Travel Leaders Network’s EDGE Conference Highlights Record Bookings, Leads Generated

For many in the travel industry, the hot ticket in Nashville last week wasn’t to the record-breaking Taylor Swift concerts taking place at Nissan Stadium. It was to Travel Leaders Network’s annual EDGE conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center—a sold-out event that attracted more than 1,700 attendees, including 1,300-plus travel advisors, from May 8-10. 

“This is the second-largest EDGE,” said Roger E. Block, CTC, president of Travel Leaders Network (TLN). “The first was the 10th anniversary in Las Vegas [in 2018], and we would have far eclipsed it if we had had the room.”

The demand for attendance at the gathering of the largest network of travel agencies in North America reflects the demand for travel. “2022 turned out to be a very good year,” said Block. “2023 is looking incredibly strong—especially for leisure.”

In fact, 2023 is projected to be TLN’s highest sales year ever for cruises and tours. John Lovell, CTC, president of Travel Leaders Group, predicts cruise sales for the company will be 12 percent above 2019 levels this year, and land sales will be 8 percent or 9 percent above 2019 levels. Corporate travel sales for the company are at approximately 85 to 95 percent of pre-COVID levels. “There is an excitement about the industry because it is coming back and coming back really strong,” said Lovell.

In addition to record-breaking ocean cruise sales, TLN is “having a very, very good year on the river side,” said Lovell. Europe is selling “extremely well,” he added, with Italy, France and Germany seeing the highest demand. Scandinavia, Egypt and Japan are also top destinations for the company’s clients. While travel to U.S. destinations remains strong, theme park bookings are down compared to 2022 but are comparable to 2019.

Overall, said Lovell, “bookings are outpacing 2019, and there’s no sign of slowing down.”

As travel continues its strong rebound from the pandemic-induced pause, TLN is driving more business to its 5,700-plus travel agency locations than ever. Last year, TLN delivered more than 215,000 leads to its members—a 24 percent increase from the pre-pandemic high of 2019. The leads represented $324 million in sales with preferred supplier partners and $53 million in commissions earned by members. With 97,000 leads generated in the first quarter of this year, 2023 is projected to surpass 2022 lead-generation numbers by 54 percent.

“With the post-pandemic travel boom, the issue has become not only how do advisors get clients, but how do travelers find the perfect advisor for their trip? TravelLeaders.com, powered by Agent Profiler, is the answer that ‘matchmakes’ these two groups for a great solution for both,” said Stephen McGillivray, CTC, chief marketing officer of Travel Leaders Group.

McGillivray urged travel advisors at the conference to enhance their profiles on TravelLeaders.com to become “Super Agents.” To achieve the Super Agent designation, advisors must have complete profiles in Agent Profiler, including client reviews and a certain level of expertise. The Super Agent designation brings users to the top of consumer searches on TravelLeaders.com. Advisors can now add logos for certifications to their profiles and display itineraries of trips they’ve designed.

Stephen McGillivray, chief marketing officer of Travel Leaders Group, with a Dolly Parton impersonator at the EDGE conference in Nashville. (Photo Credit: Sara Perez Webber)

Travel Leaders is also raising the profile of advisors in communications with consumers. When the company’s marketing arm adds travel advisors’ photos to consumer emails, there’s a 40 percent click-through rate. The tactic has been so successful that advisor photos will be added to direct mail in the third quarter.

McGillivray also announced the launch of Social Share Pro, a complimentary subscription-based tool that creates scheduled content for advisors’ social media channels—including Facebook and Instagram posts, stories and reels. “There’s no doubt social media channels are essential,” said McGillivray. “We want you to look great in front of your customers.”

Advisors at EDGE also learned about Cruise Complete, Travel Leaders’ new cruise booking engine that will launch in June. Replacing Cruise Pro, the new web-based platform, “dramatically streamlines your process and saves you time,” said Cory Voss, vice president, product and solutions delivery for Travel Leaders Group.

Cruise Complete is a one-stop shop, offering real-time pricing and availability for 22 major ocean and river cruise lines. Features include the ability to compare up to four sailings on one screen; to work multiple itineraries for different clients simultaneously; and to book up to four cabins on the same sailing at the same time, even if each cabin has a different passenger count, type of passenger, rate and category.

Dave Hershberger, president of Cincinnati-based Prestige Travel Leaders—who has attended every EDGE conference—sings the praises of the benefits his agency receives from being a part of Travel Leaders. The biggest, he says, is Agent Profiler. “We are getting unbelievable leads off of that—qualified, closable leads,” said Hershberger, who also names commission opportunities, relationships with vendors and technology as prime perks provided by Travel Leaders. “We’re able to provide full-blown corporate technology to our customers and not pay the full price as if we were doing it on our own. The cost savings is tremendous.”

Hershberger expects Prestige Travel to hit $25 million in sales this year, with a business mix that’s about 65 percent corporate. “We’re probably about 30 percent ahead of 2019 on corporate bookings, which is shocking to me,” he said. “It’s booming—though not as much as vacation is booming right now. Vacation is insane. I’ve been in the business 40 years, and I’ve never seen this type of environment on the vacation side.”

Also on an upward trajectory are the number of agencies under the Travel Leaders umbrella. “Last year we had one of our best years for growth, in terms of not just numbers of members but preferred suppliers, and the trend is continuing,” said Block. “So far this year, just in the U.S., we’ve signed up 87 new affiliate members in the first quarter and two new franchise associates.”

While finding employees is the biggest challenge agencies have right now, says Block, the educational opportunities offered by Travel Leaders are helping to shape the next generation of travel advisors. “What’s really encouraging is when you look at our hosts and how many new folks they are bringing in, it’s by the thousands every month,” said Block. “There’s such a thirst and a need for the type of training we provide.”

The EDGE conference offered 200 educational workshops. (Photo Credit: Travel Leaders Network)

Travel Leaders’ educational programs range from entry-level training—learning how to qualify a customer, for example—to certification programs that can take nine months to a year to complete. More than 1,300 travel advisors are currently enrolled in Travel Leaders’ New Advisor – Leisure Learning Path training.

The EDGE conference offered 200 educational workshops, many of them sold out. Attendees also heard from suppliers in the general sessions—many of whom received Power of Partnership (POP) awards from TLN. Advisors could meet with suppliers during the trade show and attend supplier-sponsored workshops. “We have the right suppliers here,” said Lovell. “Everyone wants to be here.”

Suppliers are eager to work with Travel Leaders because of its reach, notes Lovell. “We probably represent anywhere from 35 to 40 percent of the distribution channel,” he said. “We give them the ability to touch the biggest organization but also the organization that sells the most in any particular category.”

Travel Leaders’ members include corporate as well as leisure agencies, “which is one of the things that makes us different from all of our competitors,” said Block.

In addition, noted Block, the company’s average transaction price has increased over time as it has added more training, more programs and more alliances—communities of top-performing members focused on specific niches. They include the Independent Advisor Networks Leaders Alliance, the Honeymoon & Destination Wedding Leaders Alliance, the Luxury Leaders Alliance and the newly launched Technology Leaders Alliance. The Technology Alliance, available only to owner and manager-level members, acts as a platform for sharing and learning about tools that exist outside of TLN—from the use of AI to pay reconciliation for corporate agencies.

To be a member of the Luxury Leaders Alliance, which now includes 275 members, advisors must be in the top 1 percent of all luxury sellers in TLN. “A lot of people consider us nothing but mass-market retailers; it’s anything but that,” said Block. “TLN is one of the very top luxury sellers, period.”

As Travel Leaders continues to recruit new members, Lovell says its biggest selling point is value. “If you’re an agency of 10 people, I’d say that you’re really an agency of well over 120 people, because each one of our employees is really working on your behalf, be it marketing, training, education, technology,” he said. “We give them the ability to drive leads into their business, to grow their business, to market to their existing clients, to make the phones ring. Ultimately, we’re bringing great technology tools to make their lives a little bit simpler.”

And Lovell believes business next year will be even stronger. “We have more capacity coming on in terms of the cruise industry,” he said. “More resorts are being built, so we will have more capacity there. I project a very strong ’24. And if you look at our advance bookings, they’re really showing that as well.”

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