TORONTO — A recent team-building workshop celebrated the official integration of WestJet Vacations trade sales team members with the existing Sunwing Vacations team under the leadership of Deana Murphy, VP Sales & Business Development at Sunwing Vacations Group.

Travel advisors will continue working with their established contacts at both brands, which will maintain their distinct identities and product offerings, say the companies.

Shannon Cunningham, Director of Sales for WestJet Vacations, Graeme Franklin, Director of Sales for Western Canada, David Wright, Director of Sales for Ontario and Atlantic Canada and Gustavo Moor, Business Development Manager for Quebec, now all report to Murphy, with their respective teams continuing to report to each director.

The combined team brings over 430 years of travel industry experience.

“It was wonderful having the whole team from across Canada come together for the first time,” said Murphy. “Everyone thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each other during the events. I’m confident the travel advisors will continue to enjoy working with all of their favourite WestJet Vacations and Sunwing Vacations team members as we continue to differentiate and uniquely promote the two brands.”

The two-day workshop kicked off with a hands-on culinary experience at Chef Upstairs in Vaughan, where teams prepped and cooked a six-course meal together. This was followed by a full day of strategic planning meetings at the Sunwing head office, concluding with an evening with the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

The companies say the integration marks a major milestone in the WestJet Group’s tour operations strategy, “creating a unified sales force that positions the combined entity as Canada’s leading tour operator while preserving the unique strengths of both vacation brands.”