Travel advisors say industry event conflicts are easily avoided
Two prominent Toronto-area travel agents say they’d be appreciative if suppliers eager to educate them and their colleagues about their products through in-person Toronto-area events would make a little effort to avoid conflicts with other events when it comes to choosing a day.
Those agents say frequent event overlaps in the busy Toronto-area travel industry circuit mean they’re often unable to attend events that would be useful to them.
“We can’t be at two places at the same time,” says Sheila Aue of TPI – Trevello Travel Group, who finds event conflicts “frustrating.”
Aue and Ethel Hansen Davey of Toronto’s Uniglobe Enterprise agency point to the likes of Baxter Media’s long-running Events Calendar – which invites suppliers to post events planned in cities across the country for free – as providing an easy solution for the problem.
“I’m not sure if suppliers are not aware of the calendar or what the problem is,” Aue says. “But there was a time when suppliers would reference the calendars when scheduling their own events. If they (still) did, agents wouldn’t have as many conflicts with which event to attend. And suppliers would likely have more agents attending.”
“There are so many conflicting events from some amazing suppliers and tour operators because they don’t know who has an event booked on any given evening,” adds Hansen Davey.
Hansen Davey remembers a time when suppliers routinely mentioned their events on Events Calendar, enabling other suppliers planning an event to select an evening when agents wouldn’t have to choose a single event from one or more coinciding ones when they would ideally like to attend them all.
“Would it not be great if they all knew about this tool? This past summer/fall there have been so many conflicting events that it has been difficult to pick and choose which to attend,” Hansen Davey adds of Events Calendar, adding it has provided an “amazing” service.
Hansen Davey says agents have often recently relied on word of mouth or email invitations sent to one person in an office that were then circulated to learn about travel industry events, methods of keeping informed that she says aren’t as reliable in today’s world. “With so many agents working from home, it is difficult for them to access events information. The suppliers should be sure to include a link to register for the events, and to stress that those not registered will not be admitted.”
Meanwhile, Baxter Media’s Eilish Vicencio-Heap, who oversees Events Calendar, says suppliers are more than welcome to use it.
“We are always happy to accept new entries in the events calendar, which is free of charge. Clients are encouraged to register for an account to post their events. If they need any assistance, they can reach out to me directly,” she says.
Events Calendar can be found at eventscalendar.ca.
