This week: 2026 ACTA Awards nominations are open; Uniglobe Travel top performed convened in Cancun; Ensemble takes stock ahead of its Horizon event next week; TRAVELSAVERS founder Rick Mazza received a prestigious CLIA award; Virtuoso held its annual Symposium in Seoul; Saint Lucia’s agents months return; and Utah is offering Canadian travel advisors a chance for a FAM.
ACTA
Nominations are now open for the annual 2026 ACTA Awards, recognizing outstanding travel professionals and industry leaders from coast to coast. A new category is the new Travel Manager Award, recognizing a manager in either corporate or leisure travel who demonstrates outstanding leadership, versatility, and innovation while delivering exceptional service to both clients and their teams.
Other categories include:
- Leisure Travel Advisor Award
- Corporate Travel Advisor Award
- Tomorrow’s Leader Award
- Ches Chard Education Award
- Gerald Heifetz Advocacy Award
- CTC/CTM Lifetime Achievement Award
- New for 2026: Travel Manager Award
Members of the travel industry are encouraged to submit nominations for colleagues, peers, or even themselves. Nominees must be ACTA Members in good standing, and a panel of industry experts will review all submissions to select this year’s recipients.
Detailed criteria for each award category and nomination form can be found at https://www.acta.ca/awards-criteria.php/ .
Uniglobe Travel (Canada)
Uniglobe top performers (banner photo) were recently treated to a trip to Cancun, courtesy of partners WestJet and Barceló.
Sharing in the camaraderie of colleagues from across the country, the award winners enjoyed the backdrop of the Barceló Maya Riviera resorts for a well-deserved celebration of their hard work and achievements.
Days of sun-soaked relaxation were followed by group dinners, creating a reminder of “the power of teamwork and the joy of achieving great things together,” says Uniglobe, as well as “fostering motivation and inspiration to continue excelling in their fields.”
Ensemble
As Ensemble prepares to bring together its global network for its annual Horizons event at Resorts World Las Vegas from May 4-6, the organization is marking a series of notable milestones, led by its fourth consecutive year of profit sharing with members.
Four years after its acquisition and complete transformation of the brand, Ensemble says it continues to see strong momentum across the network, with overall sales increasing 11% year over year with growth led by double digit gains in cruise, while touring and has remained consistent across both the U.S. and Canada.
The organization says it has welcomed more than 50 new agencies in the past year with growth driven largely by referrals and existing members. At the same time, Ensemble has continued to expand and refine its partner ecosystem, adding approximately 120 new preferred partners over the past year.
TRAVELSAVERS
Trailblazing TRAVELSAVERS Founder and CEO A.J. Rick Mazza was presented with Cruise Lines International Association’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame.
“Rick Mazza’s induction… honours a career that helped define our industry,” said Charles Sylvia, VP of Industry and Trade Relations for CLIA. “His visionary belief in travel advisors, commitment to partnership, and enduring advocacy have made an extraordinary contribution to cruise travel and strengthened the global travel advisor community. We are proud to recognize Rick’s remarkable legacy with this Lifetime Achievement Award.”
A former engineer-turned-successful travel agency owner seeking to exponentially grow his business, Mazza launched TRAVELSAVERS in 1970, organizing independent agencies into a marketing group that offered individualized support and pooling their buying power to compete against large agencies.
The organization began with just 55 agencies has grown into a thriving global network of more than 3,000 today with 25,000 advisors, including TRAVELSAVERS Canada.
Virtuoso
Virtuoso recently held its 2026 Symposium at the Conrad Seoul in Korea, welcoming 360 executives from Virtuoso travel agency members and preferred partners across 33 countries.
Blending high-level dialogue with on-the-ground exploration, the annual gathering focused on strategic insight and meaningful connection, bringing together senior decision-makers to align on the trends, data and shared priorities shaping the future of luxury travel.
During the Symposium, Executive VP David Kolner presented the latest leisure travel outlook from Oxford Economics, highlighting continued global growth through 2028 despite revised projections. Since December 2025, international forecasts for 2026 have been adjusted lower, while domestic travel has edged slightly higher, with continued growth in both segments still expected through 2027 and 2028.
Closing the General Session, Virtuoso announced that it will return to Singapore for its 2027 Symposium, scheduled May 18-22.
INCENTIVES
Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA)
Committed to strengthening partnerships with the travel trade through its annual travel advisor incentive program, the SLTA’s Saint Lucia Advisors Months (SLAM) returns from June through November with attractive booking incentives alongside exclusive accommodation rates for qualified travel advisors.
During their stay, advisors will experience curated land and sea excursions, guided tours and more that show the island’s diverse cuisine, tastes, sights and sounds. Included is a dedicated day of structured site inspections, including the newly constructed holistic wellness property, LifeCo, and the new ultra-luxurious ten-bedroom estate villa, La belle Helene by Windjammer Landing.
“This program is one of our most impactful initiatives for deepening engagement with our valued travel partners,” said Louis E. A. Lewis, CEO of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority. “By experiencing the destination first-hand, advisors are better equipped to authentically sell Saint Lucia’s unique blend of culture, adventure and hospitality. SLAM strengthens these relationships but also drives meaningful growth for our tourism sector by turning product knowledge into passion and bookings.”
For more information, go to https://slex.recommend.com/saint-lucia-agent-months-slam-is-here/.
Utah Office of Tourism
A new incentive program for Canadian travel advisors, timed with the rollout of the enhanced Utah Specialist Academy 2.0, rewards both newly certified and existing Utah Specialists with the opportunity to experience Utah firsthand.
Running through June 15, the campaign invites Canadian travel advisors to complete the updated specialist program for a chance to win a spot on an exclusive Utah FAM trip.
Advisors who successfully complete the program during the campaign period will automatically be entered into a draw for a chance to participate in the small-group experience, to take place between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31. The itinerary will highlight Utah’s diverse landscapes, outdoor adventures, and unique regional experiences.
Additionally, certified advisors are invited to apply for a unique opportunity to design their own Utah journey by submitting a proposed itinerary along with a short statement explaining why they would like to host the Utah FAM. One standout applicant will be selected to embark on the self-drive trip.
Canadian travel advisors can enroll and complete the Utah Specialist Academy 2.0 by visiting:
https://visitutahspecialistacademy.com .
Existing Utah Specialists can submit their FAM hosting application at https://forms.office.com/r/C5YXp726Qe .
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