ACV unveils new Sun brochure in style

Air Canada Vacations brought the house down at the rip-roaring launch of its new 2017/18 Sun brochure in Woodbridge last night.

The tour operator welcomed a bumper crowd of more than 850 travel professionals to the Paramount Event Space, where suppliers were on hand to showcase their products and forge valuable connections with the agent community in tandem with the highly-anticipated unveiling of the new Sun brochure.

George Platanitis (vice president, sales and partnerships) and Monique Lalonde (general manager, sales – Ontario) took to the stage to provide agents with a more in-depth look at some of the most enticing features of the brochure, which features more than 700 properties in 40 destinations - before giving the rapt audience one last surprise.

Platanitis welcomed Toronto’s very own Shawn Desman to the stage, with the renowned musician belting out several of his best-known hits in a barnstorming finale.

New features

The event marked the conclusion of ACV’s Canada-wide tour to promote the brochure, with Platanitis reflecting with satisfaction to PAX on the success of the launch.

“It’s our flagship ending event,” he commented. “We went across the country, and now we’re ending in our biggest market – Toronto. We’re thrilled to be here.

George Platanitis, vice president, sales and partnerships, Air Canada Vacations

“We have a lot of cool things this year,” he continued. “We’ve increased capacity [for] Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada – overall, we’re up 17 to 18 per cent, and here in Toronto, about 11.”

The brochure had been bolstered, Platanitis added, by the addition of new routes from Toronto such as Cartagena, Belize and Saint Kitts – with a sizeable 250 per cent increase in capacity from Calgary a result of new service to destinations like Huatulco and Los Cabos.

Company-wide expansion

Reinforcing the unity of the wider organization, representatives from Air Canada were also out in full force to back the brochure launch. Tony Celio, specialty sales manager, Air Canada, told PAX that the airline was also present to show its appreciation for travel agents.

Tony Celio, specialty sales manager, and Jennifer Backus, senior key account manager, Air Canada.

“We just recently expanded internationally as well,” he said, “so we’re growing, and the whole idea is just to support our colleagues who are part of one big organization. We’re just happy to be here to show our support to the agency community, and to support our colleagues at ACV.”

New brochures coming

Platanitis also highlighted ACV’s promotion with platinum partner Sandals, offering agents the opportunity to earn 15 per cent commission on all Sandals bookings made by Oct. 1; agents should also keep their eyes peeled for the launch of a Luxury Collections brochure, arriving in November, and the Europe 2018 brochure – scheduled to debut in December.

Both Platanitis and Lalonde urged agents to take advantage of the brochure’s Spotlight collection, which features offerings from the likes of Bahia Principe, Barceló, and Playa Hotels and Resorts.

Exclusive perks included in the collection include private transfers, free WiFi, a welcome bottle of wine, snacks for kids and more.

The Play program, meanwhile, has been enhanced to include the option to upgrade to Play More, featuring all inclusions of Play in addition to seat selection at time of booking for every member of the family and a $10 voucher for an in-flight meal per family member, per way.

George Platanitis, vice-president, sales and partnerships and Nino Montagnese, managing director, Air Canada Vacations.

Other notable takeaways from the launch include an EBB of $200-300 per couple on bookings from the USA program made by Oct. 31, in addition to the new option to book groups – a minimum of eight passengers – online.

For Sun packages departing from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, meanwhile, an eight-day Park ‘N’ Fly coupon is offered (for bookings made by Oct. 31), with a value of over $200.

Paying tribute to the ‘resilient, resourceful’ spirit of travel agents, Platanitis also reaffirmed ACV’s commitment to the agent community and its focus on helping achieve higher sales and commission.

“We’re here to say that we support our travel agents,” he told PAX. “We’re going to be launching more products, [which will] be able to drive more ancillary revenue and more commission for them.”

Air Canada Vacations' 2017/18 Sun brochure can be viewed here.