On 23NOV The Travel Agent Next Door founder and CEO Flemming Friisdahl and his staff welcomed over 90 suppliers from across Canada to Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel for the host agency's VIP Supplier Event.
Reflecting on the past two years, Friisdahl proudly pointed out that while the company had lost some 250 travel agents, they had gained 450 – and TTAND continues to grow. They reduced fees until April 2023, but did not reduce any support staff. Held over 250 zoom meetings to keep agents trained and in the loop. And chose to switch from Ensemble to TL Network, in what Friisdahl called “a win for us”.
Senior management were joined by TTAND staff from across Canada and Raj Gautam, based in India, where TTAND’s quality control, commission-posting and IT development takes place. In all TTAND has 18 employees in India helping keep costs down while providing, according to Friisdahl, 18 hours of support daily. “The importance is that they can do it overnight.”
And while he had thought 2023 was going to be the year of recovery, 2022 is more than 50 per cent above sales from pre-pandemic 2019 and is already at $255 million – a number Friisdahl expects to grow to $260 million by year end.
2023 is looking good, too. Friisdahl anticipates the number of TTAND agents to increase to 1,200, supported by as many as 50 staff - and sales to rise to at least $305 million. There will be a free, new proprietary program launching in April which will allow the agents to manager their group bookings online. Its annual conference – free to TTAND agents - will be held in Costa Mujeres at the Majestic Elegance.
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The company also revealed a new logo, similar to the previous one but with stronger colours and with a selection of customizable taglines for the agents to showcase their specialty. Or they can even create their own tagline.
Although she has been in her role as Director of Marketing for TTAND for only two months, Antje Splettstoesser told Open Jaw “It feels like eight years – in a good way! All of us are working very hard to make the agents' lives better.” 82 per cent of sales, she added, are from preferred or approved suppliers. “I like that the agents are our bosses, we listen to the feedback and implement what they want.”
“We are so pleased you chose to work with us,” Friisdaal told the assembled suppliers. “We will continue to be the best in class.”
