ANDERSON BOOKING INCENTIVE

Just in time for spring bookings of escorted coach tours and FIT holidays in Canada is a new travel agent incentive program by Anderson Vacations. Visa gift cards valued at $50 are now being offered to agents who make bookings with Anderson for programs ranging from the rugged coastline of the Atlantic Maritimes to the mountain scenery of western Canada. The bookings have to be made between April 29 and May 31 and each must be for five nights or more. The booking agency will receive the commissions for the booking, but the booking agent themselves will receive the Visa gift card. This is the first time that Anderson has offered an incentive program for individual agents. The month of May is the best time for summer holiday bookings in Canada, says Corey Marshall, president of Anderson. “Many of our tours have guaranteed departure dates so that air travel can be booked with confidence,”said Marshall, noting the availability of hundreds of coach itineraries. One of the more popular programs so far this year is a 21-day full-circle tour of Alaska, Yukon and Northwest B.C., which is exclusive to Anderson. Another popular option is the Skeena rail tour by VIA Rail, a two-day journey across the Rockies from Jasper, AB to Prince Rupert on the Pacific coast of BC, including an overnight stay in Prince George. On the “Custom Canada”side of the business, FIT travellers are “showing lots of interest”in attractions like the Calgary Stampede, the Rockies and the polar bears of Manitoba, for instance. Also generating bookings is train travel by VIA Rail in the so-called Ontario corridor between Windsor and Ottawa/Montreal. “VIA has a lot of really great offers, and we can access those,”said Marshall. But shorter programs have also grabbed the attention of Canadian vacationers and have become a specialty at Anderson. “We tailor these programs to Canadian consumers looking for quick getaways with the shorter itineraries,”said Marshall. (http://www.canadatravelsolution.com)