John Kirk with Richard Villeneuve: What Defines Voyages en Direct?

John Kirk
by John Kirk
Last updated: 7:25 AM ET, Fri November 29, 2024

There’s no room at the inn as Quebec consortium Voyages en Direct has done a full takeover of Club Med Charlevoix for its annual conference. 

More than 400 agents and representatives of 22 suppliers are on site, with each partner having four different opportunities to present to agents at different levels of experience. 

In an interview with John Kirk, Voyages en Direct owner Richard Villeneuve says the consortium, which represents an astonishing 3,200 Quebec advisors, is different due to its decentralization.

“Each owner has opportunities with our technology to deploy a system for their agents and all kinds of services. It’s like a big buffet with a lot of things, a lot in cruising, a lot of training.”

Members also have autonomy, as they handle their own invoicing, without going through head office.

Spirits are high at the conference, where the travel industry’s work hard/play hard ethos is on full display. Villeneuve says there is good reason for that: going into the winter season he is predicting 5-10% growth over last year.

Watch the interview for a complete overview of what the group has in store for 2025.

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