Ensemble Goes Beyond With Bourdain

Beyond Borders was one of the themes of this week’s Ensemble Travel Group International Conference in Orlando, which immediately hit its stride with the keynote by rebel travel celebrity Anthony Bourdain.

Bourdain gave about 900 Ensemble agents and partners a shot of travel inspiration that pushed the adventure borders of most of those in attendance at his morning presentation.

He advised them to do everything from “have drinks with strangers, except in Russia,” and to “let accidents happen.”

The essence of his message was to be open to travel experiences, such as eating unusual ethnic dishes, and to “discover the magic.”

But he also recognized the privilege that each held, saying they should be grateful for the ability they had to travel freely in a troubled world. And he reflected that his extensive travels allowed him to see that most people are essentially good.

Bourdain hosts “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” on CNN.

Agency owners, managers and product suppliers got back to down to business through the rest of four-day schedule with educational sessions on Ensemble tools/programs and supplier training on new products.

Ensemble co-presidents Libbie Rice and Lindsay Pearlman led that with their Beyond Borders message, saying that points of differentiation by the consortium gave it a competitive advantage over others. These include programs like the Aviate global ticketing platform, a guanteed hosted cruise program and a new web-based itinerary building tool called My TripRoute.

Photo Caption: Anthony Bourdain, celebrity travel host of the popular show “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” on CNN, was the keynote speaker at this week’s Ensemble Travel Group International Conference.