On Location: F1S talks AI, growth & Canadian opportunity in Colombia

First in Service (F1S) brought a spark to Colombia’s Caribbean coast as advisors and partners gathered for F1S SUMM1T, hosted from Oct. 25 to 28 at Sofitel Barú Cartagena. 

Guided by the theme “Chispa. Alma. Vida. or “Spark. Soul. Life.”, the event also marked the company’s 35th anniversary.

General sessions, advisor-only roundtables, a leadership fireside chat and one-on-one supplier appointments were balanced with lively celebrations, from a poolside welcome featuring Colombian dancers and fireworks to a white-themed signature dinner and a closing beach party. 

F1S’s ties to Colombia extend beyond the summit. 

Colombia has served as an operational base for F1S since 2011, with a local team providing accounting and after-hours support. 

Speaking to PAX, Willa Griffin, F1S’s managing director of Canada also pointed to founders Fernando Gonzalez and Erika Reategui’s Latin American heritage as part of the company’s connection to the region. 

Hosting the summit here felt like “coming back home,” said Griffin. 

It also served as an opportunity to introduce advisors to a destination she sees gaining ground in luxury travel. 

“We also like our advisors and our partners to go to a place that not everybody’s been to,” Griffin said.

PAX was the only media outlet given access to the summit, where discussions explored F1S’s expansion plans, new technology and opportunities for advisors to build their businesses while preserving personal connections. 

Luxury trends & opportunities

The opening general session combined a look at F1S’s booking trends with panel discussions on premium air travel, wellness and luxury yachting, giving advisors practical ideas for building sales and serving clients. 

Luxury leisure now accounts for half of F1S’s business, compared with roughly a third last year, chief strategy officer Gina Gabbard told attendees, highlighting demand for privacy, independent hotels and longer, more immersive stays.

“It’s not about the excess. It’s about the access,” she said. 

Clients are gravitating toward private villas, secluded lodges and private islands, while independent hotels account for one in four client dollars spent on hotels, Gabbard said.

Panel discussions explored how those preferences translate into sales and service. 

During Chispa Class: The Spark, Soul and Life of Premium Air Travel, Drew Ommen, senior account manager, global sales, at American Airlines, highlighted rising demand for premium cabins among leisure travellers. 

“We have seen quite an uptick in premium leisure travel,” he said, noting that clients who once concentrated their spending on hotels are increasingly willing to pay for a premium flight experience too. 

The Gift of Vida: Travel That Adds Years and Life to Years panel, which focused on wellness, encouraged advisors to recognize needs clients may not explicitly label as wellness. 

Toronto-based F1S advisor Jessica Donath starts with a question: “How do you want to feel when you get home?” 

The answer, she said, can help advisors match clients with the right experience.

During Alma del Mar: The Yacht Cruising Shift Reshaping Luxury Travel, panellists highlighted an opportunity to introduce luxury hotel, villa and safari clients to yachting, emphasizing privacy, personalized service and the onboard experience.

“It’s a very different world of opportunities for us to sell, especially for non-cruises, because it's not what people think. A cruise is totally different,” said F1S advisor Pierre Francin. 

“I think it's almost comparable to what private aviation is compared with commercial airlines.”

Partner presentations reinforced those themes. 

Matt Kutches, director, key agency accounts at Delta, discussed investment in premium travel, while Accor’s Ranga Chidawanyika, director of sales, US east coast at Accor, explored wellness through the feelings and experiences clients want from a holiday.

F1S also unveiled an internal AI tool, called First Key, intended to make community knowledge, preferred-partner information and enhanced commission opportunities easier to find. 

“This is a closed environment that is being built for you for the purposes of this community,” Gabbard said. 

First Key is scheduled for beta testing in November. 

Gonzalez also announced that the Colombia and Mexico operations of travel management company Frosch would join F1S’s Latin American business in November.

More broadly, Gonzalez outlined a vision of measured international expansion, investment in technology and AI and continued development across leisure, corporate and entertainment travel. 

He recalled F1S’s early days, when a small team worked at six desks facing one another in a single room, sharing meals and tackling challenges together. 

Maintaining that closeness across a global business remains central to his plans.

“We cannot do what we do without the right people,” he said.

Canada’s next chapter

For F1S Canada, growth starts with finding the right people and helping current advisors develop their businesses, said Griffin, speaking to PAX.

Since launching in Canada in 2019, F1S has built a team of about 50 advisors, most of whom are based in the GTA. 

“Our growth will be strategic,” she said, explaining the company hopes to grow steadily in Canada.

While leisure travel accounts for most of F1S Canada’s business, the company has longstanding roots in corporate and entertainment travel. 

Griffin sees opportunities to develop those business lines in Canada while helping existing advisors increase their leisure sales. 

“The luxury cruise business has changed the landscape,” she said. 

"Commissions are between twenty and twenty-eight percent.”

Beyond luxury cruising, Griffin said active holidays that pair exercise with indulgence, or “wellness lite,” are also trending with Canadian travellers. 

“They want to be able to get on their bikes and bike through Burgundy, but enjoy the wines at lunch and at dinner,” she said.

Tensions with the U.S. continue to influence Canadian travel decisions, Griffin said. 

“There's still a strong sentiment with the struggles we're having with the United States.” 

While some clients make exceptions for destinations such as Hawaii, Griffin sees continued interest in alternatives when advisors suggest them. 

“If people are presented with opportunities and they can do something besides the U.S., I think that’s still a thing,” she said. 

For Donath, who spoke during the wellness panel, the opportunity to exchange ideas and feedback in person was a highlight of the gathering. 

Alongside the general sessions, the first day’s programming included advisor-only roundtables, a fireside chat with F1S leadership and regional leaders and one-on-one networking appointments with suppliers.

Donath valued the opportunity to give feedback directly to F1S leadership. 

“Can they make every change we request? No, but they actually hear us,” she said, adding that she has seen advisor suggestions from past summit’s lead to changes.

Connecting with the community

The summit also took advisors and suppliers beyond the resort through F1S Helps, the company’s philanthropic arm. 

On Oct. 27, participants joined members of F1S’s leadership team for an afternoon in Ararca on Barú. 

The afternoon began with a performance of bullerengue, an Afro-Colombian music and dance tradition featuring singing, drumming and rhythmic movement, followed by an opportunity to learn about the community’s coastal environment and fishing traditions.

Activities included planting mangroves alongside community members and youth involved in local conservation efforts, as well as learning to weave an atarraya, a traditional fishing net, and trying net casting at the community dock.

F1S Helps also announced Global Glimpse as its charitable organization of choice, supporting travel and leadership opportunities for high school students from diverse backgrounds. 

Gonzalez is joining the organization’s Board of Champions to help raise awareness and support its growth.

After an afternoon connecting with the community in Ararca, the closing celebration turned the spotlight back on F1S’s own network of advisors and suppliers. 

In his closing remarks, Gonzalez returned to the theme of alma, or soul. 

“Our advisors, they are the alma of First in Service,” he said.

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