Transat gets its bowling shoes on to celebrate new South program

Representatives from Transat were joined by retail partners in downtown Toronto yesterday for an afternoon of bowling at The Ballroom, to celebrate the launch of the company’s 2017-18 South program.

The Sun & Fun brochure, which features 36 destinations in Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, showcases 650 hotels, with Transat’s five collections offering a selection of hotels according to travellers’ needs: Luxury, Distinction, Solo, Family and Sun Savvy.

Nicole Bursey, commercial director, Transat, told PAX that the collections would prove an invaluable asset for travel agents seeking an ideal product for their clients. “We always like to remind people of our collections,” she remarked. “We divide our South programs – a lot of our key program is in a collection, and it helps travel agents steer the client in the right direction.”

Air Transat is offering flights to two new destinations this winter – Tampa and San Juan – from Montreal and Toronto, bringing its total number of South destinations to 36 from 22 Canadian cities. Bursey also noted that travellers to Tampa and San Juan would be able to enjoy Transat’s all-in-one cruise packages – through Carnival with San Juan, and Norwegian Cruise Line with Tampa.

In total, Air Transat offers 145 routes, including new service to Santa Domingo from Montreal and Punta Cana from Ottawa, Sault Ste Marie and Kelowna. The airline has also added more flights to South destinations – including Punta Cana, Managua, Roatan and Liberia (Costa Rica) from Toronto, as well as San Salvador from Montreal and Los Cabos and Cancun from Vancouver.

Transat’s Super Early Booking Promotion is returning once again; Bursey told the audience that Canadians who book their fall or winter vacations by June 30, 2017, will enjoy a reduced deposit of only $100, in addition to the option to change travel dates up to three hours before departure, an upgrade to Option Plus for Luxury and Distinction Collection packages, Transat’s Price Drop Guarantee for all-inclusive packages, and a $50 future travel voucher.

As part of her recap on the previous year, meanwhile, Denise Heffron, Transat’s vice president of national sales and commercial, reflected with satisfaction on the company’s performance, noting the successful consolidation of the Transat brand and its continued focus on groups – particularly air-only groups – in addition to its in-flight offering.

Heffron said that Air Transat expected to add capacity this year by approximately seven per cent on a national basis, with capacity also increasing in every region, most notably in Western Canada. She added that the company’s cruise strategy is progressing well, and said that it is currently in the latter stages of finalizing its cruise brochure, which should be available by mid-August.

With the talking done, Transat representatives and partners alike swapped their work shoes for bowling ones, with all taking part in a competitive but good-natured game to round off the event.

Bursey told PAX that Transat will also be holding events in Vancouver and Montreal to celebrate the launch of the new brochure later this week.