Christine James, CTM – Vice President of TL Network Canada
TL Network is having a very good year, thanks to several initiatives and last year’s merger of its three brands. All segments, says Christine James, CTM – Vice President of TL Network Canada, are seeing growth, a strong indication of both the overall health of the Canadian travel industry and the organization. In this week’s Friday five, we ask James about how TL Network has grown and why the organization should remain top-of-mind among all agents.
- TL Network recently held its annual conference. What was the takeaway message from the event?
Due to the size of our Network, we clearly have a diverse makeup of business models within our membership. That said, regardless of their business models, TL Network offers the best-in-class solutions, tools and programmes to support our agencies’ growth and success. If I had to choose a single takeaway, it would be the Network-wide rollout of Vacation, the lead generation site we launched to our beta test group shortly after last year’s conference.
- Following the consolidation of three brands last year, can you comment on the growth the company has experienced in Canada specifically?
There is no doubt that with the consolidation of the three brands, our membership now benefits from access to a number of new solutions and comprehensive training programmes that were not available to them prior to the merger. In addition, we’ve been able to make significant enhancements to our existing solutions and tools.
- What segments of your business are doing exceptionally well this year, and which ones need more attention?
To date, we’re actually seeing healthy growth across all segments of the market tracking the rest of the industry. That said, if I had to point to those that were trending extremely well this year, that would be Europe and Luxury Travel. We saw exceptional growth in the mass market segment last year, and this past winter season saw similar trends. However, the Summer and Fall season is flat year over year but I’m confident that we will see pickup over the next few months.
- What trends are you noticing in the travel industry? And how can members capitalize on them?
I guess it’s no surprise that Adventure Travel is on the rise. It’s a lucrative market for our members to promote, and to that end we offer an in-depth Adventure Travel Certification programme to support and educate our agents to confidently service this segment.
- For any agents who are currently with other agencies and thinking of making the jump, what do you want them to know about TL Network?
You owe it to yourself and the success of your agency to have a serious look at what TL Network has to offer. Regardless of your agency size or business model, we offer the best-in-class solutions, in-depth training, award-winning marketing programmes and an effective lead generation tool to help your business thrive this year and beyond.
For more information go to https://www.tlnetwork.ca/.
