John Coletta of Travel Away with TS’s Susan Kooiman and Charlotte Antill and Hymie Lebowitz of YYZ Travel
Travel Away’s Stefica Maradin and Chad Burnett of TS
The historic and welcoming Steam Whistle Brewery
Transat will be capitalizing on its transatlantic roots more than ever before next year, with impressive lift and land offerings. Such was the message at a by-invitation-only event held for 150 agents this week at the Steam Whistle Brewery at the foot of the CN Tower in downtown Toronto.
Agents were treated to sessions at eight themed “cafés”, each featuring regional munchies such as souvlaki and mini pizzas at the Italy/Greece station.
“We’ve taken a different approach to tonight’s event,” Nicole Bursey, Commerical Director, told me. “Rather than looking for quantities of agents, our BDMs hand-picked the agents most likely to sell more Europe.” For 2017, she added, there won’t be lots of new product, but an emphasis on how the company is positioning itself with more focus on guided tours, on cruises (now packaged with air) and convenient connector flights in Canada such as daily YVR/YYZ service.
Another education emphasis was on the fact that the company is featuring London and Paris, even in winter (“Great Christmas shopping!” Bursey assured me).
The days when clients waited for March Break to be over to start planning their European holiday seem to be gone. TTAND’s Scott Waldron told me that he’s seeing interest in destinations as diverse as Italy and Iceland - and “It’s so nice to see Paris coming back!” Maggie Osorio of Transat’s downtown retail office said she’d had eight clients asking for the Europe brochure last week alone.
Thanks to enticing seat sales there’s already been a lot of bookings for 2017, and with the company offering flights from five Canadian cities to 27 destinations within Europe, it looks like it’s going to be a bumper year for TS in Europe.
Nicole Bursey with TS’s Dan Prior, Sales Manager Ontario and
Atlantic and Lindsay Merrill, Inside Sales Supervisor
