WASHINGTON, DC — Travel Leaders Network’s sold-out International EDGE Conference wraps up today, with thousands taking part and learning about new programs and training opportunities.

Taking place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in the greater Washington, DC area from June 8-10, 2024, this year’s conference welcomed over 2,000 travel advisors and suppliers, including 100 Canadian member agents from across Canada and 24 Canadian supplier delegates. 

Highlights from the three-day conference included presentations and seminars that focused on  Travel Leaders Network’s wide array of educational and training tools, its popular Alliances program and its growing roster of partners.

Roger Block, TLN President

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Travel Leaders Network continues to prioritize education for its members, with an Education Department led by Vice President Lea Diele. In 2023, the team conducted a total of 266 trainings (193 virtual and 73 in person) that covered a range of topics, including preferred supplier offerings, TLN’s programs and tools, and relevant legislation and regulations impacting travel advisors’ businesses. As of June 1, 2024, Travel Leaders Network has held 87 trainings for the year.

To accommodate members, the company has an online Learning Library repository where past trainings are available. Prior to the pandemic, the TLN Learning Library saw between 18,000-19,000 monthly sign-ins. As of today, between 38,000-46,000 people log into the Learning Library per month. In the past 11 months, the Learning Library grew from having over 300 online courses to over 1,300 in-house-produced learning courses.

Other educational and training initiatives include:

• Gamification: In 2019, TLN incorporated gamification into all of its Certified Specialist Programs to make content more engaging.
• Microlearning: In 2019, TLN introduced Vignette (15 minutes or less) recorded trainings to break down information into easily digestible microlearning pieces.
• Continuing Education: Beginning in 2024, TLN is introducing Continuing Education Units (CEU) into the Certified Specialist Programs. Each program will have an additional 2-3 new CEUs annually.
• Adaptive Learning: This data-driven approach allows courses to be tailored to each student’s needs. The Progressive Tiered Learning Path was introduced in January 2024 into the TLN Training Library. This same Progressive Tiered Learning also takes place at EDGE annually.
• Live Training: In late 2023, TLN introduce evening live training virtual sessions. The team is on track to offer over 20 of these sessions in 2024.
• Instructor Quality: Adult learners value instructors who can offer learning experiences through discussions and stories based on their own experiences. For virtual sessions, the Educational Services team offers 23 sessions every month, on average.
• Artificial Intelligence: AI can personalize learning for each student and provide new ways to access information.
• Information Security: Decisions on third-party educational technology tools and security is at the forefront of all that TLN will be offering.
• Agency Owner/Manager Accountability: Educational Services is developing an Owner/Manager dashboard along with streamlined reporting so that member agencies have a clear focus on the needs for training within their own organization and teams.

TLN ALLIANCES 

Travel Leaders Network’s Alliances program continues to see a high rate of popularity among members, with surging applications and a new Alliance being unveiled for 2024. First launched in 2022, the Leaders Alliances micro-communities are where specialty groups of like-minded travel advisors and agency owners can connect and strategize on revenue growth.

“In a network as large as ours, there is a need for smaller, curated groups,” said Roger E. Block,

President, Travel Leaders Network. “Although our acceptance rate into a Leaders Alliance is based on various criteria and experience, the members of the Leaders Alliances make valuable

connections with supplier partners, TLN staff and their fellow Leaders Alliance members. One of the best parts of the Leaders Alliances is the camaraderie and watching members eagerly share their knowledge and support each other.”

Travel Leaders Network’s Canadian team led by Christine James

Currently, there are four Leaders Alliances: Luxury Leaders Alliance and the Honeymoon & Destination Wedding Leaders Alliance. TLN also features two communities with membership available at the agency owner level: the Independent Advisor Networks (IAN) Leaders Alliance (for agencies that feature a minimum of 40 independent contractors), and the Technology Leaders Alliance (for additional peer-to-peer networking opportunities for technology-minded agency owners). 

Luxury Leaders Alliance members enjoyed an average of almost $2,000,000 in sales of luxury suppliers alone last year, while the Honeymoon & Destination Wedding Leaders Alliance averaged right at $1,000,000 in annual romance travel sales. The Technology Leaders Alliance members also enjoyed robust sales, while the IAN Leaders Alliance brings together members collectively selling $4 billion annually.

In Q4 2024, TLN will launch the Active & Adventure Leaders Alliance, based on the interest in TLN’s Specialist Certifications and overall sales among members. Agency owners will be able to nominate prospective members later this year, at which point a full range of programming will become available. 

Benefits to being part of the Leaders Alliances include special events and meetings. This year saw the inaugural HMDWAL Summit for the Honeymoon & Destination Wedding Alliance at Sandals South Coast in Jamaica and the beginning of the VowED series, exclusive fam trips focused on building members’ romance travel business. The Luxury Leaders Alliance will also hold its inaugural International Luxury Forum in Dubrovnik in October. The Technology and Independent Advisor Networks Alliances also hold regular virtual meetings to connect members.

Applications for the advisor-facing Leaders Alliances must be approved by the TLN member’s agency owner. From those applications, TLN executives choose advisors who are not only top performers but also willing to continue to learn and grow in their specialty and share best practices.

LEADING PARTNERSHIPS

On the heels of TLN’s most successful year, the company continues to fuel revenue growth across leisure cruise and land partnerships. Contemporary cruise leads in growth, given the capacity increases offered by new ship builds. This is closely followed by river and luxury cruise segment, both of which continue to yield double-digit revenue growth and lucrative advisor commissions. Land business, particularly all-inclusive and FIT Europe, is performing well with close-in summer and fall vacation inquiries. 

On the destinations side, TLN continues to forge new partnerships, establishing and expanding agreements with Australia (the winner of TLN’s Destination Partner of the Year POP Award), Germany, Saudi Arabia, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland, Great Britain, South Africa, Korea, Costa Rica, Belize, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Jordan, Qatar, AlUla in Saudi Arabia, and more to come. These destinations offer exclusive education and fam opportunities to TLN members. 

Training, sales support and marketing are three key pillars within each of the preferred supplier partnerships. This has led Travel Leaders Network to introduce TLN Academy, a multi-year program giving carefully chosen participants the chance to become true experts in particular destinations. Tourism Australia hosted the first group in the TLN Academy, bringing five groups of members to various Australian destinations. An extensive round of classes and continuing education over the next two years will follow. More destinations will be joining TLN Academy and offering similar opportunities to members.

The hotel division provides valuable support to members through exclusive value-added amenity programs and offers, including SELECT Hotels & Resorts, CURATED Hotels & Resorts and Worldwide Hotels & Resorts. These programs reward clients with bonus services and experiences, and they reward TLN members by enhancing both commissions and client loyalty.

While TLN members have access to the new SNAP tool to book air, there are also several other air programs available to them. Associates can become an air branch of Travel Leaders Group and Affiliate members have several options for air programs to gain access to preferred supplier agreements. All TLN members have access to air consolidator programs and the private jet service ALTOUR Air.

Canadian reception