Miwa Kobayashi, HIS Canada; Rosanna Panetta, Air Canada and Takahiro Mitsuki, IACE Travel with Air Canada's Zeina Gedeon & Kevin Howlett
Air Canada's Rosanna Panetta & Edna Ray talk shop with Uniglobe's Hank Oostveen
Amelia Lee, Jade Tours; William Tao & Maggie Tao, Jolly Time Travel; Alice Tse, Jade Tours & Fiona Wu, I & J Travel
Zeina Gedeon with Prime Travel's Jeff Balabanov; Erik Austin, Whistler Blackcomb & Gerald Roper, W.E. Travel Services
“We want to say thank you to everyone,” said Air Canada’s Zeina Gedeon, V.P. Sales, Canada & Product Distribution. “Historically, we are not too friendly with travel agents but I am a firm believer in them,” she added.
In town to host an appreciation evening for the trade, Gedeon even managed to visit 5 top agencies during her whirlwind 1 day trip to Vancouver.
The event was held in a private room at the Hawksworth Restaurant in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia. Heading up the AC contingent, Gedeon was accompanied by some senior sales personnel from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, including Kevin Howlett, Senior V.P. Regional Markets.
“I’m dreaming of lots of business from you,” Gedeon told the crowd of about 100 tour operators, travel agents and corporate clients in attendance. She added, “This year, we have fantastic capacity growth. Our team is here to help you, just call them.”
Gedeon revealed plans to alter the way AC treats the travel trade. “We need to change the way we communicate. We need to tell people what’s going on instead of them finding things out from the newspapers,” she said. Taking this proactive approach, Gedeon will start by hiring an external consultant to train AC’s sales personnel.
Competition from Asian carriers has made Air Canada realize that they can no longer rest on their laurels. “We need to get rid of the mentality that we are the biggest carrier here,” said Gedeon. “But we do have an amazing airline.” By investing in its people and tech tools, Gedeon is determined to give AC a more competitive edge.
This year, the airline is rolling out expanded capacity at a rate that hasn't been seen in 15 years. That is, due in part to the upcoming introduction of the new B787 aircraft – YYZ will get one for flights to Tel Aviv while 4 will be based at YVR to service the long-haul Asian routes. These planes will replace the current B777s allowing that aircraft to be deployed on European routes.
Looks like Air Canada is heading in the right direction judging from the appreciative murmurs around the room. “It’s nice that Air Canada is showing us they do think of us,” said one operator.
