On Location: TTAND announces luxury venture, new logo & tag line; adds Crystal, A&K

The Travel Agent Next Door (TTAND) is entering the next stage of its evolution with a focus on luxury and new branding that reflects its expanding suite of solutions for its network of home-based and independent travel advisors.

As announced at TTAND’s 2025 “Leading The Way” conference in Mexico’s Rivera Maya on Sunday (April 6), the Canada-wide host agency will be launching a second logo for travel advisors that want to identify as luxury specialists while still remaining under The Travel Agent Next Door name.

Six new designs, with subtle nuances, are being considered for TTAND’s luxury division, which is expected to launch in about five to six months.

The prototypes are reinterpretations of the company’s current logo, swapping out the playful sun, palm tree, and row of orange and blue houses – an approachable graphic that has become synonymous with TTAND’s identity – with posh, black and gold-coloured houses (mansions, maybe?) and a more elegant font.

READ MORE: “Leading the way”: Friisdahl gears up for TTAND’s conference in Riviera Maya, Mexico

At a “Think Tank” town hall yesterday, the 265 travel advisors attending TTAND’s event at the Iberostar Selection Paraíso Lindo this week had an opportunity to vote on their favourite logo.

A contemporary, all-gold design, with the word “Luxury” written in large, chic lettering, placed in between a graphic depicting a minimalist, Frank Gehry-esque home, and the host agency’s name, won the vote.  

This will ultimately provide TTAND’s leadership with input about a design that could potentially be used for the new department.

Promoting luxury advisors as a brand

Speaking with PAX and other trade media later on, Flemming Friisdahl, TTAND’s founder, said the focus on luxury is part of the host agency’s “natural evolution.”

“We believe luxury travel came out of COVID. People want to do bucket list trips and travel in smaller groups,” Friisdahl said.

READ MORE: Seeing red & blue: ACV & Transat host "magical" parties at TTAND’s conference in Mexico

TTAND’s agents are also “definitely talking to us about wanting to learn more about luxury and being more competitive in that market,” he said.

Responding to that call, TTAND’s conference, this year, featured a panel of travel advisors who shared firsthand tips on how to sell luxury.

For agents that aren’t self-branded (which makes up 52 per cent of TTAND’s network), creating a second (optional) logo that was, perhaps, a little more upscale, was essential.  

“A lot our agents felt The Travel Agent Next Door brand wasn’t the right brand for luxury travel,” Friisdahl told conference attendees at that town hall.

TTAND’s new high-end venture, which adds to a luxury magazine that is already offered to members, is still in development. But Friisdahl says his plan is to promote luxury travel advisors “as a brand.”

“I want consumers to believe they can only get a certain product from their travel agent,” he said, calling this a “different approach” from Virtuoso, for example, which is brand in and of itself.

“Our advertising will drive business to a brand, which will be the agent,” he said.

New luxury suppliers

But a new logo is just one piece of the luxury pie. Friisdahl also revealed yesterday that TTAND will be adding new luxury suppliers to its preferred and approved lists.

Two have already been signed: Crystal, which has returned to sea under new ownership, and Abercrombie & Kent. Both will officially join TTAND’s network on May 1.

Which is somewhat off-brand for Friisdahl, who has long argued against the idea of adding more suppliers to TTAND’s preferred and approved lists, saying that more is not necessarily better.

(“The reason suppliers like working with us is because we don’t have too many,” he said earlier).

But for agents that want to build a niche in luxury, “It’s about having the right suppliers,” Friisdahl said, stressing that more luxury brands will be added “without stepping on the toes” of TTAND’s current preferred or approved suppliers.

TTAND’s new tagline

It’s just one of many updates Friisdahl, his team, and 71 supplier partners (representing 42 companies) have so far shared at TTAND’s workshop-filled conference, which informally kicked off Friday night (April 4) with a poolside welcome cocktail.

The influential industry event, on now until April 11, officially got going early Saturday (April 5) as nearly 360 attendees (its largest delegation ever) piled into Iberostar’s on-site convention centre for an opening session, where Friisdahl dropped other newsworthy updates.

TTAND, for one, is changing its tagline from “1,000+ agents strong” (the small print that appears in its current main logo) to “Leading The Way” (which happens to be this year’s conference theme).

Speaking with PAX earlier, Friisdahl says TTAND, since forming in 2014, has been “leading the way” in regards to how the host agency space operates in Canada, pioneering things like health benefit programs, hours that accommodate Western Canada, one-year agreements, authorization forms, 100 per cent commission structures, bookable websites and more.

“For us, it's about creating ways of doing things better and different from what others do,” he said.

The new & improved TTAND

Friisdahl spent Saturday reviewing some of the many new tools and platforms that TTAND has developed to enhance the backend experience for its agents (TTAND’s monthly fees, notably, haven’t increased in the company’s 11 years).

At the forefront is a new all-inclusive booking engine that was built in-house using Softvoyage technology.

Launched last month, the platform is a personalized, user-friendly solution, with competitive pricing, for booking all-inclusive sun vacations.

TTAND, later this month, will also launch a new itinerary-building program that works in conjunction with its accounting system, simplifying invoices (and saving time). Similar to Travefy, this program will feature real-time flight availability.

Other updates include TTAND upgrading its online hub with a new look and feel that displays content (like BDM info) that’s relevant to whatever province the agent resides in – including Quebec (the company’s forms are now all available in French).

TTAND, thanks to an after-hours team in India, has also extended its included BSP ticketing support to 20 hours a day, five days a week (Saturdays will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.).

Additionally, the host agency has formed a new partnership with Flex Pay (formally known as Uplift), a global buy now, pay later solution. It replaces TTAND’s former financing solution, “Z.I.P.,” a third-party service that was sold.

TTAND is now working with Farenexus to unlock access to GDS (Global Distribution Systems) and NDC (New Distribution Capability) pricing and content for travel advisors.

Finally, the host agency, in addition to its long-standing partnership with Manulife, has added a new insurance provider, TuGo, which provides insurance options to customers who are age 60 and over.

“Them being Canadian was a bonus,” Friisdahl said. “And with them bringing us in as top tier, off the bat, agents will have coverage like they’ve never had before.”

TTAND also presented its supplier awards on Saturday. These are voted on by TTAND’s network of advisors across the country.

Air Canada Vacations picked up three awards – Most Supportive Supplier Partner, Most Supportive BDM Team and Best Overall Preferred Supplier Partner. 

Other recipients included G Adventures, Celebrity Cruises, Virgin Voyages, AmaWaterways, HX, World of Hyatt Inclusive Collection, Exotik Tours, Sunwing (which is attending TTAND’s conference for the first time) and Project Expedition.

U.S., U.K., Australia expansion?

TTAND, today, has around 800 primary agents and 750 associates – and the plan is to keep growing. Just as long as there are enough staff to support the operation (TTAND currently has more than 70 employees).

TTAND, in recent years, has added more senior staff to lead the company into its next era.

As announced last year, Jeff Element, former president of The Travel Corporation Canada, is now TTAND’s chief operations officer, while Chris Senior (formally a director of financial analysis at HRG North America, a VP of finance and administration at TTI Travel, and business risk advisor at TICO) is chief financial officer.

As for the what the future holds, Friisdahl said his main focus is about “taking care of agents” and “getting the technology.”

“The biggest joy I have is building technology for agents,” Friisdahl said, noting that TTAND has hired two more developers to make this happen.

TTAND is also looking at a dynamic packaging program that combines air, hotel and cars, and instead of it being with one vendor and one product, “it’s going to be very diverse,” Friisdahl said.

The founder added there are currently no plans to sell The Travel Agent Next Door or list the company on the stock market.

What about U.S. expansion? “We might look at that,” he said. “Right now, the timing isn’t perfect, but if we do it, it’s because we have a lot of people in the U.S. asking to join The Travel Agent Next Door.”

Friisdahl added that the United Kingdom and Australia are also on his mind when it comes to potential expansion.

The TTAND name is already registered in the U.S., U.K. and Australia if that day were ever to come, he said.

“You never know what the future holds,” he said. “I’m not saying we’re [expanding in those countries] anytime soon. But if we don’t secure the name, we can’t do it.”

Relax, unwind

It’s a lot to take in, but there’s no surprises here.

TTAND’s conference is known for being a content-heavy affair (as previously reported, this year’s event has booked more guest speakers than ever before, and will include hours of time for supplier one-on-ones).

But there’s also time to unwind. Evenings at “Leading The Way” have been set aside for sponsored dinner parties (on and off property), where agents can connect with suppliers, and each other, in a fun and laid-back setting.

Air Canada Vacations got the tequila pouring on Saturday night with a red-themed “50 Years of Loving You” dinner on the beach at Iberostar’s Joia Paraiso.

On Sunday night (April 6), it was Transat’s turn. The company hosted a blue and silver-themed starry night cocktail and gala with at upscale, adults-only Haven Riviera Cancun.

Click here to read PAX’s on-the-ground coverage from both events! Stay tuned for more. 

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