Independent By Flight Centre celebrates the Canadian launch of its Envoyage rebrand

Over 100 suppliers, partners, advisors and select travel media gathered at Valerie cocktail bar at Hotel X in Toronto on Wednesday night (June 5) to celebrate the official rebrand of Independent By Flight Centre as Envoyage.

The rebrand, which is gradually being rolled out in countries around the world, will unify the more than 2,000 agencies that are part of Flight Centre Travel Group’s independent division.

“We’ve made a choice as Flight Centre Travel Group to invest heavily in growing our independent division,” said Astrid Richardson, global chief operations officer for Envoyage, speaking to PAX.

“We know we're in a unique position to be able to give people one brand that has a global presence.”

Anita Emilio, vice-president and general manager for Envoyage Canada, shared with PAX that the rebrand felt like a natural progression for many advisors that have been part of the independent division for more than 15 years since it first launched in Canada.

“It was part of the evolution for them as they’ve become more experienced and grown their businesses over the years,” she said.

“They were very receptive and welcoming of the opportunity to evolve their businesses with this new brand.”

An elevated and modern brand

In a brief speech, Emilio welcomed event attendees and introduced them to “our new elevated and modern brand.”

Emilio noted that Envoyage hopes to appeal to the ever-growing luxury travel market.

“I think many of us thought that premium and luxury travel was going to be a bit of a fad, but it does seem to be staying and people are really investing in their travel experiences,” she said.

Richardson told PAX that the Envoyage brand better aligns with the premium services their advisors offer clients.

“What we were hearing from agents and agencies globally was that they saw themselves as an elevated offering and the brand needed to reflect that,” she said.

As part of the brand’s revamp, Emilio shared that Envoyage will soon be launching luxury and corporate specializations.

“That comes with not only research we've done in the market, but also feedback about where the businesses of our current advisors and agency owners are going in the future,” she said.

For every journey

Envoyage’s new tagline “for every journey” speaks to what the new brand aims to offer clients and advisors alike, according to Richardson.

“You can see the consumer sentiment around that tagline, but it’s also around ‘every journey’ for the entrepreneurs that join us — regardless of where they are on their entrepreneurial journey, we have something for them,” she said.

“We’re a very broad and diverse company that has businesses in all segments of travel — leisure, corporate, wholesale, etc. and that creates a unique opportunity to open the doors to our independent advisors globally. They can choose and take as little or as much off that shelf as they like.”

Emilio said that Envoyage’s recent ‘Worldwide’ conference, which was hosted in Santiago, Chile, last month, exemplifies the global connections the new brand hopes to foster.

“We brought together 300 agents and it was really interesting that these entrepreneurs from all around the world have so many things in common,” said Emilio.

“They share the same challenges and they have expertise around the world that they can draw on.”

Emilio and Richardson said that the conference helped many advisors appreciate the value of connecting with one another.

“You can now message an advisor in a city like Cape Town and ask about the best restaurants to recommend to your clients,” said Emilio.

“I think it’s a really unique positioning for us in the marketplace.”

Emilio added that the event was such a success that plans are already underway for a ‘Worldwide’ 2025 conference.

A world of possibilities

Emilio said the feedback about the rebrand from Canadian agents has been positive so far.

“The look and feel is really resonating with them and it reflects the elevation of their businesses,” she said.

Richardson said the brand will continue its global launch, debuting in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the coming months.

She added that growth in Canada and North America will be an important focus for Envoyage going forward.

“I feel very passionate about the idea of being a global brand. We send people all over the world, so having connections around the world is really important,” said Emilio.

“I think being a truly global brand has opened up a world of possibilities to our advisors.”

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