Canadians win at Travel Market; advisors weigh in on comparison between tariffs & pandemic

Lights, camera, accolades.

The American Marketing Group – inclusive of TRAVELSAVERS (U.S. and Canada), the Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel (NEST), The Affluent Traveller Collection, and other brands – wrapped up its 2025 Travel Market conference, “Connected,” last Friday (June 6) with a dinner and awards gala at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida.

“Tonight is all about celebrating everyone in this room,” said Kathryn Mazza-Burney, the company’s chief sales officer, addressing more than 1,000 travel advisors and suppliers from Canada and the U.S. “Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do.” 

A number of agents and agencies affiliated with TRAVELSAVERS Canada were celebrated for their business performance and sales accomplishments.

Chairman’s Award - Agency

This is the highest accolade, recognizing outstanding partner sales resulting from dedication to driving growth. It’s presented to the top-producing agency for the previous calendar year. Total Advantage Travel & Tours

President’s Award

This is awarded to the agency that has attained remarkable preferred partner production in the previous calendar year. Enjoy Travel

Soaring Eagle Award

This honours the agency that has achieved the most significant increases in preferred partner sales when comparing last year to the year before. Justtraveldeals.ca

Horizon Award

This is presented to an up-and-coming agency that continues to build on its early success. Timeless Travel

Inspire Awards

These honour agencies that are highly engaged with their network and the industry overall. Ocean Breeze Cruise & Travel, GOwithHIPPO Travel and Voyages Concierge Deluxe Travel

Brand Champion Awards

New this year, these awards recognize agencies dedicated to supporting and enhancing their networks. Ventresca Travel Agency, Luv to Travel and Voyages Recreatif.

Chairman’s Award – Preferred Partner – Manulife

Partner of the Year Awards

The Partner of the Year Awards are nominated and selected by TRAVELSAVERS Canada advisors.

● Cruise Partner of the Year – Celebrity Cruises

● River Cruise Partner of the Year – AmaWaterways

● Hotel Partner of the Year – IHG Hotels & Resorts

● OnLocation Partner of the Year – Memorable Travel Group

● Destination Partner of the Year – Dominican Republic Tourism

● Air Partner of the Year – Delta Air Lines

● Guided Tour Partner of the Year – G Adventures

● ITC Tour Partner of the Year – Transat

● Specialty Partner of the Year – Rocky Mountaineer

● Best Educational Program – Virgin Voyages

● Best Sales & Service Partner – Collette

“These award-winning agencies and partners exemplify what it means to lead with purpose and passion,” said Jane Clementino, senior vice president and general manager of TRAVELSAVERS Canada. “Their commitment to service excellence, strategic growth, and partnership within the network not only drives results but also inspires the entire TRAVELSAVERS Canada community to reach new heights.”

To see more pictures from the awards gala, visit and "like" PAX's Facebook page here. 

Connected in Orlando

The night capped off a three-day learning blitz where attendees had opportunities to attend training sessions, panel discussions, and valuable one-on-one meetings with suppliers.

The workshops covered a range of topics, including ways to enhance marketing plans, grow group business, utilize artificial intelligence, protect business from fraud, recruit new talent, and more.

The week saw 108 Canadian travel advisors on the ground in Orlando, undeterred by the recent wave of negative headlines around U.S. travel.

VIDEO: Tariffs & trends – Clementino & Mazza-Burney tackle strategy at Travel Market

“Everybody showed up and wanted to learn right away,” Clementino told PAX.

TRAVELSAVERS Canada, now in its 25th year, was initially expecting around 140 Canadian advisors, but with the current geopolitical climate, a drop-off was expected.

“The people that are here are investing in themselves and their business,” said Clementino.

Robert Townshend, founder and president of Toronto-based Total Advantage Travel & Tours, was “happy” to see so many Canadians on the scene.   

“A lot of advisors chose to come here, despite Trump’s tariffs,” Townshend said. “It’s really nice to see.”

Why did Townshend decide to attend? One, as an Elite member, it was important for him to support his consortium.

“I also wanted to bring my staff here and get them up to date on all the latest technology and things that are happening in the industry,” he said.

A workshop on AI he attended particularly stood out. (“We have to embrace it,” Townshend said).

Tariff talk

The role U.S. tariffs are having on consumer confidence, and booking patterns in Canada, came up repeatedly throughout the conference.

Like many, Townshend’s U.S. bookings are “way down, by at least 70 per cent,” Townshend said. But people are still travelling, he said.

Townshend’s domestic business (vacations to the Canadian Rockies and Atlantic Canada, for example) is up. So is Europe.

READ MORE: Summer travel intention surging among Canadians, but “U.S. backlash is real,” says poll

“People are picking up on Air Canada increasing its [Europe] service to places like Naples, Italy and Porto, Portugal,” he said.

While talking with other Canadian travel advisors, Townshend discovered that many have noticed similar sales trends.

“We saw a soft March and April, but May started to pick up,” he said. “The markets have rebounded and there’s more positive outlook on the economy. People are starting to spend again. We’re seeing a really good June.”

Worse than the pandemic?

The outlook differs from one that was expressed by Wendy Paradis, president of ACTA, who took part in a panel discussion focused on advocacy and the vital role of travel advisors earlier in the week.

Addressing the U.S. tariff situation, Paradis said that if tariffs stay in place, the impact on the travel industry in Canada (in Ontario and Quebec, in particular) could be worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.

She noted how connected Canada and the United States have become over the past 50 to 60 years. The issue with tariffs, she said, is the “immediacy” of the situation as the relationship between the two countries breaks down, citing job losses as a primary concern.

READ MORE: On Location: Canadian advisors show up strong as TRAVELSAVERS’ Travel Market opens in Orlando

“For people to travel, they need to have jobs and they need to have disposable income,” Paradis told the audience.

Townshend disagreed with the notion that tariffs could be likened to the pandemic.

“I don’t see tariffs having a long-term effect on our industry like the pandemic did,” he said. “The pandemic shut down agencies and drove people out of the industry. I don’t think our current situation is worse than what we faced during COVID."

Louie Di Tacchio of Progress Travel based in Ajax, ON, shared a similar view during a panel discussion that TRAVELSAVERS organized for media.

“Canadians will do anything to go on vacation,” Di Tacchio said. “I don't see numbers going as low as they did during COVID.”

Clementino, responding to Paradis' comments, agreed that disposable income plays an important role in travel bookings.

However: “I feel like we won’t have a repeat of 2020 [when the pandemic hit],” she said. “I think we have the means and capability of going around that and finding alternatives.”

A bullish outlook

The discussions unfolded as the American Marketing Group reports positive growth.

At the event’s opening session, Chief Marketing Officer Nicole Mazza said the company’s agency brands experienced a slowdown in Q1 of this year, but quickly bounced back.

"I can tell you as quick as we went into it, we came out of it," Mazza said. "Business is back, and business is soaring."

AMG’s agencies represent around 25,000 travel advisors. Last year saw 102 agencies join the network, representing $279 million in preferred-supplier revenue, Mazza shared. 

READ MORE: Continued U.S. tariffs could hit travel harder than pandemic, warns ACTA’s Wendy Paradis

More recently, from January to May this year, 47 new agencies have joined AMG’s agencies, representing $196 million in preferred supplier sales.

"2024 was a spectacular year coming off of two extremely strong years," Mazza said, noting that 2025 is looking "equally as strong.”

"I'm extremely bullish,” she said.

Survey results & new tools

The conference also gave TRAVELSAVERS Canada an opportunity to unpack its latest research, tools and technology

According to a recent survey of the consortium’s Canadian agencies, 62 per cent of advisors say the high cost of travel is a top concern cited by clients these days.

Customers, in turn, are leaning more heavily on travel advisors for help navigate concerns. They’re also travelling closer to home. Click here for more insights from the study.

Additionally, the company shared many technology updates.

AI Connect Powered by Toby, for one, is leading the charge, making it easier for agencies to enhance their marketing efforts and streamline their workflow.

AI Connect recently debuted a Destination Arrival Guide, featuring more than 600 professionally written destination briefs, which are updated regularly.

With the Generate with Toby feature, advisors can create guides tailored to client preferences, interests and travel styles.

Another initiative driving leads to advisors is enhanced agency profiles. Travellers can now search for and select an advisor who’s a fit for their preferences based on location, specialties, destination expertise, languages spoken as well as accolades and certifications.

The profiles appear on the TRAVELSAVERS Canada website, which recently relaunched to consumers.

TRAVELSAVERS Canada agencies are also now taking advantage of an exclusive website creation and hosting program called OnlineXpress, which advisors can use to polish their online presence and market to consumers.

The program has shown growth this year over the same time in 2024, with 1,400 leads generated, 323,500 pageviews (up 67 per cent) and 842,400 emails (up 16 per cent).

Additionally, tripXpress now offers a feature solely available to TRAVELSAVERS Canada advisors.

Agents can deep-link directly to tripXpress from their webpages, blog posts or social media. The link will then take consumers directly into the booking process and automatically attribute the booking to the advisor.

Furthermore, TRAVELSAVERS Canada has introduced a custom-branded URL at the agency or advisor level that will stay the same for every marketing campaign.

Advisors can now drive consumers to this single link for promotions, showcasing offers through the link in their email.

“Advisors consistently share that they’re looking for fresh, effective ways to attract new clients while staying connected to existing ones,” said Clementino. “At the same time, they’re stretched thin running their businesses, which is why our focus is on delivering intuitive, time-saving tools that drive real results so advisors can grow their business without adding to their workload.”

Finally, the KORE program – launched in Canada last year to train the next generation of professional travel advisors – is undergoing a major revision.

The refreshed curriculum will update topics, create shorter modules, add more interaction through exercises and gamification, and build a community of learners through the web-based platform.

Agencies will also be able to create customized KORE versions for their advisors.

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