Vacation.com's John Lovell
Canadian VP Christine James
The Vacation.com press briefing kit
To say that things are going well for Vacation.com would be an understatement. The consortium has enjoyed 30 consecutive months of growth – including the addition of 139 member agencies in Canada last year (and 39 for the 1st 2 months of 2013).
“We rock the market!” says Christine James, V.P. Canada who marks her 14th anniversary with the group this year. In fact, the group has a disproportionately high number of Canadian members, ringing in at 644 of the total 5,100 locations across North America.
As part of a media briefing this week, President John Lovell outlined some of the trends the organization is seeing, its new services for members and a bit of a preview of this year’s conference.
The luxury segment continues to expand and Europe is seeing a re-bound after last year’s sluggish sales. River cruising particularly is seeing strong growth according to Lovell, “I wish they’d dredge more rivers in Europe!”
New programs continue to hit home with V.com members and bring more into the fold. These include the new member portal agent universe; the Culinary Collection (for food-themed cruises) and the Go Site See travel app.
After last year’s blockbuster annual conference which saw over 1,300 agency managers and frontline staff aboard the Oasis of the Seas (“the largest event ever held at sea”), V.com head office is already busy planning 2014, to take place in Orlando. As well as an evening at SeaWorld – which will close to host them – V.com is initiating a community event, encouraging donations to Orlando area teachers and schools. A nice, personal touch from such a huge organization!
