TORONTO — After the devastating years of the pandemic, tour operators deserved a break in 2023 and boy, did they get one.

This year marked the first full year of travel since the start of COVID-19 in early 2020, with Transport Canada removing all travel requirements in October 2022. Travellers responded in full, with over 10 million returning from trips abroad between January and April, a 7% increase over the same period in 2019, reports RBC. And according to Statistics Canada, Canadians took a total of 757,300 return trips overseas in July, up 5.1% from the same month in 2022. 

This, of course, means it was a banner year for many tour operators, who reported record high booking numbers, new itineraries to meet demand, and a full return to travel. We asked them what their top highlights were for the year, what still needs to be improved, and what their message is to travel agents heading into 2024. 

G ADVENTURES, David Green, Managing Director for Canada

2023 HIGHLIGHTS: “Travel is back – that is the biggest highlight for me. We are finally seeing bookings supersede pre-pandemic levels in some of our most popular destinations like Costa Rica, Thailand and Italy. Another big highlight was the relaunch of ChangeMakers, our biggest agent incentive, and the GX Summit we hosted in Cusco, Peru this past September where we unveiled our new Trees for Days initiative where we plant one tree per day for every traveller who is on a trip with us. It was also exciting to launch our new Geluxe Collection or premium active trips this past month, which is already hitting the spot with travellers. On the people front, we’re also back! We’ve recruited and grown our outside and inside sales teams, and our call answer rates and average handling times are now better than pre-pandemic.”

2024 GOALS: “I do believe that as an industry we need to find more ways to champion one another. We can all play a bigger part in helping to alleviate poverty if we travel responsibly and ensure that as many as our travellers’ dollars stay in the destinations that they visit. And remember, as travel agents, you have the power to ask your suppliers what they are doing to support local communities.” 

MESSAGE TO AGENTS: “The best is yet to come! Travel is back and people are hungry to see the world in a responsible and meaningful way, so 2024 will be better than ever, for all of us and for our travellers. Head into 2024 with a  clear vision of what kind of agent you want to be. As travel professionals, we have a unique opportunity to change the lives of not only your clients, but also those of the communities that your clients visit.”

GLOBUS FAMILY OF BRANDS, Steve Born, Chief Marketing Officer

2023 HIGHLIGHTS: “2023 was a year of continued innovation for the Globus family of brands as we look to the next wave of river cruise and touring clients. On the touring side, we relaunched Globus Choice tours, offering the widest selection of included excursions in touring and now with more time in the world’s most fascinating cities. We also enjoyed continued – and exciting – growth in our Small Group departures as well as our off-season tours, Escapes by Globus. Both are bringing a new profile of clients to touring.”

2024 GOALS: “2024 is looking like a great year, led by new production both from tried-and-true and new-to-industry travel advisor partners. While we’re back on a pre-pandemic sales pace, the mix of selling agents and new products is forming a very strong long-term picture for the Globus family of brands. Our goal is to be the easiest supplier for our advisors in terms of speed, service, tools and profitability.”

MESSAGE TO AGENTS: “To travel advisors, you’ve survived everything the world could’ve thrown at you and now is your time to thrive. Your time, talent and expertise is so valuable, so embrace that and use it to focus on high-revenue products like touring and river cruising. Use your time and energy wisely for success and profitability – you’ve earned it.”

GOWAY, Renee Stanton, Director of Sales

2023 HIGHLIGHTS: “In 2023, several record-breaking months marked the first half of the year and we anticipate continued success with more record-breaking months expected in Q1 of 2024. The GowayPro Travel Academy achieved ACTA accreditation, granting travel advisors four credit hours towards their CTC. The academy now boasts an impressive collection of over 250 video-based modules covering 50 countries. We also expanded our reservation team by over 160 people since 2019, and revamped our internal training program.”

2024 GOALS: “While the demand for European travel soared, we acknowledge that the turnaround time for quotes reached a peak. However, with the recent rollout of our new reservation platform and various technological enhancements, we are confident in our ability to provide the seamless experience that travel advisors are accustomed to. Our goal is to achieve a 24-hour turnaround time on all quotes.”

MESSAGE TO AGENTS: “To our travel advisor partners, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support. We recognize that, in some instances, we may have fallen short of our renowned high level of customer service. Please be assured that we have carefully listened to your feedback and are more committed than ever to making your lives easier. Exciting initiatives are on the horizon for 2024, including the introduction of a new agent loyalty program, product development aimed at meeting consumer demand, and the launch of a brand new website.”

INTREPID TRAVEL, Tom Smith, VP of Sales and Marketing for North America

2023 HIGHLIGHTS: “We kicked off 2023 by launching over 80 new experiences for travellers to experience the world in fresh and responsible ways. Travel was back in full force this year; in November, we actually surpassed last year’s total revenue made in Canada by 52% already. We saw a few trends come up in terms of trip styles, namely, family travel, which saw record sales of our offerings in 2023. Active trips also exploded in popularity, with a 445% increase in our Walking and Trekking sales globally in 2023 compared to last year. And as the world’s largest carbon-neutral travel company, we also launched new trips in lesser-visited destinations like Pakistan, Comoros and Timor-Leste to help combat overtourism.

2024 GOALS: In 2023, Intrepid released a report in partnership with Future Labs that predicted key future trends that will help ensure a more sustainable future of travel. Intrepid’s 1,000+ tours are carbon offset, which is a great place to start, but we want to continue to minimize the footprint of our tours in the future. Notably, we are in the process of taking internal and scenic flights out of itineraries, and our tours will have approximately 4,000 fewer flights on trips in 2024 compared to 2023. We’re also continuing to expand our offerings closer to home for Canadians in North, South and Central America so they can look to taking shorter-haul flights.

MESSAGE TO AGENTS: “Know that we don’t see the excitement for travel that we saw in 2023 slowing down anytime soon. Destination-wise, South America is back on the map in a big way so don’t count this out with your clients. The region has been our biggest seller in the final quarter of 2023, and we expect this popularity to continue. We’re introducing new product in this region for 2024, including a 14-Day Best of Costa Rica Family Holiday, and a six-day journey through the Heart of Guatemala.

SUNWING VACATIONS GROUP, Samantha Taylor, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer

2023 HIGHLIGHTS: “As we emerged from last year’s generational winter storm and resulting operational challenges, we have been hard at work on strengthening trust with our valued travel advisors and mutual customers. I am very pleased to say that we’ve delivered incredibly strong sales and performance throughout the summer months and for the start of this winter season, with nearly 100,000 Sunwing Vacations customers travelling to the tropics in the first two weeks of November alone. This is thanks in large part to the amazing work by travel advisors from coast to coast. We’re also thrilled to be increasing capacity from last winter season, including the newly added Cuban destinations of Cienfuegos and Manzanillo de Cuba, available from Montreal and Toronto this winter, along with expanded vacation options in Pacific Mexico, from Los Cabos to Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta.”

2024 GOALS: “We are committed to continuing to work closely with travel advisors in 2024 to further strengthen our partnership. This includes ongoing communication on the breadth of our offering, key promotions and sales, and collaborating with them at every step to deliver even more vacation options to Canadians. We recently shared key operational enhancements implemented by our airline partner, Sunwing Airlines, to increase operational readiness for the winter season, which we are grateful for. We feel confident in delivering a strong season to Canadians this year with the support of advisors.

MESSAGE TO AGENTS: “We would not be where we are today without the loyalty, trust and hard work of our travel advisor community, and for that we would like to thank all advisors. From myself and all of us at Sunwing Vacations, we wish all travel advisors a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year. 2024 is looking very bright!”

TRANSAT, Joseph Adamo, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, and President of Transat Distribution Canada

2023 HIGHLIGHTS: “We hold a cautiously optimistic perspective for 2024 based on three key factors in 2023. These include the cutting-edge expertise of our teams, who are consistently attuned to market dynamics and customer behaviour. Second, the launch of two exclusive routes – Lima in December 2023 and Marrakesh in June 2024 – as well as the ongoing annualization of certain key routes such as Liberia and San Salvador. And third and perhaps most importantly, our transformative join venture with Porter. By combining both airlnes’ highly-complementary, non-overlapping networks, this alliance offers travellers enhanced travel options across North, Central and South America, Europe, North Africa, Mexico and the Caribbean, at Toronto and Montreal airports.”

2024 GOALS: “We are committed to diligently reducing our carbon footprint . We have formulated an ambitious plan with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Furthermore, we have set a specific target to reduce our net CO2 emissions per revenue tonne-kilometre (RTK) by 24% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels. Our approach to achieving these goals involved fleet renewal with the most energy-efficient aircraft, supporting the growth of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry at the local level, enhancing our energy efficiency initiatives, and offering passengers the option to offset their carbon emissions.”

MESSAGE FOR AGENTS: “Our faith in the capabilities and knowledge of our travel agencies remains unwavering, which are particularly relevant given the increasing prominence of artificial intelligence in 2023. The empathy and expertise demonstrated by our travel agents continue to play a significant role in guiding our customers throughout the entire travel journey, from initial research and booking to the actual travel experience itself. This is a level of service that simply cannot be replicated by any computer.”