If the success of an event can be measured in handshakes, backslaps, hugs and laughter, then this year’s ACTA Golf Tournament was again a triumph.
Held 11JUL at the Royal Ontario Golf Course in Milton, the yearly event attracted 144 golfers who were joined by 60 other industry types at dinner. As ACTA President Wendy Paradis told Open Jaw, “It’s a great way to build connections between retailers and suppliers – and it’s a sellout every year that we don’t even have to advertise.”
Plus, the event, this year the 34th, is an excellent fundraiser not only for ACTA’s advocacy fund but also for charity, this year the Red Cross Hurricane Fund.
“It’s always a great day,” Jane Clementino of Travelsavers told Open Jaw. “The camaraderie is so great – and everyone is on an equal playing field. After all, our business is all about building relationships.”
Added Club Med’s Samantha Gillingham, “It’s just great to see everyone and catch up – this is probably one of the best events each year.”
Addressing the group, Paradis said, “At ACTA we are dedicated to building a better travel industry in Canada. We have a strong collaboration with CATO, and on a local and worldwide basis we have collaborated more this year with others in our industry than in the past 20 years. What is critical is attracting new advisors – young people say ‘Is being a travel advisor even a job?’ So we engage in consistent social media about travel as a career, and have launched an e-book about becoming a travel advisor.”
As participants lingered over the generous buffet dinner, the turnout and genial atmosphere made it clear that ACTA had once again knocked it out of the park.
As Paradis said, to much applause, “We are in this together!”
