Boundary-breaking vacation planning platform Avoya Travel is this week celebrating the successful completion of its 2023 Avoya Travel Land Forum, the second half of this year’s hybrid event model. Avoya had already wrapped up the virtual portion of this year’s Land Forum on May 25.
The in-person event component, which took place June 20 – 24, was conducted onsite at the luxe, family-friendly Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort in Riviera Nayarit—an in-demand destination on Mexico’s stunning Pacific coastline, situated slightly north of Puerto Vallarta. The resort shares a beachfront parcel with its adults-only counterpart, Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa, both being former AMR Collection properties that are now part of World of Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection.
Hundreds of Independent Agencies and Advisors (IAs), affiliates of the Avoya Travel Network, attended one or both the online and in-person events, sponsored by nearly 40 of Avoya’s preferred partners, comprising a list that reads like a roster of highly respected and big-name travel brands operating in the land vacation space.
Attendees took advantage of a full programming schedule consisting of various educational sessions, professional development options (e.g., supplier-led presentations, panels and workshops) and robust networking opportunities; such as one-on-one meetings with suppliers, roundtable discussions, cocktail parties, dine-arounds and themed dinner parties for the entire group. Ample free time to explore the all-inclusive property also gave attendees the chance to familiarize themselves with the product through firsthand, experiential learning to help them better sell all-inclusive vacations to clientele.
Avoya Travel leadership team members presenting at the 2023 Land Forum event. (Source: Avoya Travel)
While the destination was gorgeous and the host property stunning, with luxurious accommodations and top-tier amenities, the aspect that always truly characterizes Avoya’s events—this one being no exception—is the ultra-convivial atmosphere and celebratory spirit of the proceedings, which creates a contagious air of excitement, eagerness and enthusiasm that’s shared among everyone in attendance.
It's a defining quality that Ashley Hunter, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at Avoya Travel, commented upon herself. “The amount of advisors and suppliers that commented on the collaborative culture of Avoya and the lack of competitive mentality between Independent Agencies was humbling and speaks to the power of Avoya’s unique vacation platform model,” she said. “There were double the number of attendees year over year, and it was so inspiring to see the amount of new Avoya Independent Agencies present that are excited about the travel industry, and specifically want to learn about and focus on land products,” she added. “It was incredible to see the organic mentorship happening between seasoned Avoya affiliates with the newer agencies – sharing best practices and encouragement on growing their businesses."
Avoya leadership and executives also took the opportunity to share some new and upcoming company developments, including some groundbreaking initiatives and numerous technological enhancements that are being made within Agent Power (AP), Avoya’s cutting-edge vacation planning platform that’s powered by the company’s proprietary SaaS technology.
Welcome Dinner and presentation at the 2023 Avoya Travel Land Forum event. (Source: Laurie Baratti)
Announcements issued included:
— Trip Records enhancements for land product bookings being applied within Agent Power, which will increase efficiencies and analytics capabilities to a degree never before seen in the land travel space.
— Already underway is Avoya Hotels’ seamless integration into Agent Power, which will streamline and consolidate sales functions, creating a one-stop-shop for client vacation planning, booking and tracking within a single software ecosystem.
— The upcoming integration of Sabre Red 360 into Agent Power, which will provide a powerful, easy-to-use flight booking engine that will strengthen the existing Avoya Flights program through adoption of a graphical interface system featuring predictive text functions, rather than inconvenient and outdated GDS systems. Avoya is aiming to roll out this new Sabre Red 360 capability by end 2023’s third quarter.
— Avoya Flights beta testing, which launching on February 1 to a test group of 25 agencies, will end June 30, 2023, at which point the program will be opened up to the entire Avoya Network.
— The impending ability for advisors to enroll with Avoya’s new consortia partner, Travel Leaders Network (TLN), a project that will link together the companies’ vast resources and distribution channels, delivering increased sales opportunities and efficiencies.
Outdoor setup for Avoya Travel's 2023 Land Forum event's farewell dinner party. (Source: Avoya Travel)
The event also offered a welcome opportunity for Avoya staff, network affiliates and suppliers to come together to celebrate the Avoya Network’s impressive engagement and sales performance in the land space over the past year. Avoya leadership revealed a number of staggering statistics, based on the evolution of its land business over the past few years. The company saw a record-breaking first and second quarter of 2023 in comparison to the same period of 2019, the year that set pre-pandemic records for the company.
Some key production figures announced:
— 25 percent increase in booked land sales.
— 40 percent increase in sales with Avoya’s preferred land partners.
— 30 percent increase in new-to-Avoya travelers on land vacations.
— 70 percent of clients who booked land vacations will travel within six months, making for quick commission payouts.
“You’ve heard how many suppliers are saying, ‘Avoya is one of our top accounts’ and it’s phenomenal, the growth that we’ve seen to this point,” said Hunter. “We’re really excited about the turnout at this event, the engagement and excitement that people have about where this is going to go, because we’re not decreasing in what we’re doing on the cruise side, this is just an area that we’re expanding. It’s the same thing with the Avoya Flights and Avoya Hotels, is it’s just an area to expand to have more wallet share across the board.”
Keynote speakers featured in general session presentations included: Angela Johnson, Southern California BDM and Dave Ryan, Northern California BDM for Hyatt Inclusive Collection; Barbara Hearn, District Director, Sales USA at Allianz Partners; Mike Ehlers, VP, Groups at ALG Vacations; David Ridge, Regional Director of Sales - West Region, Sandals Resorts; Patricia Pagoulatos, Western Region BDM and Nicole Champion Southwest Region BDM for Hilton; B.J. Hemeng, Head of Sales, Product and Performance Strategy at American Airlines Vacations; Monica Hopkins, Sales Business Development Manager for Disney Destinations; Diego Higareda, BDM, Northeast US Region for RIU Hotels & Resorts; Robin Pieper, Account BDM for Globus Family of Brands; Vince Marsala, CTA – Host Accounts Manager at Delta Vacations; Omar Solis, BDM, Florida and Caribbean for Club Med; Cesar Brisceno, Director of Sales, National Accounts at Karisma Hotels & Resorts; Lydia Torres, Account BDM for Pleasant Holidays; Kevin Carter, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Collette; and Randolph Teneyck, BDM for Playa Hotels & Resorts.
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