by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 11:10 AM ET, Thu September 10, 2026
Air Canada Vacations continued its national Dream Makers super hero-themed product launch road show last night with a stop in Edmonton. TravelPulse Canada was there for a sneak peek at all the exciting things in store for the winter sun season with ACV.
The event opened at the Edmonton Expo Centre with a trade show featuring some of Air Canada Vacations' partners, with representatives from destinations and resorts around the world, including elite partners Bahia Principe and Sandals and Beaches Resorts.
The show brought an interactive element to the annual trade event, encouraging advisors to create a superhero avatar and scan to answer questions about vendors and compete for prizes. Competition was hot as the leaderboard was periodically displayed on the large screens onstage. Several advisors of the nearly 300 in attendance remarked on how it made it more fun.
On With the Show
Next came the show, opening with an energetic dance troupe performance before Air Canada Vacations VIce President, Nino Montagnese took the stage to welcome the crowd.
"We consider you our super heros," he said to hoots and cheers. “Your support means the world and we are bringing you the world to prove it."
This year, the Dream Makers launch expanded to seven shows across Canada, giving even more advisors the chance to participate. I chatted with travel advisors from Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan who travelled to the Edmonton show, calling it a “can’t miss” event. The annual launch is a massive undertaking for the Air Canada Vacations team, who started preparing for the 2026 events last November.
ACV VP Nino Montagnese and Excellence Award winner Andrea Gardiner. (Photo Credit: Jen Mallia/TravelPulse Canada)The business presentations were interspersed with fun, including an interactive “Majority Rules” game and an engaging address from Excellence Award winner and flight attendant Andrea Gardiner. She regaled the crowd with funny stories from her career which began in 1985, including going on a date with an Edmonton Oiler hockey player/passenger and the “joys” of a flying career when smoking was still allowed on airplanes and wheeled suitcases had not yet been invented. She thanked advisors for “sending great people our way” and working as partners to help Air Canada “overdeliver on excellent service.”
What’s New and Popular at ACV
The bulk of the evening was dedicated to educating travel advisors on some of the top trends, products and resources available to them from Air Canada Vacations. ACV General Manager, Marigold Frontuna and ACV Director of Sales, Erminia Gallina took to the stage with several key messages.
They highlighted the new connector hotline, which enables advisor to now call in to book connections quickly, the ACV buy one, get one 50 percent off promotion that is currently running until Sept. 27, the updated Rouge fleet (which will be completed on 45 aircraft by end of 2026) and the travel advisor toolkits, a quick epackages tutorial, and a special reminder about options which lets advisor hold sun packages for 24 hours or Europe for 48 hours.
Travel Trends
Some of the top travel trends advisors were encouraged to look out for include:
- Year-round European travel, including the new ACV sun destinations of Tenerife, Palma de Mallorca and Catania.
- Increased interest in Asia, including long stays.
- Long stays and slow travel.
- Domestic travel and ACV’s new partnership with Intrepid Travel.
The things that show no signs of slowing down include ACV’s “bread and butter” Caribbean travel, and cruising. They have recently added Avalon Waterways and Explora Journeys will be coming to the ACV portfolio soon. Advisors were encouraged to look at creating enriched packages by extending the air and adding land experiences to a cruise vacation and reminded to highlight ACVs “Cruise Promise” to clients.
Luxury Travel
The growing market of Luxury Travel merited its own presentation, with Air Canada Vacations rolling out a new sales strategy that focuses on Awareness, Elevation (upgrades) and Bespoke/customized experiences.
Groups
Travel advisors were introduced to a new Groups Quoting tool and encouraged to take part in the Groups Excellence program with special advisor incentives. ACV will be partnering with resorts for promotions under its Groups Partner of the Month program, and are working on support and additional resources to grow groups businesses including forth-coming all day workshops. It was also announced that self-serve enhancements in Trip Book are coming and that global group tours will be growing, with new destinations being considered.
(Photo Credit: Jen Mallia/TravelPulse Canada)
What’s in Store
In a night full of fun and learning, some of the exciting things advisors can look forward to include packages in Mexican destinations that are traditionally less underserved by the Canadian market: Merida, Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadaljaura.
The team also announced that a brand new travel advisor portal launches Sept 23 along with a new rewards promotion called “book match and win” that will help celebrate the new resource.
The night concluded with some more "I Need a Hero" entertainment and exciting prize giveaways of Air Canada Vacations merchandise, ACV&Me tokens and of course, travel.
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