TORONTO — More than 900 travel advisors and other industry professionals, including 70 suppliers, packed the stylish Universal Event Space last night for the Toronto edition of Air Canada Vacations’ #ACVDreamMakers on Tour.

As the last stop in a five-city tour – following Halifax, Vancouver, Edmonton (for the first time) and Montreal – ACV’s Toronto event was as high-voltage as ever, with a troupe of dancers opening the festivities and a singer belting out Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

The crowd loved it, with loud applause for ACV and, no doubt, travel’s comeback after so many difficult years. Travel agents never stopped believing and clearly, neither did ACV.

Gary Sadler, Executive VP of Sales and Industry Relations for Unique Vacations Inc. with Maureen Barnes-Smith, VP Sales & Marketing for Unique Vacations (Canada) and Nino Montagnese, Vice President, ACV

“Let’s celebrate the spirit of adventure!” said Nino Montagnese, Vice President, Air Canada Vacations, to cheers from the crowd. ACV “has always been more than sun and sand,” he added. The company can take clients to just about all corners of the world, from the U.S. and Canada to Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and beyond. “With Air Canada Vacations, it really is your world to discover. We are your one-stop shop to a world of possibilities,” said Montagnese. “We want you to dream bigger.”

‘Dream Bigger’ and ‘See the World’ were the touchstone messages from last night’s presentation. And while ACV can offer clients the world, last night’s event was all about sun getaways for the upcoming winter 2023/24 season.

Last month ACV released its brand new ‘Dream of Sun’ interactive digital brochure, showcasing the tour operator’s complete 2023-2024 Sun Collection portfolio. This winter ACV will offer 1,000+ hotels and resorts, primarily all-inclusive, across 45 destinations. There are 63 new-to-ACV properties, and 25 semi-exclusive resorts. Dream of Sun also has 100+ cruise itineraries, family-friendly vacations at close to 100 Play Collection resorts and 25 Play hotels in the U.S.

Title sponsors for last night’s event, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts, and Sandals and Beaches Resorts, are among ACV’s hotel partners for the coming winter months. Highlight speeches of the night included words from Gary Sadler, Executive VP of Sales and Industry Relations for Unique Vacations Inc., and Henry Perez, Director of Sales and Business Development for U.S.A. and Canada for Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts.

ACV’s digital brochure was a big focus at last night’s launch, accessible via kiosks throughout the event space. Of course, agents can check out the digital brochure from their own computers too, at agents.dreamofsun.aircanadavacations.com.

ACV’s enhanced ePackages program offers flexibility and equips travel partners with the tools they need to easily book flight and hotel packages for customers anywhere Air Canada operates, says the company.

ACV is also promoting its enhanced self-serve tools, available to travel agents via the Manage Your Booking page on aircanadavacations.com, and designed with the trade in mind.

The self-serve tools allow travel agents to effectively serve their customers, said ACV’s general Manager, Ontario (and now Atlantic Canada too), Erminia Nigro. “We have invested so much this year to help you do more self-serve, so you don’t have to sit on the phone,” she said.

All smiles on the trade show floor

ACV’S 44-PAGE SUN 2023-2024 TRAVEL AGENT TOOLKIT

Digital may be a big part of ACV’s offer for travel agents, but print still has its place too.

The second edition of ACV’s Travel Agent Toolkit hit agency desks earlier this month. The handy 44-page guide has all sorts of relevant information to help agents book their clients’ next Sun vacation including step-by-step instructions for using the digital brochure, a flight schedule, an overview of available hotels and cruises and more, plus ACV promotions and offers. The second edition followed in the footsteps of ACV’s 28-page Travel Agent Toolkit for Europe released earlier this year.

New this year, “and my favourite cheat sheet in the toolkit”, said Nigro, is the ‘Flying at a Glance’ page showing how agents can quickly access, in 3 steps, the flight schedule for ACV’s Sun and U.S. destinations for winter 2023/24.

The toolkit also quickly outlines all the need-to-knows for agents selling ACV winter sun getaways to their clients, from the company’s self-serve options, to ePackages, to EBBs, to travel protection plans like CareFlex and Carefree. The toolkit also has details on the ACV&ME Rewards program, group travel tips, ACV’s Vacation Promise and Cruise Promise.

Finally, with no fewer than 15 pages in the Hotels at a Glance section, the toolkit is indispensable for any agent selling ACV.

Cuba Tourist Board’s Karen Puebla and Lessner Gomez

UPDATED COMMISSION POLICY

Another big winner from last night’s ACV event: the tour operator’s updated commission policy. Announced last month, travel agents are now entitled to receive standard commission on any cancelled individual bookings made 45 days or more prior to departure (Cancelled with Deposit), with the exception of cruise and group bookings. In addition, ACV is protecting full commission on any schedule change that provides no option of reprotection and results in a cancelled booking.

“We did this for you. This is all from your feedback,” Nigro said to cheers.

Other highlights for ACV heading into winter 2023/24 include …

• Group Insta Quote (soon to come) and Group Care
• ACV@HOME
• The ability to earn Aeroplan points on all flight inclusive packages
• 20% commission on CareFlex and Carefree
• More rewards, flexibility and automation with ACV&ME
• The return of ACV’s Travel Advisory Board

ACV is also reminding agents about its ACV’s Inner Circle Facebook Group to access and learn valuable tips and insights from ACV’s Sales team. There are now 10,000+ members in the group, a milestone that has ACV celebrating.

The company is also gearing up for its always-popular Mega FAMS. Agents are asked to keep an eye out for Punta Cana and Jamaica Mega FAMS registration invites.

ACV’s digital brochure is at agents.dreamofsun.aircanadavacations.com.