Travel Leaders Network (TLN) wrapped its cross-country fall regional PEAK showcases last week boasting “biggest ever” numbers. Such was the turnout in Toronto – 160 members plus 72 supplier partners – that the TLN was forced to relocate to a larger venue near Pearson Airport than was required in previous years.
Previously, close to 100 advisors turned out for similarly sold-out events in Calgary and about 165 in Vancouver.
In sum, TLN VP Canada Christine James said, “We exceeded numbers in every city.”
In part, that was because TLN has added over 30 member agencies to date this year (for a total of approximately 600 in Canada), and more and more independent contractors (IC) attended the events, a development James welcomes, stating, “Many of them are new to the industry and we want them to come out and engage with suppliers.”
Beyond a trade show and gala dinner, attendees in Toronto also had the opportunity to take part in a full afternoon of member updates, workshops, and panels, not least focussing on two key areas: luxury and cruise.
Of the former, James said the burgeoning trend is helping keeping earnings robust at TLN this year as clients continue to book high-end trips – a trend that emerged after the pandemic and hasn’t diminished.
Making the biggest waves, however, is cruising.
“(It’s) gone nuts,” James enthused, revealing that it now represents nearly 40% of Travel Leaders’ overall business, which for Canada, she says, is “phenomenal.”
Indeed, the cruise companies are taking notice, she says, putting more resources into this country.
“The cruise lines see Canada as an untouched market – there’s nowhere to go but up,” she noted, adding, “River cruising is really popular. The price point, isn’t cheap, but people are willing to pay.”
Overall, she laughed, “The cruise lines can’t build enough ships, and they can find enough rivers to sail.”
Technology
To that end, Travel Leaders has introduced a cruise booking engine, which is just one component of a new suite of tools that includes a hotel and car platform called SNAP, which will add air in the first quarter of 2025.
The latter is designed to encourage advisors to book flights, a diminishing trend in agencies – especially among newcomers to the trade.
James says she can’t imagine why anyone would turn down the business of booking flights, but hopes SNAP will help by easing unfamiliarity and fear of debit memos.
Of course, TLN’s biggest tech tool asset is the Agent Profiler lead generation system, which James says has led to almost 10,000 leads for member advisors who have created a profile in on the platform (for free), resulting in average sales of $10,000.
Closing rates for AP are about 25% and cumulative commissions have totalled $2.3 million, she adds.
The key to TLN’s success, however, says James, is depth and diversity of offerings,
“Our secret sauce is not just one, two or three things. We have 20 to 30 things (and) depending on the member, there’s going to be something in our toolkit that’s going to be better than what anybody else can offer.”
If you enjoyed or found this story useful, we’d appreciate if you would forward it to a colleague or friend who may also enjoy it. If, on the other hand, a friend shared it with you, welcome! You can get all the latest travel news and reviews from Travel Industry by simply clicking HERE.