Tour Operators
Tauck gears up for 100th anniversary in 2025
Nearly 100 years to the day after a fateful lunch prompted Arthur Tauck Sr. to launch one of the world’s first guided tour companies, a group of Tauck employees visited the site in western Massachusetts that gave rise to that inspiration. Six Tauck employees visited the Wigwam Western Summit near North Adams, Massachusetts, earlier this month while returning to the company’s Connecticut headquarters after visiting a motor coach supplier in Quebec. It was at the Wigwam in 1924 that the seed was planted for an idea that later grew into a global travel leader that today offers more...
G Adventures’ agent fam trip applications for 2025 are now open
In appreciation of its travel advisors across Canada, G Adventures has announced that it has increased the number of fam trips it will be running in 2025 to 12, including six fams that are open to all agents, and six that will be run exclusively with partners. The six trips open for agents at a heavily discounted trip will take place in Costa Rica, the Galápagos, Greece, Japan, New Zealand or Thailand. Agents will need to be quick, however, as applications close on 01 November, 2024. As communicated on a webinar this week that was attended by more than 500 Canadian travel agents -...
BackRoads expands Women’s Adventures with 40 new walking & hiking trips
Backroads has expanded its Women's Adventures with more than 40 walking and hiking trips and 125 departures available in 2025. Exclusively for women—solo travellers, mothers, daughters, sisters and friends—Women's Adventures were an instant hit after the announcement last fall, with 2024 trips quickly booking to capacity. The first trip ran in May, and the offering continues to gain momentum and garner rave reviews as word spreads. The company projects more than a 200 percent increase in Women's Adventures guests for 2025. The collection features the same expert trip design,...
WestJet Vacations names Dineen as new BDM
WestJet Vacations has named Shane Dineen to its Leisure National Sales team as the new Business Development Manager. Dineen’s addition to the sales team reinforces WestJet Vacations’ commitment to supporting its trade partners across Canada. He brings a wealth of experience from his background as a travel advisor, where he offered invaluable insights and expertise to customers and travel partners. Based in Vancouver, he joins Irene Wong (based in Calgary) and Meghan Miller (based in Toronto) as part of WestJet Vacations’ coast-to-coast National Business Development Management...
TTC Tour Brands launches Tour Week for advisors
TTC Tour Brands has unveiled details of Tour Week -- a new initiative designed to showcase the diversity of its portfolio of brands from Trafalgar, Brendan Vacations, Contiki, Costsaver and Insight Vacations. Beginning March 2025, over 500 travel advisors will embark on 13 unique itineraries worldwide, experiencing firsthand the company's mantra: "tours for any and everyone." Tour Week is designed to demonstrate the incredible range of guided tour options available to serve every traveller’s specific needs. Melissa DaSilva, interim CEO of TTC Tour Brands, explained: “Advisors...
Air Canada Vacations celebrates its 2024 GEM Award Winners
Air Canada Vacations gathered at the beautiful Hyatt Ziva/Zilara Cap Cana Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic recently to celebrate employee achievements at its annual GEM Awards. GEM, first introduced back in 2019, is a peer-nominated award program that recognizes employees within the Air Canada Vacations organization that have consistently demonstrated outstanding efforts and achievements. GEM, an acronym for “Going the extra mile,” is Air Canada Vacations highest honour, recognizing employees within one of three categories: Ruby Award for outstanding commitment to...
Sandals Jamaica Love showcase draws 1,000+ in Montego Bay
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Sandals Resorts International welcomed approximately 1,000 key industry partners, dignitaries, brand executives, travel agent partners and local media to the 2024 Sandals Jamaica Love Tour, held this year in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The event, which officially opened on Oct. 13 and runs through Oct. 20, aims to showcase the Sandals brand portfolio in Jamaica, while highlighting the company's newest brand refresh, "Sandals 2.0", which focuses on an elevated level of service that promises to go above and beyond for its clientele, with gorgeous renovations, a greater...
Ski the World Differently with Kensington
Kensington has launched its new Ski the World, Differently experiences designed to cater to the increasing client interest in sport-themed and adventure travel and will be hosting a live webinar today – Thurs., Oct 17 at 2 pm (click here to register) – for travel advisors interested in learning more about the program. The new collection of ski-themed travel is set to offer travellers exclusive access to some of the world's premier ski destinations and unparalleled adventures on the slopes. Kensington will roll out the ski itineraries in two phases across eight countries and...