TORONTO — Less than six months after launch, The 1000 has welcomed the first recipients into its club of wholly-verified, top-producing travel advisors from around the world.

According to the company, applications received to date represent over US$2 billion in annual sales production, averaging $2.3 million per advisor. Of those advisors who have been verified and accepted into The 1000, their average annual sales production is $3.1 million, with several individual advisors each producing over $12 million per year.

“Thank you to the over 1,000 travel advisors from 37 countries who applied, and congratulations to the initial cohort of advisors who have gone through the verification process and now proudly count themselves amongst the world’s most influential travel advisors,” said Jeff Sirota and Tim Morgan, Co-Founders, The 1000.

“We have been moved by the hundreds of passionate e-mails, phone calls, direct messages and conversations that we have had with travel advisors, agency owners, consortium executives and industry partners all acknowledging that a recognition platform like The 1000 is long overdue,” they added.

Travelweek checked in with Morgan to hear more about the Canadian market specifically, and the interest from the Canadian retail travel sector in The 1000.

About a quarter of all applications to join The 1000 were from Canadian travel agents, he says.

“We’ve seen keen interest from Canadian travel advisors looking to be recognized as part of a global program, with the number of applications from the country consistently representing about 25% of the global total,” Morgan told Travelweek this morning.

He added: “The main difference we have seen between Canadian travel advisor applications and those from other parts of the world is that we saw U.S. travel advisors have a much stronger rebound in 2021, mainly due to the fact that there were far more travel restrictions and travel hesitance in Canada when compared to the U.S. All feedback from Canadian travel advisors so far points to a stronger 2022 than 2021 as long as global events do not further disrupt consumer appetite for travel this year.”

Travelweek first interviewed Morgan at the time of The 1000’s launch, in October 2021.

Complimentary applications are open to all advisors from around the world until April 15, 2022 at www.the1000.club.

Among the Canadian travel retailers joining The 1000 is top producer Tully Luxury Travel, based in Mississauga, ON. “To have our loyal and dedicated advisors be recognized for their sales in The 1000 is certainly an honour that we couldn’t be more proud of,” said EVP Aida Silva.