TL Network execs Jeremy Van Kuyk, Roger Block, Christine James, John Powell and Stephen McGillivray
The group has upped its game by increasing Postcards magazine to 76 pages
They say that numbers don’t lie. And in the case of Travel Leaders, the
massive North American travel consortium, the numbers shout from the
rooftops. The association – formerly
known as vacation.com – is expanding strongly in the US and here in Canada, and
offers a widening portfolio of services and technology to its 6,500 agencies.
TL member agents are a loyal bunch here, says Christine
James, V.P. Canada for the network. Not only did they add 50 members last year, bringing their total
number to 700 agencies, but they enjoy exceptional turnouts at
Canadian mixer get-togethers, regional meetings and young professional events.
Annual membership dues in Canada are $475.
A recent enhancement, according to a group of Travel Leaders
execs who met with travel trade media on Wednesday in Toronto, is the
affiliation with ATTA, the Adventure Travel Trade Association. Travel Leaders recognizes that there’s a
growing interest in active travel (particularly if there’s a 4-star place to
rest your head at the end of the day). As part of the affiliation, Roger Block,
President of Travel Leaders Network told us that TL member agents are entitled to a
discount at the annual ATTA Conference of small and niche adventure/active tour
operators from around the world.
Travel Leaders has also increased the amount of content in
its classy, glossy Postcards magazine, which is distributed through member
agencies.
And in other TL news, in 2017 the decision was made to make
EDGE (Educate, Discover, Gather, Evolve) the permanent theme of the Travel
Leaders’ annual conference. The conference will take place in Las Vegas in June this year.
“When I got into this business in the mid-90s, people were
tripping over themselves to predict the end of travel agents,” recalled
President John Lovell, citing that on cruises alone, seven out of 10 passengers
book through travel agents. “Make no mistake, we are in a growth industry today.”
Martha Chapman Columnist
An OJ columnist since 2006, Martha is responsible for the Biting Questions features as well as special seasonal series. A travel industry lifer known to all in the biz, she frequently covers industry events for Open Jaw.
