Suzanne Fleming, BDM Eastern Canada TLNetwork Canada; Christine James VP Canada TL Network; Anju Bliss, TLNetwork Canada; Polina Rabenok, TLNetwork Canada
Roger Block, President Travel Leaders Franchise Group and Christine James, Vice President Canada TL Network.
What do the following countries have in common? Canada, the States, Greece, Ireland, Italy, India and the U.K.?
They are all home to agencies belonging to the Travel Leaders group. “We are constantly coming up with refinements,” says Roger Block, President of the massive travel consortium, explaining the group’s appeal and adding that two more countries are “on tap.”
Here in Canada, numbers remain steady as the total of member agencies nudges the 700 mark. “And our fees remain at $475 – not changed for 19 years!” says Christine James, who heads up the group in Canada.
Attending the second of four TL fall Canadian trade shows, Block and James expressed how pleased they were with turnout and registrations. The shows wrap up in Vancouver on 25OCT.
“One of our strongest assets for agents is our Agent Profiler tool, continuing to deliver outstanding results, with a close ratio of over 25% and average transaction above $5,000,” Block informed me.
Another plus for the group, he says, is the fairly-recent association with ATTA, the Adventure Travel Trade Association. According to Travel Leaders, it’s clear travellers are looking for adventure – particularly soft adventure with a comfy landing in a nice hotel at the end of the day.
The group is also proud of its activities on the charitable side, with a foundation created to support TL agency staffers who are facing issues with health or dealing with natural disasters.
Asked about the prospects for Canada, James is consistently upbeat. She is proud that Canadian travellers are so resilient and that even terror attacks cannot dampen our enthusiasm for travel. Block also expressed his gratitude to suppliers who are consistently upping the bar in, for example, hotel and ship amenities.
Martha Chapman Columnist
An OJ columnist since 2006, Martha is responsible for the Biting Questions features as well as special seasonal series. A travel industry lifer known to all in the biz, she frequently covers industry events for Open Jaw.
