MMAX Media, today announced a partnership between HLM PayMeOn and Azumano Travel.  As part of the agreement, Azumano will become a “premier” customer of the PayMeOn Merchant Profit Center platform.  Azumano will also co-market the PayMeOn Merchant Profit Center to its customers and merchants in Oregon and Washington and become the exclusive provider of travel-related deals on the PayMeOn platform to its markets.

Founded in 1949, Azumano Travel is a full-service travel agency dedicated to providing corporate, leisure and meeting management services. Azumano is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and has multiple locations throughout the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It also has an office in Vancouver, Washington, and in Anchorage, Alaska.

On the retail side, the Azumano staff numbers 140 (combined companies’ employee count is 180). Azumano is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 50 travel management companies because of its size and volume of business, (Azumano generated $181 million for 2008; $210 million combined companies), but has the feel of a small company that places a premium on high-touch customer service delivered by an exceptionally qualified staff which exceeds industry averages for years of experience and agency tenure.

According to Ed Cespedes, CEO of MMAX and PayMeOn, “Azumano is exactly the type of partner we need to help us address the growing interest in travel-related business our industry is experiencing.  Azumano’s experience and relationship with over 2,500 travel agencies gives our business an excellent foothold in both the travel market and the western part of the United States.  We hope that this partnership can help accelerate our growth in Azumano’s markets.”
According to Sho Dozono, CEO of Azumano Travel, “Our new relationship with PayMeOn will move us into the forefront of this emerging travel space.  Within the Oregon marketplace, Azumano has the clout to leverage regional travel and hospitality specials, and put them in front of existing customers and other subscribers of PayMeOn on a weekly basis.  Recognizing that social media is a rapidly growing distribution means for travel, our evaluation found the ‘PayMeOn’ model as solid, and the most advantageous to the consumer.  We look forward to quickly leading the way in this new direction of social media combined with travel.”