News / Tour Operator

“We don’t just offer sun, we offer the world”: ACV talks Cuba, luxury and advisor growth at Dream Makers Toronto

Jesse Ship

09-23-2026 10:45 am

Jesse Ship

Jesse Ship is a Toronto-born, Paris-raised, Belgian national and freelance writer with a passion for arts, travel, music and culture. His work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Fodor’s Travel, Flight Centre, Metro, BlogTO, Vice, Exclaim, Antenna, CBC, and many others.

After stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, Montreal and Quebec City, the 2026 ACV Dream Makers tour touched down in Toronto to close out summer at the Universal Events Space.

“You are the true super heroes,” said Erminia Gallina, director of sales, Air Canada Vacations, addressing a crowd of 1,500 advisors who packed the banquet hall, including balcony seats and standing room.

“Customer service is the new marketing at Air Canada Vacations,” added Sandra Joaquim, general manager, Eastern Canada, Air Canada Vacations.

The night opened with a high-energy modern dance performance, followed by two hours of training and updates from the ACV sales team.

From left: Ana Paula De Souza, director, sales, Canada & global accounts and Air Canada, Marigold Frontuna, general manager sales & ACV@Home, ACV. (Pax Global Media)

The real connection

Beyond the lights, entertainment and superhero theme, ACV says the real value of Dream Makers is putting its people and travel advisor partners in the same room.

“Putting these shows on for ACV really puts us in touch with our customers,” Nino Montagnese, vice president, Air Canada Vacations, told PAX.

Nino Montagnese, vice president, Air Canada Vacations. (Pax Global Media)

“With so much communication now by text, emails and multiple devices and communication methods, being able to host these events brings the customer into this environment.”

“The key is that they’re also able to talk to suppliers,” Montagnese said. “A lot of suppliers don’t have representation travelling around Canada.”

Pivoting past Cuba

One of the biggest challenges facing the Canadian leisure market this winter is the loss of Cuba as an affordable sun option.

For ACV, Montagnese said the answer is not to try to replace Cuba with a single destination, but to use the breadth of its portfolio and Air Canada’s network to give advisors alternatives.

“We all have challenges. Every year we’re faced with something that will affect our industry, and our sales,” he said.

Travel advisors arrive at Air Canada Vacations’ 2026 Dream Makers road show. (Pax Global Media)

Fuel prices, geopolitical instability and changing consumer demand can all create uncertainty, but Montagnese said the travel industry has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to adapt.

“But the industry is resilient, we find ways to work around it,” he said.

ACV’s advantage, he said, is its ability to pivot across a broad product portfolio.

“We don’t just offer sun, we offer the world. We follow the Air Canada footprint, which really does open up opportunities for our trade partners.”

That flexibility is becoming particularly important as consumers who previously relied on inexpensive Cuban vacations look for other ways to travel.

Montagnese said ACV is seeing indications that some consumers may choose shorter, three- or four-night getaways several times a year, while others may consolidate their travel into fewer, higher-end vacations.

ACV is responding with a broader mix of options, including sun packages in the Caribbean and Mexico, hotels, tours, cruises, land-only products and flight-and-hotel combinations.

The company’s 2026-27 Sun Collection features more than 600 vacation options, extending beyond traditional Caribbean and Mexico packages into cruises, Europe and other destinations.

Travel advisors enjoying the Universal Events Space buffet. (Pax Global Media)

Tech improvements

Improved technology was another major theme behind this year’s Dream Makers messaging.

Montagnese said ACV’s hotel inventory is increasingly direct-connected, allowing the company to access live inventory and pricing rather than relying entirely on manually negotiated and loaded contracts.

That creates greater flexibility for the tour operator and more price movement for advisors and consumers.

“A hotel will manage it the same way an airline does. If they see room sales going up, then they increase the price,” he said.

The upside of the technology is greater access to inventory and pricing, Montagnese said.

“The bad news is that the prices change.”

That reality is also helping drive ACV beyond the familiar blue screen of Revnet.

Montagnese said ACV will provide alternative ways for advisors to access its product.

The plan includes a new hotline and an upcoming technology announcement intended to help advisors through the transition.

Air Canada representatives and guests pose with a #FlyTheFlag boarding pass. (Pax Global Media)

A bigger push into Flight & Hotel

ACV is also looking to create more opportunities for advisors to earn revenue through its Flight & Hotel offering with SoftVoyage.

The company is expanding the offering across its broader product portfolio and increasing the land commission on eligible Flight & Hotel bookings to 12 per cent.

The structure is designed to bring advisor earnings on the land portion closer to what they would earn on a traditional package.

Advisors can also add a service fee to the air portion, providing another potential source of revenue.

“For example,” Montagnese said, “an advisor could book a customer into a premium cabin, add a service fee to the air component and earn 12 per cent on the land portion.”

“We’re trying to find ways to offer opportunities for our partners to earn more money,” he said.

The 12 per cent land commission was one of the key announcements on the 2026-27 Dream Makers tour, alongside ACV’s expanding luxury strategy.

Luxury Excellence

That strategy includes ACV’s exclusive Canadian partnership with The Excellence Collection.

The newly announced agreement makes ACV the exclusive Canadian tour operator for the luxury all-inclusive portfolio.

Montagnese said the partnership is particularly significant because Excellence moved away from the traditional tour-operator model in 2023, making it more difficult for advisors to package the resorts with air.

“Agents are embracing it because they could only book through them prior, and it was difficult to add the air,” he said.

“But we offer the air now.”

ACV initially offered a limited number of Excellence properties but has since expanded the collection across its portfolio, with Jamaica currently the exception, Montagnese said.

The luxury push is also challenging advisors to think differently and sell beyond the typical $999 package.

Representatives from Air Canada and the Jamaica Tourism Board. (Pax Global Media)

Selling luxury, he said, requires an approach “focused less on price and more on the value and experience being delivered.”

“Some agents have always been comfortable with asking for the $999 special, but now they have to push out of their comfort zone and ask for more money.”

ACV is responding with advisor education and group seminars designed to give travel professionals greater confidence selling higher-end product.

The company is also adding more affordable properties to the portfolio, including three-and-a-half-star options, as it looks to capture travellers who would traditionally have chosen Cuba.

“You have to focus on value that customers are getting,” Montagnese said. “Upsell them.”

The Air Canada Super Hero Dream Maker dance troupe. (Pax Global Media)

The luxury opportunity, he added, can be significant.

A traveller spending $5,000 per person for a week represents a very different revenue opportunity from a $999 booking, but customers may consider that purchase if an advisor is confident presenting the product.

“Even the $999 customer one day will book a luxury vacation as long as our trade partners are confident enough to feature the product for them.”

During the live show, Gallina and Joaquim covered ACV’s new three-phase approach to luxury, highlighting the careful vetting of resorts that market themselves as “luxury,” raising customer awareness and focusing on bespoke experiences.

More routes, more sales

New and expanded air access was another theme of the evening.

Among the destinations highlighted were Mazatlán (MZT), Roatán (RTB), Mérida (MID), Quito (UIO), Santo Domingo (SDQ) and Tenerife (TFS), reflecting the continued expansion of Air Canada’s network and, in turn, the vacation options ACV can package.

New Toronto routes to Puerto Escondido (PXM) and Copenhagen (CPH) were also mentioned.

Travel advisors enjoy bites and networking. (Pax Global Media)

Profit with group sales

Group sales support and strategies also got a major push, with the on-stage team presenting a seven-step business plan supported by a new ACV Academy.

A new Groups Excellence program was also announced, with tiers ranging from Silver to “Excellence” status and a new online dashboard to track targets.

New self-serve enhancements and business coaching workshops were also announced.