A pioneer in the home-based travel advisor segment, TravelOnly celebrated 50 years this weekend in a bittersweet celebration at the elegant Imperial Room of Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
The night was more sweet than bitter – especially coming off the company’s best-ever year -- but the loss of TravelOnly founder Patrick Luciani in 2020 is still felt in a company now run by his wife Ann and son Greg. Patrick was a much-loved member of the Canadian travel industry.
TravelOnly President and CEO Greg Luciani with VP Ann Luciani. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
“Some days it feels like 50 years,” said company Chairman Ann Luciani. I’m thrilled, but I miss my husband.”
Patrick Luciani founded Luciani World Travel in Brantford in 1974. He passed away on April 26, 2020. “He’s the reason we’re here today,” said Patrick’s son Greg. “Fifty years ago an immigrant from Italy started this business. He loved travel. He loved travel agents. He knew how hard the job is.”
Patrick Luciani, Founder, TravelOnly (Photo Credit: PHOTO: TravelPulseCanada)
Luciani World Travel opened with a simple mission: to spread the joy and experience of quality travel to as many people as possible.Today, TravelOnly, the evolution of Luciani World Travel, has a nationwide presence across Canada with offices in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia and nearly 800 expert home-based advisors specializing in air, cruise and all-inclusive vacations, as well as luxury travel.
Considering the constant ups and downs of the retail travel industry over the past five decades, from the airline commission cuts and the rise of the Internet in the 90s to 9/11, the global financial crisis of 2007/2008, and the COVID travel-killer of 2020/2021, it’s amazing TravelOnly has survived and thrived.
The TravelOnly 50th Gala and TADA Awards at the Fairmont Royal York's Imperial Room. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Asked about how TravelOnly made it through so many challenges, Ann Luciani’s response is succinct: “We’re persistent.”
Just before the turn of the millennium, the Luciani family decided to change tack, taking advantage of technological advancements to propose the possibility of operating a full-service travel agency from a home-based environment.
It was a business model in its infancy. Technology was increasingly making it possible for people to work remotely and automating most cumbersome parts of an agent’s role, giving them more time to focus on sales and service.
TravelOnly leader Greg Luciani with Viking's Jordana Botting and Neil Dudley from AmaWaterways. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Ann Luciani describes the scene: “It was a radical concept in those days. This was our opportunity to do something bold. But when you are the first, you will encounter obstacles. Current agents were resistant, so we went after teachers, nurses, even a judge.”
The Lucianis decided to attempt to build their company by seeking people with a flair for sales rather than travel agency experience. Patrick and Greg made presentations, first in university spaces, later in hotel venues, telling people they could work from home, part-time or full-time, selling travel. And people came out – nurses, accountants, fire-fighters and others.
“1999 was the first presentation I did with my dad,” said Greg, who is now President and CEO. “I remember telling someone, ‘You can do this from home.’ ‘No you can’t,’ she responded. She wasn’t the only one: selling travel from home was illegal in British Columbia when TravelOnly started, and the company only won the right to operate in that province after taking it to court in 2004.
The powerhouse Bob Family Travel team: (l to r) Mary de Almeida, Robert Pittelli and Martina Mizzi. Not shown: the inimitable Pat Probert, who was unable to attend due to travel. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Holly McBean was one of the people in the audience during a TravelOnly presentation at the University of Windsor in 1999. Twenty-five years later she’s still with the company as one of its top-sellers.
Greg describes the company philosophy: “If we support you, you will share in our success and our success will be exponential. Twenty-five years later, we’re the cream of the crop.”
The TravelOnly president thanked the many suppliers in the room who helped sponsor the event. “If it wasn’t for them, there wouldn’t be any us.”
The Air Canada Vacations Team: Ana Paula de Souza, Elish Tate, Krista Rothfuchs and Erminia Gallina. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Platinum sponsors for the TravelOnly 50th Gala and TADA Awards included Air Canada Vacations, Hyatt Inclusive Collection and TravelBrands. Gold sponsors were AmaWaterways, WestJet and WestJet Vacations and Sunwing.
Sunwing Travel Group's Lorraine Brisebois and Dave Wright. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
“This is an absolutely amazing organization with a great history,” said Dave Wright, Director of Sales, Ontario and Atlantic Canada for Sunwing Travel Group. “I adored Patrick and miss him dearly. We love TravelOnly agents and they give us so much business.”
Air Canada Vacations’ Krista Rothfuchs is an area sales manager focused on independent travel professionals. The winner of this year’s Top Preferred Supplier Personality of the Year 2023, Rothfuchs congratulated TravelOnly for its foresight in anticipating an industry shift.
“I don’t think people realize how long independent advisors have been around. They’ve proven themselves as a force and TravelOnly is one of the top agency networks and one of our best partners.”
Douglas Hammond, Director of IT for TravelOnly, has been with the company from the early days of its shift from storefront to creating a network of independent sellers.
“When I started there were 10 agents. Then we just grew and grew. From the beginning, and all the way through, we’ve been like a family. We used to go to (the Luciani’s) grandma’s for lunch. My whole career, I’ve been growing together with them like a family.”
There’s another big shift happening right now, as artificial intelligence and new automated digital marketing tools are automating processes and helping agents create itineraries, blogs, web pages and social media posts, freeing up time to better serve clients.
“We’re heavily invested in AI,” says Greg, pointing to the company’s partnership with Travel Agency Tribes, run by Ryan McElroy, who gave a keynote speech at the event, focused on ‘The Power of Parnership.’
“We share a vision to create tools to make our members more innovative. That’s our focus for the foreseeable future. We want it to be a magnet for attracting people into the industry.”
Director of IT Hammond says agents should embrace the power of AI and digital marketing.
“A lot of people are afraid of AI. But I tell them just to think of it as auto-complete on steroids. It simply taken away time-consuming, mundane things. I like people. I trust people. I don’t think you can ever get rid of that.”
Tireless TravelOnly Senior VP Shannon Smith was named TravelOnly MVP 2023. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Greg Luciani agrees, saying the tech focus for the future is already paying dividends, but it is all about creating tools to support the nearly 800 travel advisors who are driving the company’s success.
“2023 was a record-breaking year. We have doubled our business since COVID and we are projecting another record year. But we can never recoup the intrinsic losses from that time. We lost amazing agents who left the industry. The new challenge is to bring in young people.”
Greg adds: “The quality of our people is what sets us apart. They’re passionate, they love to travel, they love to help people.”
These are the same attributes that Patrick Luciani brought to the business, and the sweetest part of the TravelOnly 50th celebration is that his values clearly live on in the company he created.
Here are some of the night’s award winners:
Hyatt Inclusive Collection representative Brian Joseph with ACV's Ana Paula de Souza. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Patrick Luciani Legacy Award: Barbara Scrocco and Robert Rizzo won this award, given annually to individuals who embody the sense of community and industry advocacy that was held by Patrick Luciani.
Sarah Boville and the Barefoot Travel Team: left to right: Jennifer MacEachen, Sarah Boville, Alexzandrea Long and Cindy Aiken. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
TravelOnly Top Preferred Supplier Awards for 2023
Top Preferred Cruise Supplier: Norwegian Cruise Line
Top Preferred River Cruise Supplier: AmaWaterways
Top Preferred Tour Operator 2023: Sunwing
Shannon Smith, TravelOnly Senior Vice President, with ACV's Krista Rothfuchs, honoured as Preferred Supplier Personality of the Year. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Personality of the Year: Krista Rothfuchs, Air Canada Vacations
Most Supportive BDM 2023: Brian Joseph, Hyatt Inclusive Collection
Most Engaged Partner of the Year 2023: WestJet Vacations, Sevi Anagnostis
Top Breakout Partner of the Year: Viking, Jordana Botting.
Top Overall Preferred Partner: TravelBrands, Diane Lattavo
Robert Pittelli, (left) was named TravelOnly Personality of the Year for 2023. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
TravelOnly Top Producers 2023
Sales Growth: Tracey Clarke
Rookie of the Year: Daniel Slupeiks
Top Rising Star: Sandi Liang
Top All Star: Meaghan Petz
Top Producer Atlantic Canada: Carina Shortliffe
Top Producer Prairies: Denise Taylor
Top Producer Quebec: Carole Roy
Top Producer Alberta: Holly Slater
Top Producer British Columbia: Tracey Robertson
Top Producer Ontario: Mary de Almeida and Pat Probert.
Hyatt Inclusive Collection representative Brian Joseph with ACV's Ana Paula de Souza. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Supplier Top Producer Awards 2023 – Platinum & Gold Partners
Air Canada Vacations: Joe Kemp
Hyatt Inclusive Collection: Sarah Boville
TravelBrands: Dashnor Kasku and Bujar Zejnullahu
AmaWaterways: Nicola Radde
Sunwing: Carina Shortliffe
WestJet: Jackie Lunn
WestJet Vacations: Helena Peters
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