In March 2020, Canadians were called home en masse by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, thousands of trips were cut short or cancelled and the world entered the COVID pandemic era.

The travel industry was one of the hardest hit and many businesses and travel advisors are still struggling to recover from debt incurred during that time, not to mention negative revenue.

But nobody can argue that Santa was good to the travel industry in 2023 — it has been a banner year for travel sales of every type and description. Cruises, river cruises, flights, bucket list trips, winter vacations, European tours — you name it, people are just so happy to be travelling again they were booking like crazy. Even price did not seem to be an issue.

This could not have come at a better time for travel advisors and they have been extremely busy all year and this continues.

The Travel Agent Next Door, Canada’s leading host agency, is celebrating over 375 travel advisors moving up in their sales tier year over year. At TTAND, there’s a Rising Stars program which sets commission split levels based on the amount of commission the agents bring in.

If an agent moves up a tier, they are paid retroactively from the beginning of that year, which means 375 TTAND agents were rewarded this year for achieving the next level. This means TTAND paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars BACK to their partner agents based on how well they performed this year.

This success is a clear indicator of what a great year it has been. “We are celebrating our partner agents,” said Flemming Friisdahl, TTAND CEO and founder. “This has been an outstanding year for sales with TTAND itself on track to reach record numbers. This is because our agents are reaching record numbers and this means a win for our agents, a win for our suppliers and a win for TTAND.”

TTAND has also seen a record number of candidates signing up to become travel agents and taking the TTAND program to launch new agents.
“Travel agents are enjoying a renaissance,” said Friisdahl. “The pandemic and the aftermath has proven just how valuable it is to have a travel agent help you before, during and after your trip.”

“There’s a lot to celebrate at TTAND as the year comes to a close and also a lot to be grateful for,” he added. “And we are so excited that next year, we will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary starting in March.”

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