by Parm Parmar
Last updated: 11:05 AM ET, Thu February 13, 2025
At a trade media event in Toronto Feb.12, 2025, John Lovell, President, Travel Leaders Network (TLN) discussed the performance and initiatives for the past year and plans for 2025. So far 2025 is starting on a very positive note with TLN Named to Newsweek’s “Most Reliable Companies 2025”.
In 2024, TLN achieved record highs in member retention and recruitment, with 6,000 agencies across the U.S. and Canada. Revenue increased by 17%, land bookings by 10%, and cruise bookings by 25%.
So far in 2025, cruise bookings are up 12% year-over-year, and land bookings are up 9%. Cruise bookings in Canada alone were up by 30% in 2024 ($213 million) from 2023 (164 million).
“TLN provides a single point of contact to reach a significant portion of the travel distribution channel. Membership in TLN provides travel agencies the services and support they need to thrive," says Lovell. "TLN negotiates better rates with suppliers, aggregates their revenue, and offers marketing support and valuable training throughout the year”.
TLN Products and Services
Some of the ways TLN makes it easier for advisors to do their job with powerful booking tools and resources, were highlighted, such as:
- The award-winning SNAP online booking tool for car and hotel bookings. Air bookings will soon to be beta tested in Canada with Air Canada in March 2025.
- Cruise Complete and EmPower Cruise, powerful booking tools designed for seamless cruise reservations.
- Unmatched marketing engagement initiatives handled by TLN which includes both digital and print materials, all branded with the agency’s logo and information handled by TLN.
- Exclusive opportunities for luxury-focused advisors, from the Luxury Leaders Alliance to partnerships with premium hotels, resorts, cruise lines and in-country providers.
- Toby AI, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence tool tailored specifically for travel advisors
- Agent Profiler, the exclusive lead generation platform that delivered over 275,000 high-quality leads to North American members in 2024. Agent Profiler handed out over 11,000 leads to Travel Leaders members (a 17% increase from 2023) in Canada, leading to 2,875 bookings, $30.5 million in sales and $4.5 million in member commissions. Canadian agencies that have not completed their profile information on the TLN platform are missing out on opportunities, particularly when consumers are searching for information and travel agencies work with for their next trip. If your profile is incomplete, this is your reminder to update it!
Become a Super Agent
Stephen McGillivray, Chief Partner Marketing Officer from parent company Internova Travel Group, discussed the enhancements to the "Super Agent" program to further incentivize members. This program recognizes top-performing agents and rewards them with higher search rankings on the platform. To become a Super Agent, advisors must meet specific criteria, including providing high-quality content, responding promptly to inquiries, and demonstrating a strong track record of success.
CRM Initiatives
McGillivray stated that TLN is moving toward becoming CRM-agnostic, recognizing the diversity of CRM solutions used by its members. While ClientBase and Tess have historically been popular, TLN recognizes that they may not be the best fit for every advisor. TLN is working to integrate with other CRMs, starting with VacationCRM this month, followed by Tess.
This integration enables TLN to access valuable customer data directly from members' systems. With permission, TLN can extract more than just names and addresses; they can obtain past purchase history, which is invaluable for understanding customer behavior and tailoring future marketing efforts.
Growth and Coming Events
According to Christine James, CTM, VP Canada, there is continued high demand for educational webinars, mixers, and conferences. In 2024, 1,744 members and 519 suppliers attended Canadian events. This year, James states that many suppliers have already confirmed their participation for 2025 mixers and conferences.
Caroline Belgrave has joined the team as Business Solutions Manager for Western Canada, and her expertise will help drive engagement and membership growth in that market. James mentioned that events are planned to alternate between Calgary and Edmonton, with strong early registration numbers indicating high demand.
TLN is expanding their educational reach with mixers scheduled across Canada, including in Atlantic Canada. A partnership in Quebec serves the French-speaking market with events in Montreal.
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