Important insights for the trade. Fine food and entertainment. And a surprise appearance by a hotel and resorts rock star.
Air Canada Vacations held its fifth and final Dream Makers event for advisors in Vaughan on 26SEP, with a huge crowd of agents, suppliers and industry people on hand, including Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts.
ACV executives led a rat-a-tat presentation on new destinations and new tours as part of their fall/winter lineup, as well as new tools for Canadian travel advisors. They also gave out prizes, including $500 gift cards and free trips to Europe.
ACV said the Dream Makers events this month in Vancouver, Edmonton, Halifax and Montreal attracted more than 3,000 advisors.
“Tonight’s about the world,” ACV Vice President Nino Montagnese told Open Jaw in an interview. “We have flights and hotels everywhere Air Canada flies. We’re also adding tours and activities. We added a lot more in Europe, we added Dubai tours, we added India tours, we added Colombia tours last week.”
“We’ve started offering tours to exotic places like Dubai, New Delhi, Osaka, Tokyo, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland,” said Marigold Frontuna, General Manager, Sales, Western Canada. “We’re making sure we’re your one-stop package for anywhere your clients want to go in the world.”
“We’ve got nine tours in Australia and seven in Colombia,” said Erminia Gallina, ACV’s Director of Sales, “and this program will continue to grow. This is just the start.
“We were the first to go into Tulum this year,” Gallina said. “We’ve expanded so much product in Europe, Asia, Australia and beyond. And Air Canada recently announced a non-stop to Prague, Naples and also to Porto.”
Frontuna said ACV’s website has great tools for advisors, including essential information and tips on family travel, golf vacations, luxury hotels and more.
She and Gallina also touched on the growth of Aeroplan and talked about ACV’s CareFree and CareFlex plans, which not only provide stress-free travel for clients but allow advisors to earn 20% commission.
Frontuna said ACV’s winter lineup features more than 100 daily departures and 37 sunny destinations, “really providing your clients with more options for going down south.”
Montagnese noted that ACV is offering free connecting flights from YVR, YEG, YYC and YHZ into Toronto Pearson for customers flying to Jamaica to stay in a Beaches or Sandals resort.
In addition to the Caribbean, Air Canada Vacations offers non-stop flights to great U.S. destinations, including New York City, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Nashville, Honolulu and more.
“I know your clients love Europe, because we’ve seen such a spike in sales the past few years,” Frontuna said. “We have so many non-stop flights to Munich, Frankfurt, Rome, Venice, Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels.”
New this year for ACV are such destinations as the Azores, Madeira, Northern Italy, Scandinavia, Palma de Mallorca and more. They’re also trying to make Europe more of a year-round program.
“We have the best fleets in the world,” Frontuna added. “We have award-winning entertainment, we have Apple TV, we have high-speed WiFi, and if you’re an Aeroplan member you get free texting for the duration of your flight.”
Stewart’s appearance was a highlight of the Toronto event.
“This is our number one booking channel, and it’s grown substantially” he told reporters prior to surprising the audience. “We just had our best two weeks of ACV bookings in our history. “
“We’ve invested heavily in Jamaica, and we have a number of further investments coming to Jamaica, major renovations and transformations in existing hotels and new properties coming on line,” including the new Beaches Runaway Bay, Stewart said.
He also touched on what he calls Sandals 2.0 in a one-on-one chat with Open Jaw’s Nina Slawek.
“I and my team felt very strongly that it was time to change gears and remind everyone why Sandals is number one,” he said. “We’ve doubled down on room design, we’ve doubled down on gastronomical experiences, we’ve doubled down on just the overall feel.”
Stewart said the heart of Sandals 2.0 can be seen in new products like Sandals St. Vincent, like Curacao, like the new Beaches Treasure Beach in Turks and Caicos. “All the new product that’s coming out, it’s all more elevated, it’s higher commissions, it’s separating further from the marketplace, and we’re seeing the fruits of those labours.”
Sandals now has 24 resorts on 10 islands, with seven projects on the burner.
“One of our superpowers, beyond understanding the trade, beyond what we do for transferring knowledge in marketing and sales and sales support materials, one of our great superpowers is knowing the next best piece of real estate. My family and I have invested in real estate across the Caribbean over the years. We buy properties that sit for 10, 15, 20 years before we develop them; grade A real estate, the best of the best.
“Sandals Saint Vincent is a perfect example of what that looks like.”
Stewart also talked about his strong relationship with travel advisors.
“We have pulled out every stop … to show that commitment more than anyone,” he said.
“I literally grew up with Air Canada Vacations at the dinner table of my house,” Stewart said at the Dream Makers event. “I was baptized in child labour and taught about the Canadian travel industry before I could do basic mathematics. That legacy, that continued relationship, has been one of my greatest privileges over the last 25 years.
“You guys have been our company. We owe an incredible debt of gratitude” to ACV, he told the crowd.
“None of this is possible without your support, and I wanted to come here personally tonight, not for you to watch a video, but for me to say to you on behalf of the 18,500 of us (at Sandals Resort) in the Caribbean ‘’thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.’ A hotel in the Caribbean that doesn’t have a bunch of Canadians is no hotel at all. It’s no fun when the Canadians are not there. You guys take everything lighter, you make it more fun, you make people at the swim-up pools laugh louder, and Canada is the most incredible country.”
“Just remember to tell Maureen that I say ‘Come stay free anytime you want in my hotels,” he said with a smile. “If she doesn’t do it call me; 1-800-GoAdamS.”
Stewart also presented a gift to Barnes-Smith for her 30 years with the company.
Sandals and Beaches Resorts and Bahia Principe Hotels and Resorts were title sponsors for the ACV Dream Makers event.
