Sunwing & Signature hit the road

A long, cold winter in Canada is always a good sign for those travel businesses offering escapes to sunnier destinations, and this year was no exception for Sunwing and Signature, welcoming their travel partners for a look ahead to next year through this year’s series of cross-Canada road shows.

More than 500 agents and 50 suppliers met at Woodbine Race Track in the latest stop for the event, which will make its way through Ontario this spring (with concurrent stops in Quebec) before heading toward Western Canada in mid-May. Suppliers on hand represented a wide range of Sunwing and Signature’s product lines and destinations, which were detailed throughout the dinner presentation.

“This was our best winter season ever, but I know I stood here last year saying the same thing,” Dave Wright, director of sales – Ontario and Atlantic Canada, said jokingly to the audience. “It was a brutal winter but it was great for business.”

Deana Murphy, Sunwing’s vice-president of retail sales, told PAX that a number of suppliers have opened new properties this year available for the upcoming winter travel season, including Royalton Riviera Cancun and Hideaway at Royalton in Mexico, and new RIU properties including the RIU Palace St. Martin and RIU Palace Antillas.

“The all-inclusive is still so incredibly popular, and Canadians like to know what they’re going to spend before they go away,” Murphy said.

While key sun destinations – namely Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica – make up the majority of bookings through Sunwing and Signature, Murphy said that more travellers are looking for something new and are eyeing properties in Central American destinations.

“A lot of travellers are looking for more adventure - Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras are all very popular,” Murphy said, adding that group bookings are also “way ahead for next year, which is a great positive sign. With the additional exclusive product and more aircraft and flights, it’s continuing to grow every year.”

And although winter is the most popular time for Canadians to consider a southern escape, the VP said that the brands’ summer travel programs to destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean are being heavily promoted in 2015. Sunwing’s summer flight program also includes domestic service from Toronto to Vancouver as well as to Newfoundland, including flights to Gander, St. John’s and Stephenville. In addition, service from Toronto to Amsterdam has been offered in recent years via Dutch airline Arkefly, returning this June.

“There’s fantastic value offered during that time of year,” she said. “The value of these destinations compared to a Canadian holiday provides great value. We’re reminding agents that we have most of these programs year-round; we’re year round into places like Cuba, Aruba and most Mexican destinations. People sometimes forget that so we’re going to remind them.”

More Sunwing news

- For the upcoming winter travel season, Sunwing will add direct weekly flights from Thunder Bay to Cancun, beginning Dec. 23. Sunwing will also re-introduce direct flights from Val-d’Or to Varadero and will launch a new direct service from Val-d’Or to Holguin; the new routes will operate on Mondays, beginning Dec. 21 to Varadero and on Tuesdays, beginning Dec. 22, to Holguin.

- For agents, Sunwing is in the process of adding new webinars to its agent portal with gold and platinum suppliers, such as RIU and Melia, which can be accessed online at anytime.

- Construction has begun on the Sunwing Foundation’s first charitable project – the establishment of a new, state of the art school in Trelawny, Jamaica in collaboration with Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation and Food For The Poor Canada.

PHOTO: Of Sunwing: Dave Wright, director of sales, Ontario and Atlantic Canada; Donna Giffin, BDM, Atlantic Canada; Jazmin Jimenez, BDM, Central & Eastern Ontario; Rod Hanna, BDM, Southwestern & Northern Ontario; Deana Murphy, vice president, retail sales; Farole Kikkert, BDM, Southern Alberta; Lorraine Brisbois, corporate manager, Preferred Partners; Scott Reid, BDM, Central Canada.