Southfield’s Sky Bird Travel & Tours celebrates 45 years

SOUTHFIELD — Sky Bird Travel & Tours has been in the travel business since 1976. Founded by CEO Mr. Arvin Shah and his wife, Jaya, Sky Bird Travel opened its first office in Detroit’s historic Book Building. In 1985, the company took flight and moved to the city of Southfield.

 

On Friday, March 18th, Sky Bird Travel celebrated their 45th Anniversary with a gala luncheon at its headquarters. In attendance was special guests Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver, State Senator Jeremy Moss, State Representative Kyra Bolden and Southfield Chief of Police Elvin Barren.

 

Mayor Siver presented Mr. Shah with a City of Southfield Proclamation of March 18th, 2022 as “Sky Bird Travel Day”.  He lauded the success of Sky Bird Travel saying, “We’re very pleased to be here today to celebrate the success of Sky Bird Travel that has been in Southfield for many, many years,” Silver said. “It’s an award-winning company in the travel business.”

 

The proclamation presented by the Mayor to the Shahs reads, “Sky Bird Travel & Tours is a Michigan-born and Michigan-proud company that has provided an array of diversified travel products and services as a global partner. Sky Bird Travel & Tours is also a member of the Michigan Minority Business Development Center, which is a nonprofit organization committed to driving economic growth in minority communities.”

 

Mr. Shah said, despite the many challenges brought about by an ever-changing travel industry throughout four decades and more recently COVID-19, the company survived and thrived thanks to its customers and team. 

 

“We moved to Southfield because we needed to be somewhere closer to the airlines after they moved out of the city, and we preferred Southfield because it’s a central location,” Shah said.

 

Over the past 45 years, Sky Bird has grown from just two employees to a staff of about 200. The travel company serves travel agents through nine offices nationwide, from cities including New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Chicago, plus three international offices.

 

In addition to providing services to travel agents, the company has divisions specializing in travel for specific markets. Sky Bird’s newest division in travel, Students Fare (studentsfare.com) focuses on providing students affordable airfare globally. Another Sky Bird division is Nova Travel (novatravel.com) which specializes in budget-friendly travel for airfare, cruises, tours, and customized travel.

 

As a proud Michigan business, Sky Bird Travel remains dedicated to providing exceptional service and experience to its clients, vendors, and members of its organization.