It felt like a Hollywood Awards ceremony Wednesday night at the posh Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea and in a way, it was as The Travel Agent Next Door gathered to honour the host agency’s best of the year.
Avril Rae Matthews, Omar Banihani and Malia Asfour, Jordan Tourism Board (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
Attendees braved a heatwave in favour of stunning views for a night that began with a cocktail party on an infinity patio overlooking the Dead Sea and Judean Mountains, and a special performance by the Jordanian Military Band.
Once inside, agents descended to an elaborate ballroom beautifully decked out in TTAND and G Adventures colours and were served a seven-course menu.
David Green, Flemming Friisdahl, Dr. Abed Razzaq Arabiyat, Managing Director, Jordan Tourism Board and Karim Makhlouf, COO Royal Jordanian Air in a press conference held right before the TTAND Awards Gala. (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
The TTAND conference has been a big deal for the country; just before the Gala began, a standing-room only press conference was held by Jordan Tourism and attended by both Arabic and English-speaking news outlets.
That’s extremely rare and shows just how important this conference has been to Jordan’s flourishing tourism industry.
Taking to the panel were TTAND Founder Flemming Friisdahl, G Adventures’ VP Global Sales David Green alongside Dr. Abed Razzaq Arabiyat, Managing Director, Jordan Tourism Board and Karim Makhlouf, COO Royal Jordanian Airlines.
When asked about the partnership between TTAND, G Adventures, Royal Jordanian Air and the Jordan Tourism Board, Dr. Arabiyat smiled.
“Thank you for all your work for Jordan. This gathering is very important for all parties and your ability to be ready to discover this destination has been crucial. Every month we are seeing something, the tremendous growth, the local community experiences, the support from the government. It's very encouraging.”
His Excellency Tarik Ali Khan, Canadian Ambassador to Jordan (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
That government support was evident at the Awards Gala, where His Excellency Tarik Ali Khan, Canadian Ambassador to Jordan and Malia Asfour, Managing Director Jordan Tourism Board - who flew in from the Tourism Cares conference in Panama just hours before - took to the podium with a warm welcome.
“It's amazing the strength of relationships that we have at the senior most levels of government, between Jordan and Canada, and the people to people ties that we share,” said Khan.
“So much of what I do as an Ambassador is about strengthening those ties. And that's what you're doing as well, you are also Ambassadors, and you are bringing Canadians over here to Jordan, and that strengthens that relationship. So, for that I thank you.”
(Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
Relationships are a big part of the TTAND organization, and this was clear Thursday night. Highlights of the Awards were the Peer-to-Peer Star Award which recognizes the agent who is most supportive and TTAND's Ambassador Award which recognizes the agent who brought the most referrals to TTAND over the past year. Wired for Travel’s Judith Coates, who previously won an award for her advocacy work during the pandemic, took home the Peer to Peer Star award and Lynn Filion was honoured with TTAND's Ambassador Star award.
(Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
It's worth mentioning that runner-up for the Peer to Peer award was Arlene Gibbons. Incidentally, both Judith and Arlene just won a TravelPulse Canada Readers’ Choice 2024 Award for Most Influential Travel Agent.
TTAND's 2024 Millionaire's Club (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
The Millionaire’s Club at TTAND also got bigger; the award is presented to agencies who have achieved $375,000 in Preferred and Approved commissions.
Those commissions show just how much TTAND has grown in the past 10 years; sales have grown from $6 million in its first year to some $500 million expected sales in 2024 and $1 billion expected by 2028. Friisdahl and Penny Martin, VP Agent Relations, took to the stage to present a profit-sharing cheque to agents in the amount of $45,000.
The full list of award winners is below (for images, check out our Facebook page):
Highest Average Rate of Commission, Primary Agent - Mandy Delve
Highest Average Rate of Commission, Silver/Gold Agent - Steve Melling
Highest Average Rate of Commission, Agency - Elevation Travel & Tours Inc.
Highest Average Rate of Commission, Associate Agent - Mary Derabbie
Highest Earned Commission, Primary Agent - Anna MacKay
Highest Earned Commission, Silver/Gold Agent - Brian Paul
Highest Earned Commission, Agency - Stewart Travel Group
Highest Earned Commission, Associate Agent - Vanessa Dewson
Highest % of Preferred/Approved Suppliers, Primary Agent - Denise Cesselli
Highest % of Preferred/Approved Suppliers, Silver/Gold Agent - Belinda Cerrito
Highest % of Preferred/Approved Suppliers, Agency - Jeffrey Cohen
Highest % of Preferred/Approved Suppliers, Associate Agent - Christine Pilon
Brenda Yeoman, Celebrity Cruises accepts "Most Supportive Ocean Cruise Partner" (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
Supplier Awards were handed out at the opening of the conference on Monday and are voted on by TTAND agents – more than 50% of all agents voted, a high engagement rate for awards in general.
Most Supportive Tour Operator Partner – Air Canada Vacations
Most Supportive Land/Guided Tour Partner – G Adventures
Most Supportive Cruise Partner – Celebrity Cruises
Most Supportive River Cruise Partner – AmaWaterways
Most Supportive Expedition Partner – Hurtigruten
Most Supportive FIT Supplier Partner – Goway
Most Supportive Hotel/Resort Partner – World of Hyatt Inclusive Collection
Most Supportive Specialty Partner – Projection Expedition
Best Overall Approved Supplier Partner – Disney
Best Overall Supplier Partner – Air Canada Vacations
"On behalf of G adventures, I just want to say a huge happy 10th anniversary,” David Green, VP Global Sales and Operations said earlier at the press conference. “Thank you for all the work that you do. Flemming and his team have done a phenomenal job.”
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