“We will continue to innovate”: TPI wraps mid-year conference with great success

Last week, the TPI team gathered virtually for a mid-year conference, focusing on ways that the TPI Network can Activate their business for future success.

The two-day event brought together 350 attendees and more than 30 supplier partners.

TPI advisors were able to participate in partner networking sessions and featured presentations led by Nino Montagnese, vice-president, Air Canada Vacations; Gary Murphy, co-owner and senior vice-president, sales, AmaWaterways; Vicki Freed, senior vice-president of sales, trade support and service, Royal Caribbean International; Rob McChlery, partner, senior associate, Investors Group; and keynote session delivered by Geraldine Ree.

Peer-to-peer conversations are always well received, and there were three advisor panel sessions held called Advisor Efficiencies with Technology, Leading forward with Groups and Activate Your Brand Story

The conference wrapped with an announcement that TPI’s 2022 Conference will be held May 1-5, 2022 (in person), as well as highlighted all the ways that TPI has activated their offerings for the TPI Network over the past 15 months and the work they continue to do to keep their network engaged.

This has included:

• Holding advisor commissions and velocity levels for two years.
• Partnering with Morneau Shepell to introduce an Advisor Assistance Program free of charge for staff and our members to ensure they have access to a list of professionals with a focus on mental wellness.
• Launching booking and customer information forms with a Terms & Conditions program that is fully customizable for a variety of travel types.
• Introducing a self-service portal allowing TPI advisors to easily charge service fees.
• Developing the TPI@Home portal/COVID website.
• Introducing partnership with Sandra McLemore of Travel & Marketing Media, which offers free monthly sessions exclusively to TPI advisors to enhance their marketing knowledge on ways to connect with their clients and work on their business
• Launching a company talk show and held over 160 episodes of the “Z&C Show” featuring 75 guests and many themed fun Friday events such as karaoke, scavenger hunts and trivia days.
• Launching the first-ever Sustainability Travel Community with a mission to build awareness and make resources readily available to their advisors as part of their focus on the rebound to travel post-pandemic.
• Publishing an e-Book featuring three simple actions advisors can focus on to navigate out of the crisis found on TPI.ca.
• Launching a TPI cookbook.

TPI successfully held the TPI Virtual Conference with more than 400 attendees in November and followed up with a mid-year Connection event with 350 attendees.

The host agency also held 25 virtual consumer events, which allowed advisors to connect with their clients to keep the dream of travel alive, conducted more than 1,500 outbound calls to advisors, raised more than $2,000 for breast cancer awareness during the TPI Walktober Challenge, raised more than $1,000 for Planeterra Trek and more.

“We have missed out on so much over the past 15 months,” said Zeina Gedeon, CEO at TPI, “but it’s time for all of us to take the lessons learned and apply them to focus forward and activate! The head office support team is ensuring the needs of our existing and future advisors are considered with every program launched and decision made. We will continue to innovate and introduce new programs that are purposely built to drive business and efficiencies for our advisors.”

Gedeon added: “We’re thankful for all our advisors and partners that joined us this week virtually, but nothing replaces in-person connection. TPI plans to conduct in-person Fall Connections with our advisors across the country in October, but we’re really looking forward to one hell of a gathering at our conference in May 2022!”

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