LONDON, ONT. — For its first ever Nexion Canada Symposium, held last month on April 21-22 in Toronto, Nexion Canada celebrated “the resurgence of the travel agent” and focused on providing the very best training practices to its agents in order to ensure their success.

The inaugural event, which was open to Nexion Canada members from all provinces, welcomed more than 40 travel professionals that ranged from experienced to novice agents, plus those new to Nexion Canada but not new to the travel industry. They all took part in educational opportunities on various travel niches, participated in supplier roundtables and gained expert industry advice.

“The resurgence of the travel agent is very heartening to see. Many talented people are flocking to the profession because of the appeal of travel, the flexibility the career offers, and the ability for travel agents to earn lucrative commissions,” said Mike Foster, President of Nexion Canada. “To build the travel agent profession, it’s important to provide high-quality education to help ensure success, and Nexion Canada excels at that. The Nexion Canada Symposium let us meet our members in a central location, and bring the very best training to them. The skills learned were designed to be put into use as soon as they got home.”

Each day of the symposium focused on segments and skills commonly used by agents, including marketing solutions, selling skills and group sales, along with advertising and social media engagement.

Speakers included Tina Shewchuk of TICO who spoke about Ontario regulations and how Nexion Canada members can ensure they are in compliance. Chantal Ford of The Travel Corporation also spoke on how travel professionals can harness the power of social media to build their customer base, while Jeff Element, President of The Travel Corporation, provided an overview of the company’s tour offerings.

Participants concentrated heavily on group sales, including how to sell groups, who to sell to, and what Nexion Canada members can do to make their group sales more profitable.

“Group sales are one of the segments Nexion Canada members are most interested in exploring, based on their questions,” Foster added. “This niche offers great rewards, but it can be intimidating to break into. By bringing in group travel sales experts to advise our members, we want to empower them to be able to communicate with their group customers in the ways they desire.”