Agents visit the Bee & Bee - Mason Bee Pollinator Hotel at the rooftop garden of the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel.
Bee Butler Michael King describes the intricacy of a beehive and the life cycle of the honey bee.
Marnie Pitchford of Flight Centre Associates attended the event with Ross McKinnon of Expedia CruiseShipCenters.
Evelyn Podoleanu of Amigos Travel was happy to meet with Dan Wheeler of Denihan Hospitality.
Ming with Nina Mays, Business Development Manager of ABC Global Services.
ABC Global Services hosted a trade show last week at the Vancouver Fairmont Waterfront Hotel for the travel trade. About 130 agents turned up to visit with 17 suppliers representing hotels and a car service.
Prior to the trade show, the Fairmont invited agents up to their rooftop garden to showcase a few of the hotel's green initiatives - including herb & vegetable gardens, organic composter, a mason bee pollinator (cutely dubbed Bee & Bee) and 4 hives which will be home to 250,000 honey bees, brought here every season to produce honey for the Fairmont's many recipes served in its various food outlets. The hotel's Bee Butler - and what an ingenious job title - Michael King told us amazing facts about honey bees and how crucial they are in our lives. Going strong for 9 years, the bee program is tremendously successful and even offers daily tours to the public.
Back downstairs, agents were treated to a buffet of delicious bites from the Fairmont's kitchen (but no honey products yet as the bees do not arrive until later this month) and visited with the suppliers. A passport was stamped at each table and numerous prizes were drawn throughout the evening. Our hosts, Patricia Free, V.P. Business Development and Eric Altschul, CEO, ABC Global Services addressed the crowd about their vast network of over 40,000 hotels worldwide, personalized agency support, as well as the online booking tool ezBookbyABC.com.
Marnie Pitchford, a travel consultant with Flight Centre Associates, is a strong proponent of ABC. She uses ezBook and finds it a great one-stop shop. Her only wish is for a steady CAD exchange to allow her to quote CAD rates with confidence, as the current setup is based on a fluctuating exchange rate that changes daily. She informs me that ABC is aware of this challenge and is working to resolve it. The fact that they are willing to work with the Canadian agent partners speaks volume of ABC's dedication to gain our trust and business.
Evelyn Gawat Podoleanu of Amigos Travel was a 1st time attendee and found the event very beneficial, as it was a terrific opportunity to be introduced to several boutique hotel suppliers who are not as well known as the large chains. I would agree that this is a key feature in what makes the show a success, for both the agents and the hotel partners.
Today's agents need to learn and network in an efficient manner, and I am happy to see that these trade shows continue to draw strong participation. ABC Global Services certainly does a good job in uniting suppliers and agents under one roof, a great partnership to keep us as busy as the Fairmont bees!
