Welcome to Travel Agent Appreciation 2023
April 25, 2023

Ann Ruppenstein

Baxter Media celebrates travel advisors 

Welcome to our annual Travel Agent Appreciation combined issue of Travel Courier and Canadian Travel Press. Since 2016, we’ve been highlighting some of the remarkable travel advisors across the industry in Canada for this special edition. Once again, we received an impressive amount of high calibre agent nominations to feature in this issue.

Before revealing this year’s nominees, we’d like to acknowledge some other outstanding agents. First up is Maureen Beaulne of Bon Voyage by Maureen with Trevello Travel Group. Although she wasn’t able to participate in this edition, we’d like to share her nomination: 

“It is with great pleasure that I would like to nominate home-based travel agent Maureen Beaulne as one of Collette’s outstanding agent partners. I always admire how Maureen goes above and beyond to search specific details about an itinerary to ensure what she is offering her clients is nothing less than the best quality and fit for them. She is extremely knowledgeable and often has thought of how she will meet her client’s needs even before they arise. I believe Maureen’s dedication has made her top of mind amongst her clients, who continue to be loyal to her and follow her throughout the world. We thank Maureen for, year after year, securing her groups and trusting Collette so that together we can continue to enhance life’s journey through extraordinary experiences,” said Danielle Martins, Account Manager, Global Sales, at Collette.

In 2021, Baxter Media launched The Travel Agent and Beyond Award, honouring one of the nominees from the Travel Agent Appreciation edition with some extra recognition. Watch out for the May 25th edition of Travel Courier to discover this year’s winner.

We’d also like to give a shoutout to Mary LaRocque and Shalene Dudley, previous recipients of The Travel Agent and Beyond Award, who were nominated again this year by their industry partners. 

“I’d like to send in a nomination on behalf of our entire territory. I’d like to nominate Mary LaRocque. In all my career I have never met a more driven, innovative and proactive agency Owner. Mary has been a breath of fresh air to work with and truly values a partnership,” said Krystal Langenberg, Head of Sales – Canada at Collette. 

Meanwhile, Brian Joseph, BDM for HYATT Inclusive Collection, put forth a nomination for Shalene Dudley,  the owner and founder of Latitude Concierge Travels. 

“Shalene has won numerous personal awards and recently decided to go independent. She now has several quality agents on her team. She advocates for women’s rights and ethnic equality in the travel industry, and has been on many panels to help educate, advise and encourage others to grow their business, thereby sharing her acquired knowledge and success. Shalene also balances this with raising her young family and being a great mother. All this, while having a pleasant, humble and welcoming demeanour. She is one-of-a-kind and deserves this nomination,” he noted. 

Way to go Mary and Shalene. 

Now it’s time to reveal this year’s nominees: 

Congratulations to all!




Previous Post

Nathan Bowler

Next Post

Amanda Morrison




G-J0XFTER89E