Morris Chia, TPI President & CEO, addresses the crowd of attendees at the 2014 TPI Annual Conference, Stir the Skies, celebrating TPI's 20th anniversary
Tim Morgan, TPI Vice President
Gary Sadler, Sandals Senior Vice President of Sales with Morris Chia
The crowd of attendees at the 2014 TPI Annual Conference
Celebrating its 20th annual conference, Travel Professionals International welcomed nearly 400 of its travel advisors and their guests, preferred partners and TPI Head Office staff, to the Platinum Yucatan Princess and Grand Riviera Princess resorts on the Riviera Maya.
“It is hard to believe that it was 2 decades ago, in 1994, that our concept and vision for this company came to fruition and TPI was founded. I am thankful every moment for what we have accomplished together as a team at TPI,” said Morris Chia, TPI founder, President & CEO.
With a theme of “Stir the Skies,” attendees were invited to dream big personally and professionally and to hold steadfastly to those dreams even in the face of adversity.
During his opening keynote address, Chia revisited the company’s humble beginnings in Winnipeg, when his financial advisor told him that, “(he) would be better off to work at a regular 9 to 5,” but Chia said, “I had a dream.”
It took Chia and his small initial team of staff and travel advisors many years to gain industry acceptance and to become what is today the country’s largest network of independent travel advisors and a member of Virtuoso.
Looking forward, Chia outlined the top 3 priorities for the next 20 months – consumer and advisor engagement, technology development and taking advantage of industry trends in exclusivity.
Tim Morgan, TPI Vice President, dove further into these 3 priorities alongside Mark Luimes, TPI Director of Technology and Joelle Goldman, Virtuoso North Central Regional Director of Global Member Partnerships.
Together, they outlined a calendar for 2015 which includes over 160 in-person advisor or consumer events focused on increasing advisors’ travel sales. Other highlights include technology enhancements designed to maximize advisor efficiency and take advantage of web-based sales channels as well as continuing to leverage the value-added amenities exclusive to Virtuoso members to drive consumer retention and referrals.
In addition to the record-breaking nearly 400 guests in attendance, further records were shattered in the form of 50 supplier representatives from 33 preferred partners. Among them was Gary Sadler, Sandals Senior Vice President of Sales, who addressed the crowd on the importance of Sandals’ longstanding relationship with TPI.
The TPI 20th anniversary conference was made possible by the support of its presenting partners, WestJet and WestJet Vacations and platinum partners TIC Insurance and Transat Holidays/Nolitours, among others.
