Trafalgar proud to stand with travel agents
IAN STALKER
The man who oversees Trafalgar’s Canadian office is proud that there’s an unshakable bond between his tour operator and the travel agency community.
Paunic
Wolf Paunic says Trafalgar is committed to delivering “top-notch support” to agents, which helps explain Trafalgar’s remarkable success in Agents’ Choice Awards, winning the Motorcoach tour operator category year-in and year-out.
“Agents’ Choice Awards are in a way the Canadian travel industry’s ‘Oscars;’ and we do not take our historical success lightly,” Paunic says. “In the ever-changing world of travel, the Trafalgar brand has been consistently delivering quality experiences to clients, along with timely and honest support to our retail partners. We are patently aware of the fact that the awards are earned and as a brand we have to prove our value to the agents and clients alike, every day and all of the time.”
Paunic notes that last year saw Trafalgar host the global “Acclaim” trip and Gala en Rouge, attended by top-selling agents from around the world. Affiliated Costsaver had its own version of the top achievers’ trip, which is now called Crew.
“I am proud to say that in 2019 we hosted over 20 Canadian travel agents in South Africa for Acclaim and Vietnam for Crew. Loyal Canadian travel agents who support Trafalgar and Costsaver in 2020 are eligible to earn a spot on both trips.”
Paunic adds Trafalgar staff works industriously to “support travel agent partners, help them inspire their clients through our Love to Talk Travel events, for instance, and consultatively work with agents to develop and maintain their business.”
Trafalgar also likes to point out that it takes agent feedback seriously and is continuously expanding its sales staff.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Trafalgar’s parent company, The Travel Corporation, with different celebrations planned for the milestone.
“For starters, all TTC colleagues around the world will be publishing their personal #TTCTop10 lists (a collection of lists can be found at TTC.com/Top10),” Paunic reports. “These are great reads for anyone who is passionate about travel and who would like to gain insight and inspiration from international guests who not only work for one of the most prestigious guided vacation operators but are also avid travellers in their private lives. This incredible milestone will be celebrated by the 42 award-winning brands through numerous activations, events and initiatives. We are very proud of our 100-year anniversary and are very dedicated to innovating the next 100-year anniversary.”
The 100-year anniversary comes as Trafalgar launches trips to emerging destinations, among them Georgia and Armenia, Sicily, Colombia, Croatia via coastal cruising, and The Balkans. Paunic says the new destinations are “full of adventures and cultural delights.”
Trafalgar also made a public commitment late last year to improve travel with its #MakeTravelMatter pledge. “The pledge stands for people, for wildlife and for the planet, and to date almost 8,000 TTC team members, clients and loyal travel agent partners have signed. To JoinTrafalgar and sign the pledge, please visit TreadRight.org/Pledge,” Paunic reports.
Meanwhile, Paunic says Trafalgar is happy to offer an Agents’ Choice Awards prize.
“Trafalgar has been supporting Agents’ Choice Awards for many years now by offering a travel prize,” he notes. “Having a Canadian travel agent personally experience a Trafalgar-guided vacation goes a long way as it provides them with a first-hand connection with the brand and gives them freedom to discover and confidence to explore our product. We believe in innovation and want to expose as many agents to our immersive trips as possible. Our seven-day Italian Holiday journey will have a lucky travel agent and a guest discovering Roman monuments, Venetian canals and Florentine artistry and living ‘The Good Life.’”
AGENTS’ CHOICE
Discover Italy with Trafalgar
As a primary sponsor of the 2020 Agents’ Choice Awards readership survey, presented by Canadian Travel Press, Travel Courier and PressToday, Trafalgar is offering agents an opportunity to uncover Roman monuments, Venetian canals and Florentine artistry on this picture-perfect seven-day Italian Holiday tour for two.
For a chance to win this prize – or others – simply take part in the Agents’ Choice Awards survey at travelpress.com/agentschoice.
Closing date for voting in Agents’ Choice 2020 will be April 3.
