CARL Paiva never anticipated a career in the travel industry. In fact, the 55-year-old CEO of C-Travel could not have predicted his enormous success as the savvy marketing expert behind Bermuda's nascent, increasingly popular travel agency.

As a student at Mount St. Agnes Academy and an English Literature and Art History specialist at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Mr. Paiva always thought he was bound for a more traditional career.

"When I first graduated from college, I was accepted to law school at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and Trinity College in the UK," Mr. Paiva explained. "I hadn't made up my mind where exactly I wanted to live, so I returned to Bermuda to decide.

"That's how I got into the travel business. A friend of mine worked at Watlington & Conyers. The rest is history. Law is too black and white. I can't think that way."

Mr. Paiva worked at Watlington & Conyers until 1975, and then spent 25 years as the head of another leading local travel agency. As he approached his 50th birthday, Mr. Paiva decided the time had come to branch out on his own. At first, however, his idea was not to start a new travel agency, but to put his business savoir-faire to use.

"My actual best skills are in marketing and sales, which are a natural spin-off from my education in language and the arts. I had contemplated starting a marketing company. However, I realised at 50 that travel was in my blood. I decided I'd rather stick with travel."

Carl Paiva set up C-Travel with Lois Wilson, now Chief Financial Officer, just four years ago.

Within six days of incorporation, the two opened their first office on November 15, 2000 in the now-defunct Imperial Building.

"We bought this place, our current office on Queen Street, in February 2001 and moved in in May, after extensive renovations," Mr. Paiva explained. However, he was not content to rest on his laurels as an established, well-renowned travel agent.

"We started a travel division but we also developed a marketing company," Mr. Paiva said. "It's called Contemporary Marketing Solutions, and it's based out of our Queen Street office.

"It currently represents Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, and Hertz Rent-a-Car. We'll be launching some other travel tools in 2005."

Mr. Paiva sees C-Travel as singular in the local travel sector, describing his staff as extremely creative. As members of Virtuoso, the premier travel marketing company in the United States specialising in premium hotels, airlines, cruises, car rentals, and tours, C-Travel is able to utilise 121 world-wide on-site destination travel companies.

As Mr. Paiva explained: "With Virtuoso, we can customise any itinerary for individuals or for group travel, according to taste. Whether you like opera or sports, it can be done."

Carl Paiva and his C-Travel staff boast an extensive knowledge of cruises, tours, and what he terms "ethnic business". As he explained: "There are a lot of Indian, Filipino, and Portuguese workers here. They deal through us because of our expertise in finding the best prices for them."

With close to 60 internal and external agents, Mr. Paiva prides himself on the unique ability of his staff to determine the perfect trip for any budget.

Paiva seems to have his hands in many proverbial pies, working in conjunction with numerous local art galleries, the Red Cross, the National Trust, the Zoological Society, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and the Biological Station, and aiding their local fund-raising schemes.

"I match the suppliers with the charitable operations to create win-win situations," he said. In this capacity, Mr. Paiva works alongside marketing manager Pat Trott and business development manager Tom Murray.

According to Mr. Murray, marketing remains Mr. Paiva's principal sphere of expertise. "He's a savvy marketer first and foremost," Mr. Murray said. "People first think of him as a travel expert, but marketing is his field."

In his 30-plus years in the local travel business, Mr. Paiva has seen Bermuda branch out, abandoning tourism as its number one industry and embracing international business. Today, he sees fundamental problems for Bermuda's tourism sector that deserve to be addressed.

"The main problem is that we don't own our own destiny," he said. "It's very sad for a country reliant on tourism to be at the mercy of airlines that see Bermuda as a business opportunity as opposed to a partner. I believe in controlling our own destiny and operating our island as a business."

Mr. Paiva envisions a brighter future for the tourism industry should flights to and from new gateway cities becomes available. "Miami is coming aboard," he announced.

"I'd love to see some type of service to the Caymans from a business point of view. Providence, Rhode Island and Manchester, New Hampshire have some potential, particularly with low-cost carriers. "

In addition, Mr. Paiva hopes to see the opening of the European market in order to break British Airways' unofficial monopoly of the Bermuda to London route.

"We definitely need another carrier out of London," he said. "I'd love to see Virgin here. They pay very good commissions in the Caribbean."

Mr. Paiva would also like to see an international carrier operating flights to and from Germany in the near future, noting the reputation of the German people as the world's greatest tourists: insatiable travellers with money to spend.

"Germans wouldn't see Bermuda as too expensive as the euro is so strong," Mr. Paiva explained.

As for his personal favourite destinations, Mr. Paiva, an avid traveller himself, was loath to choose just one location as his first choice.

"I love a lot of places," he said. "I've been to Peru and thought it was wonderful, and the plan is to do all of South America. I liked Costa Rica. I also love Europe. I plan to do Russia. I've been to the Holy Lands and Turkey, which are some of my favourite places of all."

Despite the dangerous socio-political climate in the Middle East, Mr. Paiva plans to continue travelling in potentially hazardous countries like Israel.

"It's not too dangerous in the Holy Lands," he explained. "I don't believe in living in fear. I don't plan on going to Iran on holiday, but I have friends in Turkey and Israel conducting business with no issues. They're not foolish enough to take you into any hot beds of violence. Frankly, I'm more frightened in some US cities because of the recent terrorist attacks than I am in Turkey or Israel."

Paiva's fascination with Russian literature and history ? dating from his days as a humanities major in college ? will take him to Russia in the near future.

"A company called Intrav operates these fabulous trips through Russia by river. You go into the heart of each city as the original mariners did. Rivers were the original roads of Europe."

When not running C-Travel or planning his own adventures, Mr. Paiva enjoys working out at the gym. He makes lifting weights a priority. He spends as much time as possible with his family, including two daughters and two young granddaughters.

Mr. Paiva is also interested in gardening, the arts (Goya being his favourite artist), and, of course, reading.

"When you're a literature major, that never goes away," he said with a smile. "But I love my job.