In this week’s bumper retail round-up ACTA welcomes back a new old face, Celebrity celebrates with TTAND, Virtuoso makes moves with Malta, Travel Edge is looking to inspire new agents, and Canadian agents join the Uniglobe Chairman’s Circle.
ACTA
ACTA’s reports that its advocacy efforts will be taken up by Avery Campbell later this month, following the resignation of Steve Olmstead, who is leaving for personal reasons. Campbell returns to ACTA after a short hiatus.
Wendy Paradis, ACTA President, says that Campbell’s return ensures a smooth transition in the role of as Director of Advocacy and Industry Relations.
Campbell joined ACTA in 2021 with more than five years travel industry experience at Awarding Canada and McCord Travel, along with working as the Public Affairs Manager at the Canola Council of Canada. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree focusing on government and communications, a law degree, and a graduate certificate in air & space law.
Paradis said that advocacy priorities going into 2024 include working with the federal and provincial governments to reduce the financial and administrative burden on travel agencies and advisors, and to support the growth of the travel and tourism industry through national workforce development initiatives.
“Next steps with the Ontario government and TICO as an outcome of the Ontario Auditor General Report will commence this month, along with further travel supplier advocacy with the goal of building a stronger retail travel industry and Canadian travel industry at large,” she added.
Uniglobe
Uniglobe Travel International recently announced its 2023 Uniglobe Chairman’s Circle members – awarded to Uniglobe agencies and travel management companies (TMCs) that achieve the highest standards of service and financial performance. Thirty-three Uniglobe members from 12 countries were recognized in December at an annual meeting in Thailand (banner photo) hosted by Uniglobe President and COO Martin Charlwood. The Canadian recipients were Shawn Ashton, Uniglobe Sportscorp Travel, Bolton, Ont.; Doug Revell, Uniglobe Specialty Travel, Vancouver; and Zulkifle (Zul) Shaikhali, Uniglobe The Premiere Travel Group, Ottawa.
“This group has not been able to meet in person since 2019 and we value the time we spend face-to-face talking about our industry and how we can continue to innovate and engage high-performing members around the world,” said Charlwood. “We like to celebrate the successes of our Chairman’s Circle members.”
TTAND
The Travel Agent Next Door was named Canada Account of the Year by Celebrity Cruises during the 2023 Top Travel Agency Advisor Awards. The award was given out to the agency with the highest year -over-year increase in revenue, over-achieving sales goals.
“The team at The Travel Agent Next Door have been a true pleasure to work with and this award is incredibly well deserved,” said Celebrity Cruises National Director Sales Allan Brooks. “From the top down the entire team have been fully engaged and have a true passion for the travel industry. The TTAND leadership team have built a culture of support, transparency, and shared success, making it easy to jump onboard with this group of pros.”
Virtuoso
Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), a Virtuoso member since 2017, reports that Exclusively Malta has been accepted as a Virtuoso Preferred On-Site Supplier. The growing number of Malta’s Virtuoso preferred suppliers also includes the InterContinental Malta, The Phoenicia Malta, Iniala Harbour House & Residences and Citrus Meetings & Events.
Jason Camilleri Allan, co-founder of Exclusively Malta said, “Destination Malta’s luxury product has rapidly expanded in recent years, and this is in part due to the increasing number of luxury properties as well as the creation of new and exclusive curated experiences unique to Malta… We are sure that one of the reasons why Exclusively Malta has been accepted this year (by Virtuoso) is due largely to the fact that Malta itself has come a long way in establishing itself as a luxury destination; we have much better luxury options for accommodations, restaurants and experiences.”
Travel Edge Network
Host agency Travel Edge Network, specializing in luxury/premium travel, has launched a social media campaign and contest to recruit new advisors and showcase the many benefits of a career as a travel professional. “The Big Ticket” will be featured on Instagram, Meta, LinkedIn, Google, TikTok and YouTube to reach a wide-ranging audience who are passionate about travel to enter a contest that will award them with a launching pad for a travel career starting with a fully hosted professional development trip.
The winners will also be “brand ambassadors” who will produce content showing consumers like them the behind-the-scenes life and benefits of being part of the newly launched tiered Venture program, designed for both new-to-business advisors and more tenured travel professionals. All participants will be offered the chance to join Travel Edge Network.
“There is no better time than now to consider a career as a travel advisor,” notes Nadiya Makarenko, Sr. VP of Travel Edge Network. “Through this campaign, we want to both identify and inspire those who are passionate about travel to consider a career path as an independent advisor and to provide them with the tools, resources and training to get started and be successful in a career that offers unlimited growth potential, independence and flexibility to accommodate varied lifestyles.”
To enter, participants need to upload a 60-second video sharing a travel memory and reasons why they would want to be a Travel Edge advisor. This contest is open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec) and the US. Entries are limited to one per person and must be submitted by Jan. 26. Two winners will be announced in early February.