Air Canada’s VP Global Sales, Duncan Bureau, with Flight Aattendants Nikita Sachar and Tanya Hallé.
Eva Wilkinson, Owner/Manager, and
Azabeh Mousaviyan, Travel Consultant,
both of Captain Cook Travel.
Hank Oostveen, VP at Uniglobe Travel (Western Canada) and Marigold Frontuna, GM Sales in Western Canada at ACV.
Edna Ray, RSM at Air Canada and
Anne Murray, VP Marketing and Communications at YVR.
Jenny Revesz, Bronwen Hill, Rikki Hepburn and
Yvette Crossley, Travel Experts at
Personal Travel Management.
Angelica Mirza, Managing Ppartner at Mirzasearch and Ilaria Baldan, Executive Director at the
Italian Chamber of Commerce in Western Canada.
Angelica Mirza, Managing Ppartner at Mirzasearch and Ilaria Baldan, Executive Director at the
Italian Chamber of Commerce in Western Canada.
AC’s BDM for Western Canada, James Howey, takes to the stage with Duncan Bureau, to show off his festive red velvet jacket.
Melbourne bound: Trip winner Craig Sabasch, Senior Travel Advisor at North South Travel,
with Duncan Bureau.
To say the mood was merry at Air Canada’s Holiday Event at Vancouver’s uber-chic Loungeworks Inc on Thursday evening would be something of an understatement.
Hosted by Air Canada’s global sales team and the Vancouver Airport Authority, some 172 travel professionals made the season bright with a heady blend of cocktails, nibbles—there was a candy buffet people, a candy buffet!—and plenty of mixing and mingling.
VP Global Sales Duncan Bureau welcomed the lively crowd and introduced the many Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations staff who were enjoying the holiday event. In typical good-humoured style he joked: “So there’s clearly no-one running the airline!”
He then proceeded to wow the crowd by asking: “How many people would like to come with me tomorrow? We are starting our Melbourne flight, so who’s going to Melbourne with me?”
The excitement level in the room soared as a jar promptly filled up with the business cards of people who would happily hop onto the airline’s inaugural Melbourne flight the very next day.
It was a superb way to celebrate a monumental year for Air Canada: “This year represents Air Canada’s 80th year of operation. Obviously it’s tied in with Canada’s 150th, so we’ve had an incredible year,” Bureau explained.
“We’ve had incredible results this year and I want to thank everybody for your support. We’ve added new flights (from YVR) into Brisbane, Delhi and Dublin and we’re going to add Frankfurt, London Gatwick, Taipei and La Jolla. On the trans-border side we started Dallas, Denver and Boston. And for next year we’ve already announced Paris and Zurich, as well as a new flight into Sacramento.”
Bureau’s infectious enthusiasm was reflected by Anne Murray, VP Marketing and Communications at YVR.
“Air Canada has 62 destinations from YVR and over half of the passengers travelling out of YVR are getting on Air Canada. That’s a lot of YVR passengers,” she explained.
“Tomorrow is the launch of Melbourne, but I feel like it’s the 12 days of Christmas, because wait—there’s more. We’re introducing Yellowknife and Orlando before the end of the year.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the person who gets on the plane in Yellowknife on December 26 at minus 40, comes through YVR and ends up in Melbourne at plus 40!”
Spirits were certainly bright in the room, however, it has to be said, the real star of the evening had to be the superbly plush red velvet jacket worn by the airline’s popular BDM for Western Canada, James Howey.
“You’re all welcome to pet James Howey’s jacket,” laughed Bureau to the crowd, as Howey took to the stage to show off his sartorial prowess. Howey’s red velvet jacket was on the receiving end of a good ribbing that night—and plenty of petting too!
Vickie Sam Paget Western Correspondent
Hailing from the UK, Vickie Sam Paget is a travel and tourism storyteller located in Vancouver, BC. When she’s not on the road, creating engaging travel content or gazing at the North Shore Mountains, you can usually find her curled up with a good book or sipping a pint of the good stuff in her local Irish bar.
