Lynne White, regional sales manager at Velas Resorts for Western Canada, with Susie Grewal, ACV area sales manager for BC, Markus Bill, owner at Prime Travel, Pretty Jaswal, BC regional wedding & sales director at Champagne Weddings & Travel, and Martha Dela Torre, ACV area sales manager for BC.
Nazir Hirj and Laura Whiteman of Around the World Travel/HB Travel Corporation.
Rodrigo Diaz de Riviera, Canada’s West Coast director at the Mexican Tourism Board with Chris Rollinson, co-president at Escapes.ca.
Allan Siripawa of TSI Travel and Sonya Orr of TTI Canada.
Bee Prangchan, director of partner relations at Uniglobe with Pedro Luna, Velas Resorts sales manager.
Not a plate was left uncleaned on Wednesday night, as Velas Resorts and Air Canada Vacations hosted a select group of travel professionals at Vancouver’s famous Blue Water Café.
Representatives at the ‘Ultimate Escape to Luxury’ event presented Mexico tourism industry updates, information about ACV’s new ‘Ultimate Escape’ brochure and Velas’s five uber-luxurious resorts as agents dined on dishes like Smoked Sockeye Salmon Terrine and Sorbet with Fresh Berries. It was a fittingly impressive menu for a brand that prides itself on its culinary offering.
Rodrigo Diaz de Riviera, Canada’s West Coast director at the Mexican Tourism Board, kicked off the presentations with some high praise indeed: “BC for us is fundamental,” he enthused. “There’s almost half a million Canadians going down to Mexico every year just from BC. And properties like Velas, which add a little bit of the Mexican touch, they are the Rolex of the all-inclusives.”
Martha Dela Torre, ACV’s area sales manager for BC, revealed that the supplier has increased its capacity from Western Canada by a whopping 14% this year. She also had some high praise for the Velas brand.
”We are privileged to be partnered with Velas Resorts. All of their properties have qualified to be in our Ultimate Escapes brochure. As you know, our big Sun Collection brochure has over 700 resorts to choose from. We have extracted 43 for the Ultimate Escapes brochure—and all of Velas’s properties made the cut. It’s phenomenal.”
Pedro Luna, Velas Resorts sales manager, and Lynne White, Velas Resorts regional sales manager for Western Canada, then walked the group through an update on the company’s five luxurious properties: Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit, Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Grand Velas Los Cabos, Velas Vallarta and Casa Velas.
Luxurious highlights include a lazy river at Velas Vallarta and the designer ‘handbag bar’ at Casa Velas—but the real showstopper at Velas Resorts has to be the cuisine.
“Food is what Velas Resorts is about,” said Luna. “We don’t compete with any other resort; we compete with the best restaurants from all over the world. Whenever you have a nice meal we want you to think of Velas Resorts.”
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.
