Race participants try to distinguish different ice cream flavours in a taste-test challenge. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Airline partnerships deliver a range of benefits — a broader choice of flights and destinations, a more seamless travel experience and an enhanced ability for passengers to earn and redeem frequent flyer points.
A recent collaboration between long-time partners United Airlines and Air Canada delivered something more, an immersive experience in Portugal that brought together top travel advisors from both the U.S. and Canada, key sales professionals from both airlines, members of the travel trade media and local tourism providers and destination representatives.
Modeled after popular reality television series ‘The Amazing Race,’ The Air Canada Race has taken place most years since 2006. Renamed the Air Canada-United Airlines Race, this year’s edition marked the first joint production. Edna Ray, Air Canada’s Senior Manager Regional Sales, was one of the original creators of the event, and she described the 2023 edition as “absolutely outstanding.”
The actual race, creatively crafted by local tourism operator Aventur, featured six mixed teams of travel agents from Canada and the United States. The 15 agents from each country, as well as media representatives from both sides of the border, set off into the cobblestoned streets of Evora, Portugal – a UNESCO World Heritage site – for a fun and challenging adventure.
Ruins of a Roman temple in Evora, Portugal. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Team members had a long list of tasks and challenges to complete, from distinguishing between ice cream and olive oil flavors to painting tiles in the Portuguese fashion, all while taking and submitting photographs, creating a video travel commercial and preparing a newspaper-style story about the day’s events.
It was a long, busy day, unusually hot for April, but it was also an absolute blast for the participants, in a charming setting of narrow, cobblestoned streets, lined with 16th-century buildings. Those are among the younger parts of the city, which also features the ruins of a Roman temple and a 12-mile, 2,000-year-old aqueduct.
In order to earn an invitation, the select group of agents had to complete training on United, Air Canada and Visit Alentejo, the tourism promotion entity for an underappreciated region of the increasingly popular destination of Portugal. Out of 300 applicants, just 30 made the cut.
Each of the travel agent members of the winning team took home an amazing prize – two tickets on either airline to Lisbon, plus a week-long land-stay in Alentejo.
A fine prize indeed, but as Ray told TravelPulse, everyone came out a winner.
“It was a true celebration of partnership. The AC and UA teams that organized the race had never worked together before, and most of us met in person for the first time here in Portugal,” Ray said.
“The bar was set very high after our 2021 race in Switzerland, where we introduced post-race FAM trips and destination workshops for the first time. This year, Air Canada and United staff worked together unselfishly to deliver an amazing experience.”
The collaboration came after 2022 saw United and Air Canada deepen their transborder partnership through a joint business agreement that gives passengers the ability to connect to 38 codeshare destinations in the U.S. and eight of the most popular cities in Canada — all while enjoying the benefits of the carriers' MileagePlus and Aeroplan loyalty programs. The agreement was also designed to strengthen and grow both carriers' networks and help accelerate their recovery from the pandemic.
United's sales manager for meetings and incentives Stacey Nishikawa told TravelPulse that the weeklong trip combining the race and post-event fam trips gave participating agents an opportunity to experience United's flights to Lisbon from Newark and Washington National and learn more about a fascinating destination.
Fifty local tourism providers signed up for a morning workshop the day after the race, giving agent participants the opportunity to learn about products that will enable them to create unique experiences for clients.
“I feel proud that the race was held here,” said Ines Almeida Garrett, who represents Tourism Portugal in Canada. “They took the chance on us and I’m thrilled that it went so well. Lisbon and Algarve have always been the primary destinations in Portugal, but through this event, travel professionals had the opportunity to discover a less-traveled region.
“Alentejo is becoming very trendy, as a ‘slow travel’ example in Portugal and in Europe. It’s a place where you can really shut down and relax, eat good food, drink good wine and experience our history and culture. It offers vacation opportunities that are good for both mind and body,” Garrett added.
The first Air Canada-United Airlines race won’t be the last, said Tracey Bellamy, Air Canada’s Director, Global Accounts. “It went so well, and we’re looking forward to doing it again. The sales teams from United and Air Canada really got to know each other during the event, and that bonding will pay off in the years to come.”
The race results were announced during a dinner at a 13th-century castle not far from Evora. Following the next day’s tourism workshop and a winery visit, the group met again for a farewell dinner, this time at a 15th-century convent turned pousada hotel in Evora.
Agents and media members then set off on three-day fam trips, exploring the Alentejo region’s wine, cuisine, culture, history and nature.
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