TORONTO — There’s much to look forward to in 2024, a key message of positivity that took centre stage at Travelweek’s latest Future of Travel conference.

Devin Kinasz, Travelweek Publisher

Taking place virtually yesterday, Nov. 29, ‘Future of Travel: 2024 Preview’ featured several prize giveaways and a stellar lineup of keynote speakers who all expressed their excitement for the new year. 

To watch the event, click here.

“It’s been a wild ride for the travel industry, from a complete shutdown to a very powerful rebound, which caused a few problems and chaos of its own,” said Travelweek Publisher Devin Kinasz. “But we got through all that and travel is now normalizing. I know there are a lot of agents and suppliers out there who are excited for possibly the best winter selling season ever.”

As with all previous ‘Future of Travel’ conferences, which Travelweek has been hosting several times a year since the start of the pandemic, viewers were able to mingle, ask questions and claim prizes via a chat box. 

Viewer Audrey Knight said “thank you for a wonderful presentation with great presenters and information,” while Carol Strauchler also said thank you “for all the pertinent information for the future of travel.” Other viewers said the information was “well presented” and that the show was “time well spent.”

Here are some key updates from yesterday’s keynote speakers:

Peter Ouzounov, Director of Sales, Canada, Riverside Luxury Cruises

Peter Ouzounov

Established last year by the German-based, family-owned luxury hotel group, Seaside Collection, Riverside Cruises entered the Canadian market this past spring with Peter Ouzonov’s appointment. The cruise line, which acquired all five of Crystal Cruises’ river ships, has been sailing on the Danube River between Budapest and Brussels since April, and also started sailing on the Rhône River in Southern France this past summer. Next year, it has set its sights on sailings on the Rhine, the Moselle and the Main rivers.

When asked whether Riverside caters to the same clientele as Crystal Cruises, which was synonymous with high-end luxury, Ouzonov assured travel advisors that it does.

“All five of their river ships and most of their river cruise staff are back with us, so that’s happy news for anyone who’s travelled with Crystal before and for advisors who had clients who’ve travelled with them,” he said. “In fact, 85% of the staff that previously worked on Crystal’s Mozart returned to the ship this year, and we expect many will return to the Revel and the Debussy next year. So we’re definitely picking up from where Crystal left off.” 

So how exactly will Riverside differ from Crystal Cruises? Ouzonov said that the company’s aspirations are much greater. 

“We’re really setting out to redefine the standards of luxury in river cruising through highly personalized and intuitive service, exceptional gourmet cuisine, and flexibility, which is very important for the luxury market,” he said. “Luxury travellers don’t conform to what a company dictates – it’s the other way around. And that’s our approach to luxury. It’s individual, it’s personal.”

Bruce Poon Tip, Founder, G Adventures

Bruce Poon Tip

In his ‘instabook’ titled ‘Unlearn: The Year the Earth Stood Still,’ which he published in 2020, Bruce Poon Tip wrote that the pandemic was an opportunity for the travel industry to reinvent itself for the better. When asked whether he’s seen any lasting changes, Poon Tip admitted that the status quo didn’t change as much as he had hoped.

“I think that many people thought it would change because there were so many conversations going on during COVID between tour operators that normally don’t talk to each other about how we could be better. But what did change is the consumer and their travel patterns. 

“People are travelling less per year but staying in destination longer – and they’re going deeper. And there are a lot of people who won’t go back to mainstream holidays and opting for more purposeful travel. There’s an inherent risk to travel now – COVID didn’t go away – so travel has to be pretty meaningful for people to do it now,” said Poon Tip.

In line with this new trend, G Adventures recently announced the launch of its new Geluxe Collection which Poon Tip described as “active luxury.” Featuring 28 trips that include physical activity, elevated dining and accommodations, and community and culture, the collection “is something that our customers have been asking from us for some time,” said Poon Tip. 

“It’s one of the few products that we’ve actually developed in the last 30 years that’s data-driven, where we listened to our customers,” he said. “G Adventures is very product-driven, people rely on us to tell them where to go. But The Geluxe Collection was a data decision because our customers were telling us that they wanted more active trips with more comfort, and so we had to find a way in which we can also turn that into community tourism.”

Nathalie Tanious, President & CEO, TravelBrands

Nathalie Tanious

It’s been four months since Tanious took over the reins at TravelBrands, during a time of incredible recovery for the travel industry. According to Tanious, “we’re selling everything,” particularly all-inclusive vacations and “lots of cruises.” 

Tanious also highlighted the company’s dynamic packaging tool, which gives travel advisors the opportunity to package any hotel with over 80 airline partners to pretty much anywhere in the world.

“So for example, you can book air and hotel to Vegas, or air and car to Paris, or air, hotel and car in Rome. You can then add an activity or an add-on, and all that is done online. Every single airline partner we have today is available through our dynamic packaging tool, in collaboration with over 1.8 million hotels in our portfolio. So whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s a two-star or five-star hotel and everything in between, we’ve got it available through our dynamic packaging tool,” said Tanious.

Oliver Weibel, Director Canada, Switzerland Tourism

Oliver Weibel

Switzerland is set to welcome even more Canadians next year with a brand new flight between Toronto and Zurich with Swiss International Airlines. Direct flights will also be available from Montreal to Zurich and Geneva, as well as twice-daily service from Toronto to Zurich. For the summer period, flights will run from Calgary to Zurich and from Vancouver to Zurich with Edelweiss Air. 

Once in destination, Canadians have a full menu of signature offerings to enjoy, said Weibel, including the world-famous Matterhorn. But to see it all, he recommends the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland, which comes in a variety of packages ranging from 3-9 days and also now includes enhanced luggage services.

“This means upon arrival, you can drop off your luggage and it will be brought to the next hotel with our local DMCs, which are providing those services for your clients,” he added.

Weibel also said that seasonality will be prolonged in Switzerland, meaning that during the harvest season from September and October, hotels will be open longer as well as accessibility to funiculars and the mountain areas.

Camille Olivere, Chief Sales Officer, Globus family of brands

Camille Olivere

Olivere noted that it’s been a “fantastic” year for Globus family of brands, with Avalon Waterways in particular leading the charge, followed closely by Globus, Cosmos and the company’s latest brand, Independence by Globus, formerly Monograms. She also highlighted several new initiatives launched this year to help travel advisors, including paying commissions at final payments and more simplified policies. 

“We have always supported the travel agency channel,” said Olivere. “We only do brochures for travel advisors – we do not do direct-to-consumer brochures – and in them there’s a very clear set of reasons for why to book through a travel advisor. Plus, we’re doing special promotions only for travel advisors, so there’s a lot that we’re doing to make sure that we’re driving that demand and continuing to be loyal.

“We want to be there for travel advisors and be your partner for profit and your partner of choice, both for river cruising and for touring.”

Andrea Hilbert, Senior Manager, Training and Onboarding, World of Hyatt Inclusive Collection

Andrea Hilbert

Comprising 10 brands in all and 125 resorts across the Mexican Caribbean and Europe, the Inclusive Collection for World of Hyatt “always has something going on,” said Hilbert. As far as new resorts go, Hilbert noted that the company has a relationship with B Live Hotels to convert two of its resorts in the Dominican Republic to Sunscape properties, one of which is currently onboarding and the other in early 2024.

Hilbert is also excited about a few brand new builds, including Secrets Tides in the Uvero Alto area of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Secrets Playa Blanca in the Mexican Caribbean, the first phase of which will open in February 2024. And on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, not only will Inclusive Collection have a new-build Dreams resort in the area, but also a new destination – the town of Mazatlan. 

To help travel advisors get acquainted with the company and all its brands and properties, Hilbert highlighted the company’s new advisor portal called Confidant Collective, launched earlier this year on Travel Advisor Appreciation Day. The online platform is where advisors can take the new Confidant Learning, which replaces the company’s old Master Agent Program.

To watch ‘Future of Travel: 2024 Preview’ click here.