After a divorce and a lay off, Tony Roccia managed to take a group gathering into a successful business.

32 years ago Roccia started arranging annual gatherings for people who were separated, divorced and widowed from his church. The group started out with six people but by the time Roccia left, the numbers had grown to 170.

Initially the group was started meeting once a month as a way for single parents to turn to each other for support in their daily lives.

Things began to change when one of the group members requested they take a bus trip to Atlantic City. The trip was initially planned by the group member who suggested it, but there was some sort of mix up on the day they were supposed to leave and the bus never showed up.

After the mix up, Roccia took over planning the trip. Soon after Roccia found that many were looking to do it again. Soon people were requesting ideas for more bus trips and cruises, which Roccia was more than happy to oblige. It was then that he officially opened “New Beginnings Tours”.

The groups status eventually caught the attention of a travel agency who approached Roccia. The Agency offered to allow him to us their professional equipment when planning his trips if he agreed to share the commission.

At this point Roccia was working for a company as a mechanical designer, but it was soon downsized and he was laid off. It was then that Roccia decided to arrange tours full time.

As “New Beginnings” began to grow, Roccia found the business was spending more money than he was making. Hoping to bring a ‘new and younger perspective’ to the business he invited his daughter, Lisa, to join him as their book keeper and office manager.

Throughout the years, news of the company has only been spread by word of mouth. The only official promotion done by Roccia and his daughter is a monthly brochure mailed to a list of 7,000 people that they had composed over the years.

“When they leave this trip they are going to go home and promote this trip themselves.” Roccio says.

 

Roccia also relies on word of mouth when planning the trip activities. The destination of the tour is usually taken from group requests and past experiences. Roccia also contacts local from the destination point in looking for requests on the best places to visit.