By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ TravelBrands celebrated its surprising “145 anniversary” at an evening gala at the swank Boulevard Club in Toronto Tuesday evening. And with a ballroom brimming with staff and industry partners – many with long connections to the company – in attendance for the milestone, what better occasion to unveil a new look for the company as it heads into the future?
Having once been part of Thomas Cook (founded in 1841 and is considered the world’s oldest tour operator), TravelBrands – now owned by Japanese travel giant H.I.S. Co. – certainly has plenty of history in its history.
But, on this occasion, the company was pulling a little mathematical slight of hand to aggregate the years of operation of its sub brands, Holiday House/Fun Sun, Intair, and Encore Cruises – 70, 40 and 35, respectively – to come up with 145 collective years, explained senior director of sales Bruce Lidburg, who added that, individually, each company had helped shape the Canadian the Canadian travel industry in their own way.
Indeed, those companies started with land lines and printed brochures, in contrast to today’s digital environment, he observed.
TravelBrands CEO Nathalie Tanious joked that she hadn’t even been born when the most tenured of those companies was founded and thanked everyone in attendance for playing a part in the success of the TravelBrands story to date.
But quickly added that the company was nevertheless focused on the future, even amidst today’s troubles, laughing, “When hasn’t the travel industry been in crisis?”
New look
With this in mind, and champagne in hand, TravelBrands SVP Partnerships and Marketing Sam Youssef took the stage to the unveil the company’s new brand, featuring a new streamlined logo and slogan, “Your Window to the World” (evolving the former “giving access” to the world tagline).
“(It’s) a window that inspires Canadians to dream bigger, to travel further and to experience more,” said Youssef. “And behind that window, there is the strength of our true travel partners: more than 2 million hotels worldwide, over than 85 airline partners, 20-plus cruise lines, 10-plus car rentals, global presence and global reach, and vacation packages that all come together in one system: TravelBrands.”
Youseff said the logo was inspired by airline windows intersecting, symbolizing the magical moment looking out at the world just before the traveller’s journey begins.
The colour palette of the branding, he continued, ranges from sky blue to deep ocean to golden amber and black sand, all reflecting the beauty of the natural world… and thoughtfully designed around the emotion and excitement of travel.
“This is the new identity that reflects who we are today, and we are going to be tomorrow,” declared Youssef. “Smarter. Global. Connected. Bold. Welcome to the new TravelBrands.”
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