Sal Buccellato & Gavin Jimenez, Bahia Principe
Annika Klint of KAI joins Kim Barbisan, ACV Area Sales Manager
Gillian Harper, repping St. Kitts' Ocean Terrace Inn
Catherine Butchart & Dale Pusching with Anguilla as well as SuperClubs
There was a stellar crowd of A-list travel agents at the Toronto ACV sun product launch this week. Held at the Old Mill Restaurant – a bastion of tudoresque charm in the city’s west end – the launch featured an impressive 54 suppliers and lots of news about the 2013/14 winter season chez ACV. The event marked the 1st of ACV’s 39 product launches this month!
There may be no brand new destinations, but Denise Graham, General Manager, Sales for Ontario & Western Canada, tells me there’s still lots of news. Rouge of course is making great strides since its launch July 1st, and the tour operator is gradually converting several sun destinations to all-rouge service. Initial destinations of the D.R. and Cuba will this winter be joined by Cancun, St. Kitts and Grenada. “It gives us a huge benefit, to be able to control the aircraft,” she told me.
Which destination does she predict will be the shining star for ACV this winter? “Grenada. It’s already doing extremely well and our exclusive position with the new Sandals Resort it’s going to be great!”
Also worth noting is the current ACV and Me travel agent promo whereby you’ll earn 500 Aeroplan miles for every online booking you make during September.
And how about the destinations? Suzanne Flemming of Couples told me that their new resort Couples Barbados offers more than any other all-inclusive on the island, including a catamaran cruise and swim with sea turtles; a “Barbadian Monkey tour” and a trip to the Friday night fish-fry in the village of Oistins (been there, done that and highly recommend it for a fun and authentic night out!)
ACV has added the 5* Regent Grand to its line-up in the Turks & Caicos and as of November will have a whopping 5 flights weekly to the destination from YYZ plus service from YUL and YOW.
Annika Klint was proud to tell me that Coconut Bay in St. Lucia is ACV’s #1 selling hotel there – “Great value, with an adults-only or family option.”
Service to St. Kitts is starting early this year, with the 1st rotation 04NOV instead of the usual late December start-up. And speaking of St. Kitts, how nice to see Gillian Harper – who many will remember as Gillian Shearer – repping the Ocean Terrace Inn in St. Kitts, currently undergoing a number of upgrades. “Last year, visits from Canadians were up 200%!”
After the trade show, the agents were treated to a generous buffet dinner and even more insider info. A great treat to see everyone so keen to learn and scooping up literature – clearly still a viable selling tool even in the internet era.
So: one product launch down, 38 to go! Good luck, suppliers!
For all the details on the Air Canada Vacations Passion brochure, click here to check out the Headliner.
