RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO — It’s fitting that this year’s annual conference for The Travel Agent Next Door is ‘Leading The Way’ — since it’s also TTAND’s new tagline (replacing ‘1,000+ agents strong’).

This year’s event, taking place this week at the Iberostar Selection Paraíso Lindo, is TTAND’s largest conference to date with more than 350 attendees.

As Flemming Friisdahl, founder and CEO of TTAND, points out, TTAND has been “leading the way” by being the first Canadian host agency to offer perks like a 100% commission split, one-year agreements, health benefits and support hours that accommodate Canada’s wide-ranging time zones.

Now TTAND will be evolving into the luxury space – bringing on new luxury suppliers and creating a second logo for agents who choose to focus on this market.

“We’re going to be looking more at luxury brand products and creating a higher-end product,” Friisdahl told Travelweek. “We’ve got amazing luxury products, but we need some more that are in that category, and that’s what weʻre working on.”

To start, TTAND is bringing on two new preferred suppliers, Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal Cruises, starting May 1. It will also be bringing on new luxury suppliers over the next four to six months (yet to be announced).

New product offerings could include private airplane charters – “we’ve done a number of those already this year” – and private yacht charters.

There are two reasons for this pivot, according to Friisdahl. For one thing, TTAND agents are asking for more luxury product. “But I really believe luxury travel came out of COVID,” he said.

That’s because people want to do bucket-list trips and more intimate travel. The idea is to do this without stepping on the toes of TTAND’s current roster of preferred and approved suppliers. “That’s really important to me, because … more suppliers is not better. It’s about having the right suppliers,” said Friisdahl.

He also wants to promote the agent as the brand, rather than a consortium. “So I want the consumer to believe that they can only get this product from that travel agent,” he said.

The new logo and tagline is an evolution of TTAND’s branding, particularly as the travel host agency moves into the luxury space. At a think tank during the conference, TTAND agents had a chance to vote on one of six new logo designs.

“That logo is specifically for agents that don’t have their own branding, but they want to be branded under The Travel Agent Next Door,” said Friisdahl. About 52% of TTAND agents use the TTAND logo; if they focus on luxury, this will give them a new option if they don’t already have their own branding.

Julie Ziriada, a luxury travel designer with TTAND, said she’s been building her brand for more than 30 years – and that means building relationships with clients. Many of her clients started out with all-inclusives and worked their way up into higher-end offerings. “So that’s why I service all areas of the market,” she said during a panel on luxury travel. “And now I’m at the point where probably 80% of my business is luxury.”

Scott Waldron, founder of Gravitate Travel, said that when he started to branch out into luxury travel, he reached out to suppliers to let them know. “You need to understand it to be

considered,” he said. “Do the training, then go to them and say, I’ve done your training. I would like to be considered for a FAM for the future. … here’s my goals and here’s my plan.”

Where luxury is an evolution of the TTAND brand, corporate travel will evolve, too. “How do we do that for the corporate agents? I think you’ll see that coming out over the next year, of us working [on] how do we do more with corporate travel,” said Friisdahl.

TTAND is also boosting its insurance offerings.

While TTAND is “committed to working with Manulife,” Friisdahl added that “we’re not competitive all the time with Manulife on the 60 and over.” As a result, TTAND is bringing on an additional insurance company, TuGo, as an approved supplier (launching April 29). TuGo will serve clients that are 60 and older with a $10 million policy. A pre-existing condition rider is available, making it easier for 60+ clients to be approved for competitively priced insurance.

TTAND also announced it will be hiring two extra people for ticketing support (which is provided at no cost to agents), extending support hours from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays.

Stay tuned for more coverage from the TTAND conference this week