This week: Virtual Travel Week is underway in Las Vegas; Transat Distribution Canada has a social media solution for members; and TRAVELSAVERS leads the way on artificial intelligence.
Virtuoso
More than 4,800 industry professionals from 107 countries have gathered in Las Vegas this week for the 37th annual Virtuoso Travel Week – an annual gathering designed to play a strategic role in the sales cycle, helping attendees cultivate relationships, expand product knowledge across the network and lay the groundwork for future revenue growth.
Recognizing the pivotal role Virtuoso Travel Week plays in driving the bottom line for its member agencies, travel advisors and preferred partners, Virtuoso continues to evolve the event format to maximize networking opportunities for attendees.
The weeklong program started on Aug. 9, with a full day of Community Globetrotting sessions, which continued into Sunday. The sessions explored passion-point travel categories reflecting Virtuoso Communities – cruise, adventure, family, culinary, wellness, ultraluxe and sustainability – in immersive settings.
Another highlight of the Virtuoso Week kick-off was the 4th annual Travel Tech Summit, led by tech entrepreneur, investor and Virtuoso board member Gilad Berenstein.
“Virtuoso Travel Week is no longer one event, but multiple events allowing attendees to plan how they spend their days,” said Virtuoso Sr. VP Jennifer Campbell. “We have agency executives who choose to have longer and more intentional meetings. We have top producers and veterans who may not sit at the networking tables but instead spend their time in more strategic conversations or mentoring their attending advisors. We have many who are in the midst of building their careers or are first-time attendees and do it all… This week is about configuring their time to focus on what is most important to them.”
Virtuoso Travel Week concludes Friday (Aug. 15).
TDC
Transat Distribution Canada (TDC) recently launched TDC Social Media powered by Rallio, a turnkey solution to improve the online presence of network members, which allows them to manage all their social media pages centrally by providing original and exclusive content to network members that can be personalized for each of their agencies, completely free of charge.
“In the distribution industry via travel professionals, it is not always easy to stand out since the product offering is relatively similar from one network to another,’” says Karine Gagnon, TDC’s General Manager. “The key to carving out a distinctive place in the customers’ minds is to have a strong voice and a unique brand image online, especially on social media. And that’s what TDC Social Media offers to members of our entire network.”
Marc Pelletier, TDC’s sr. director of marketing, communications and events, says TDC Social Media offers a very rich content library. “Our members have access to original and impactful publications and visuals, created for them by the TDC marketing team, and made available to them if they wish to modify them. For me, it ticks all the boxes: it’s perfect for both the owner or advisor who has few resources to devote to maintaining their online presence and needs something ready to use, as well as for those who are already very active on social media but would like occasional support to improve their posts.”
TRAVELSAVERS Canada
With the use of artificial intelligence transforming travel, TRAVELSAVERS Canada says it is “leading the charge” in the space by providing a custom-built AI platform for its advisors to help them “sell smarter, market faster, and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.”
TRAVELSAVERS says AI Connect, in partnership with Toby, helps advisors market more effectively, enabling them to reallocate time to other essential responsibilities.
And, as a result, it says, subscriptions (complimentary seven-day trial provided) have been growing each month since its introduction in the fall of 2024.
Tailored specifically for travel advisors, features include:
- Exclusive, real-time supplier promotions for faster content creation.
- Pre-written social media caption templates for Reels, stories, and posts.
- Coaching and support for writing, strategy, hashtags, and content planning.
- Never used to train outside AI models, ensuring security and confidentiality.
- Integrated with Canva for easy, on-brand visuals using royalty-free images.
- Advanced tools like Newsletter Builder, VS Translate (multilingual support), VS Voice (AI
- voiceover), and over 600 editable Destination Guides.
This isn’t about chasing trends, it’s about creating them,” says Jane Clementino, Sr. VP. and GM of TRAVELSAVERS Canada. “AI Connect gives our advisors a strategic edge, delivering tailored, conversion-focused content in minutes, not hours. With our latest updates, we’re raising the bar for what smart selling looks like in today’s travel industry.”
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