By Kyeland Jackson —
The University of Louisville is axing PanAm as its travel provider and replacing them with Anthony Travel. The change marks the third major transition between agencies in the last year.
The announcement was sent via a blasted email on May 23, before Chief Financial Officer Harlan Sands announced it at last week’s faculty senate meeting. University spokesman John Drees said PanAm’s contract was given a six month extension after February before the decision was made.
“There have been complaints from faculty…primarily about pricing, about service and about communication with the faculty when they had issues with PanAm,” Drees said. “There also were some communication issues between the university and PanAm.”
The change means all university travel, including study abroad, will be handled by Anthony Travel. Earlier this year, Aramark replaced Sodexo as the dining option on campus and Follett replaced Barnes & Noble as the campus bookstore partner. Anthony Travel had a preexisting relationship with U of L’s athletics, which Drees said played a role in choosing their agency.
“It made for an easy transition,” he said.
Anthony Travel is currently partnered with 72 universities and services over 300 events annually. PanAm will continue handling university travel until transitioning to Anthony Travel on June 23.
This story will be updated.
