Krystal Langenberg, National Director Business Development, Anderson Vacations
Krystal Langenberg, Anderson Vacations; Francois Jean Viel, Director Tour & Travel, Destination Quebec; Charlotte Jewczyk, Manager Market Development/Travel Trade, Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism; Stephanie Clovechok, Travel Trade Manager, Canada & U.S., Travel Alberta; & Aubrey Schmidt, Sales Manager, North America, APT
Christopher Salmond, Travel Only
Travel Only's Angela Gabriel & Maria Stainburn
Centre Holidays' Marlene Tull & Owen Syblis
After 20 years of being a family owned and operated business, Anderson Vacations has grown from a mom and pop start up to a nationwide tour operating company. Staying true to their origins, they specialize in Canadian product, but also offer services Down Under – Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands.
Anderson Vacations has spent the last few weeks travelling across the country with this year’s Agent Appreciation and Training Events. With 18 events in total, the tour is keeping Krystal Langenberg, National Director of Business Development of Anderson Vacations, and the company’s travel partners very busy. “We are here to educate agents on our product and highlight key events that are going on in our provinces,” said Stephanie Clovechok, Travel Alberta’s Travel Trade Manager for Canada and the U.S.
Francois Jean Viel, Director of Tour and Travel, Destination Quebec; Charlotte Jewczyk, Market Development and Travel Trade Manager, Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism and Aubrey Schmidt, Sales Manager North America, APT, were also on hand at the Toronto event, held at The 3 Brewers Restaurant last Thursday.
Langenberg said that over 50 agents RSVP’d to the Toronto event, but looking around the room, there were many empty seats and attendance was sparse. However, the agents that were present were very keen on the learning experience and helped themselves to the many brochures and reading material that were available. “We are here to get some information on the products; what’s available; the prices,” said Angela Gabriel of Travel Only.
“I’d like to know more about Canada,” said her colleague, Maria Stainburg. “I don’t sell a lot of Canada – mostly destination weddings, groups, cruises. It would be nice to know what’s in our own backyard.”
Marlene Tull of Centre Holidays in Mississauga said that she was most interested in learning about Newfoundland. “I heard it was beautiful,” she said. “Australia is also on my bucket list.”
Anderson Vacations nurtures their relationship with travel agents and the training and appreciation events are just one example of this. The company offers webinars, brochures and posters, as well as booking incentives such as FAM trips and higher commission rates.
According to Langenberg, Anderson Vacations has been profitable in the last couple of years despite economic downturns in the industry, but not many people are aware of the Calgary based tour operator and the services they offer. “We’ve increased the events in Ontario from 5 to 11 this year because we felt it was important to raise more awareness in this area and region,” she said. “The demand for education is here.”
