” brochure highlights tours to Australia, Africa, Asia, South & Central America and Antarctica and debuts 5 new tours for 2012.
Inside the pages of the Exotics brochure are 28 tours to some of the world’s most sought out destinations including Namibia, Israel, Thailand, China, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and the South Pacific.
New tours featured [...]

Travel Pulse talks small group tours with Collette

Brett Couvillion of Travel Pulse talks to Daniel Smart, Collette Vacations’ national accounts manager, about Collette’s small group tours.
Our Explorations brand represents a new kind of tour created for travelers who want to explore in small group settings.

For more Collette “in the news” be sure to check out our Newsroom.

Collette in the News

Eliza Myers, writer and editor for Group Travel Leader, was on a Collette tour with group leaders from across the U.S., as they explored the Canadian Rockies by train. Here is an excerpt of a write-up on her adventure.
I woke up in an unfamiliar room thoroughly confused. I had gone to sleep in Vancouver, and it [...]

5 highlights of new Israel tour

Israel: A Journey to the Holy Land is a 10 day guided tour that visits historic sites and cities such as the Mt. of Beatitudes, Masada, the Dead Sea, Jaffa, Caesaria, Nazareth, Cana, Qumran, Bethlehem, Tel Aviv, Tiberias, and Haifa. Also, Collette clients will visit Acre, the ancient crusader city and UNESCO World Heritage site; [...]