Travel advisors want to spend as much time as possible selling travel and assisting clients. But they still spend far too much time booking travel, using “antiquated tools that solve yesterday’s problems.
That was the message from Ensemble President Michael Johnson, at the opening session of the 2024 Ensemble Horizons conference, held this year at the Resorts World complex in Las Vegas. The theme of the conference is “The Power of You.” There are about 800 attendees, including a couple of hundred supplier representatives and some 50 Ensemble staff members.
“I can’t think of another industry that makes doing business so hard,” Johnson said. He pointed to a 2024 Annual Census of Ensemble members that found 50% use more than one platform to book air, as well as more platforms to book hotels and other travel products. Some are forced to use up to five platforms for one booking.
“This is insane,” Johnson said. “It’s like going to a grocery store and having to use different points-of-sale to buy milk, meat and bread.”
Ensemble is working hard to make the booking process easier for advisors. For more than 10 years, TripArc, a sister company to Ensemble under parent Navigatr, has been building the ADX (Agent Digital Experience) platform, which aims to help advisors take control of the complete client experience.
“This is a platform developed by the industry for the industry,” Johnson said. “ADX users can now book air, hotel, activities and insurance in one place, and we’re getting closer with cruise. That’s why we’re so passionate about the ADX platform. It is changing the game.”
Saving advisors time – so they can make more money – is key to the benefits Ensemble offers its members. Johnson and other executives likened the company’s offerings to an iPhone – a multi-purpose instrument that consolidates many tools into one.
“We are no longer interested in acting as a traditional consortium,” Johnson said. “We believe that simplifying how you operate and giving you new opportunities to earn is transformational.”
The Ensemble Annual Census offered some other interesting insights. While 61% of respondents have been in the business 10 years or more, 20% have less than six years of travel experience. That growing number reflects a positive change – the industry desperately needed an infusion of new blood – but the groups have different needs that Ensemble must accommodate.
Ensemble Horizons attendees put on their prettiest pink for a Rosé Picnic at the Resorts World complex in Las Vegas. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
While Ensemble Senior Vice President Operations Kristina Boyce described selling travel as “a rewarding but very challenging profession,” and Johnson pointed out the difficulties of booking and compensation that doesn’t always match the effort involved, the Ensemble leadership remains buoyant about the future of travel advisors -- and the potential to unlock more profit.
“This is the golden age of the travel advisor,” Johnson said, earning applause from the audience.
When it comes to what members want from the consortium, the top categories cited by census respondents are technology, training, marketing and relationships with suppliers.
“We enable our members to mix and match programs, to choose the apps on the ‘Ensemble iPhone’ that work best for you,” Johnson said.
Ensemble executives Shahla Lalani, SVP Marketing, and Beth Butzlaff, SVP Partner Relations flank President Michael Johnson. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Following Johnson to the stage at the opening session were Ensemble execs including SVP Boyce, Shahla Lalani, SVP Marketing, and Beth Butzlaff, SVP Partner Relations.
They summarized progress made since last year’s Horizons conference, including marketing tools designed to follow the entire customer journey, from awareness to consideration, purchase, retention and advocacy. There’s also a new member portal – the “front door” to everything Ensemble, a new CRM tool in conjunction with Hubspot, more than 100 detailed destination guides and more.
The Universe of Ensemble (U of E) training program was launched at last year’s Horizons conference, and more than 20,000 courses were completed in the past year, with the resource earning a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of over 90.
Collette's Ron Lonsdale leads a training session for Ensemble attendees. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Attendees to the conference participated in hundreds of 1:1 networking meetings and training sessions with suppliers, as well as extensive training on ADX, which now has more than 2,000 unique users each month and processed $350 million in travel bookings over the past year.
Going forward, Ensemble Horizons is shifting from a fall event to a spring conference, starting in May of 2026. The first spring conference will be held in Las Vegas again, with the host property yet to be determined.
Stay tuned for more conference coverage, including interviews with Johnson, Boyce and other Ensemble executives.
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