Ensemble awards top members, supplier partners

The Ensemble Travel Group celebrated top performing members and partners at its Circle of Excellence reception last evening, while also raising more than $114,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“We congratulate all Ensemble members for their outstanding year with our preferred suppliers in 2013,” said Lindsay Pearlman, co-president. “And tonight we take it a step further by formally recognizing the extraordinary success of our top producers, members who truly represent our conference theme, ‘Nobody Does It Better … Than You’.”

The top 10 Canadian member agencies based on 2013 sales of Ensemble preferred suppliers (in alphabetical order):

Cruise Connections Canada Ltd. of Vancouver, BC

Cruise Professionals of Mississauga, ON

CruisePlus Management Ltd of Lantzville, BC

Skyland Travel Inc./Escapes.ca of Vancouver, BC

TierOne Travel, Inc. of Calgary, AB

TravelOnly of Brantford, ON

Travel Masters of Vancouver, BC

Ucruising of Unionville of Markham, ON

Voyages Bergeron Inc. of Longueuil, QC

Voyages Bergeron Inc. of Montreal, QC

In addition, Vacations Away Inc. of Saskatoon, SK was honored for achieving the highest year-over-year growth based on 2013 preferred supplier sales compared to 2012. Plus, a new category - Agency Excellence Award - based on member engagement of the organization’s events, marketing, specialty partners, and express tools, was awarded to River East Travel & Cruise Centre of Winnipeg, MB.

The following preferred partners were honored in the annual awards program, based on member votes and input:

2014 Cruise Partner of the Year – Oceania Cruises

2014 Outstanding Agency Support Award - Cruise – Oceania Cruises

2014 Outstanding Marketing Partner Award - Cruise – Holland America Line

2014 Tour Partner of the Year – Globus family of brands

2014 Outstanding Agency Support Award - Tour – Transat Holidays

2014 Outstanding Marketing Partner Award - Tour – Transat Holidays

2014 Air Partner of the Year – Porter Airlines

2014 Overall Agency Support Award - Air – Air New Zealand

2014 Business Services/Insurance Partner of the Year – RBC-Manulife 

Ensemble also handed out eight North American awards, reflecting the input of both Canadian and U.S. members, as follows:

2014 Transportation Partner of the Year – AvisBudget Group

2014 Outstanding Agency Support Award - Transportation – Rail Europe, Inc.

2014 Ensemble On Location Partner of the Year – TFL Tours (France, Italy destination specialist)

2014 Hotel Partner of the Year – Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

2014 Marketing Partner of the Year - Hotel – Hyatt Hotels & Resorts

2014 Specialty Partner of the Year - Cruise – Paul Gauguin Cruises

2014 Specialty Partner of the Year - Tour – G Adventures

2014 River Cruise Partner of the Year – Avalon Waterways

Members based their selections on three key performance areas: quality of customer service (timeliness and accuracy of communications and documentation, ease of the booking process, and overall problem solving), level of agency support (local sales rep, co-op funds, group support, marketing guidance, product training, and commitment to agency sales channel), and client satisfaction (product delivery, fulfillment of client expectations, and repeat bookings).