Company History
MC&A, Inc. was established in September, 1983, (as Mary Charles & Associates, Inc.) by three individuals who brought with them over thirty-one combined years of travel industry and ground operations experience. Beginning as a ground operator of incentive programs, MC&A has grown into a full-service destination management and conference planning company with a reputation of providing the highest level of quality service for both the westbound and Asia-Pacific markets. MC&A is one of the only Hawaii owned and operated destination management companies in the Hawaiian Islands.
Through the years, several divisions have been added: the Leisure Travel Division, with its travel desks in Waikiki and a mix of travel wholesale and cruise clients; an Events Division, with an extensive inventory of props and linens; and the Hawaii Convention Connection, offering convention services. The corporate name change from Mary Charles & Associates, Inc. to MC&A, Inc. was also a reflection on the strategic growth and diversification of the company as well as recognition of a shift from centering around one person to a dynamic team of associates.
MC&A, Inc., as a full-service destination management company, operates on all of the Hawaiian Islands. We work primarily with wholesale leisure, incentive, convention, and corporate accounts to provide ground transportation, meet and greet services, theme events, entertainment, and team building activities. We service the tour and travel market through our Leisure Travel Division, known as Diamond Head Vacations. We have been the official ground operator for American AirlinesŐ wholesale program (American Airlines Vacations) since their inception in 1987, and we have been the representatives for GOGO Worldwide Vacations and Liberty Travel since 1992. In January 2001, we acquired the ground services for Expedia Vacations. In January 2002, we became the ground operator for Norwegian Cruise Line in Hawaii, and in 2003, we added National Leisure Group to our client base. In 2004, our client list expanded to include Orbitz, Insignia Vacations, and RCI on the tour and travel side, and Royal Carribean Cruise Line, Holland America and Carnival Cruises on the cruise side.
MC&A is unique in its experience and range of in-house services. It is by far, one of the most sophisticated and technologically advanced destination management companies in the tourism industry. With more than twenty years in operation, the collective experience of its associates numbers in the hundreds of years. Servicing over 250,000 leisure travel guests, and 100,000 corporate guests per year, no other destination management company has managed a comparable number, size and complexity of programs and clients. We are committed to a business philosophy of servicing our clients with our own staff, rather than the industry practice of operating with a predominantly freelance staff. Therefore, MC&A maintains a base of over two hundred regular associates on all islands. MC&A has staff on all islands and offices on the islands of Oahu and Maui.