NANAIMO — “We’re doing it old school,” said Sabrina Greca, national director of business development and marketing for 5Continents at the ‘5C Goes West’ event in Nanaimo Tuesday.

“Travel is about connections. It’s people to people to people. It’s that human connection that truly makes the trips different.”

The Canadian-based company, founded in 2017, is the connection between its global destination partners and travel advisers by creating customized itineraries tailored for each client’s unique interests.

5Continents’ Western Canada BDM, Tammy Olivier (right) with travel advisors Viccie Ashley (left) and Sandy McLary (centre)

Their five-city event in western Canada was at its halfway mark Tuesday at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, in downtown Nanaimo, with a packed room of about 50 local travel advisors interested in knowing more about FIT trips and getting insider tips from four of 5Continents international destination partners – Peru, Thailand, Italy and Greece.

Representatives from these countries were able to share insider tips on their destinations, like best places to travel off the beaten path and some unique destination experiences.

“Some of the agents who come to our events never did an FIT trip before for their clients. It takes a lot of time and they are looking for partners that will help them,” said Greca.

“They’re busy and sometimes they just don’t know the destination very well so they need our support in order to build that right itinerary.”

She adds one of the benefits of working with 5Continents and its international partners is they can offer flexible itineraries and have local contacts at the destination to trouble shoot any issues that may arise. She says 5Continents basically works with destination partners from around the world, with the exception of the Caribbean, Mexico and the U.S.

“You have the security that if anything happens they are the ones at the destination that will deal with the domino effect of all the things that can happen, whether its a missed connection, delayed flight, a missed train, the ferry is on strike. The partner is there to fix it.”

Parksville, B.C. travel advisor Sandy McLary, of The Travel Agent Next Door, said she currently has clients doing a bucket list trip of Australia with an itinerary from 5Continents.

“They (5Continents) are doing everything for them – accommodations, transfers, private tours. One of the clients is in a wheelchair so they are ensuring that client’s needs are being met,” she said.

McLary added it’s also much easier to deal with one supplier instead of her trying to “piecemeal” an itinerary for a client using “20 plus suppliers.”

Nanaimo travel advisor Viccie Ashley, of Ashley Travel, said the biggest advantage she has found for her clients is they get a customized package so it’s truly “their vacation, not yours.”

That customization would include accommodations, customized experiences, travel within a country and air tickets if they want those included as well, said Tammy Olivier, 5Continents’ western Canada BDM.

“The majority of clients now want to travel the way they want to travel – at their own pace, they want to see the things they want to see and to experience what they want to experience. They don’t necessarily want to get up early at 8 in the morning and stay out late with 50 people they don’t know.”

Providing a personalized journey for clients generally costs 10 to 15% extra versus an “off the rack package tour,” she said.

Olivier said Europe is the number one destination for their clients but Southeast Asia and Greece are also becoming quite popular.

5Continents earlier this week held events in Langley and Richmond, B.C. and will continue Wednesday in Calgary before finishing in Edmonton on Thursday.

Lead image caption: 5Continents’ National Director of Business Development and Marketing, Sabrina Greca (left) and Western Canada BDM, Tammy Olivier