Ensemble Horizons 2024 showcases the power of travel advisors
During the opening session for Ensemble Horizons — The Power of You, taking place this week at Resorts World Las Vegas, Ensemble president Michael Johnson likened the tools and innovation that the consortia offers its members to the invention of the iPhone at a time when BlackBerry dominated the market.
“I’m talking about Ensemble’s aspirations to do something extraordinary. I’m talking about reimagining the role travel consortia can play in propelling this industry forward,” he said taking the stage to some 800 attendees. “At this point, we’ve been focused on providing products in the consortium world. Everybody’s got a great keyboard, but when we step back, the opportunity is so much bigger because we’ve been asking the wrong questions. If we’re truly customer obsessed, we should be asking things like, how do we make our customers lives better? What are their pain points, and how can we help?”
Streamlining the booking process
Describing many aspects of the travel industry as having antiquated tools that address yesterday’s problems, he said Ensemble’s tools have streamlined the booking process.
This means that travel advisors don’t have to use different platforms to book various trip elements like air and hotel. Much more efficiently, advisors can utilize the ADX platform to book all aspects of their clients’ trips, as well as invoice.
“We are no longer interested in acting as a traditional consortium,” he said. “We believe that simplifying how you operate and giving you new opportunities to earn is transformational. That’s why we’re so passionate about the ADX platform.”
A new Ensemble certification program, a partnership with HubSpot for eased marketing and an array of on demand training for various levels of advisors, whether they are new to the industry or have been selling for decades, are some of the tools and offerings that differentiate the consortia.
“There’s never been a better time to be an advisor, and it’s never been a better time to be an Ensemble advisor, because you have all of this at your fingertips. We are the travel iPhone, and our apps are the best in the business because they’re based on your feedback,” he said. “Just as social media is designed to unlock the power of your camera, our marketing partner programs and member tech and trainings are designed to unlock the power of the advisor.”
Relieved about the strike aversion
With the conference taking place at a time that could have seen Air Canada winding down its services due to a pilots’ strike, PressToday couldn’t help but get Johnson’s sentiments on the topic.
“We are thrilled that there appears to be an agreement — I don’t know that the ink is dry so we’re still watching, we’re cautiously optimistic,” he shared. “I think that whenever there is disruption, be it labour, which we’ve seen both with WestJet and AC, be it weather, be it political turmoil, you name it, it all comes down to communication. And so our role is to communicate the facts out to our membership, in collaboration with other groups, ACTA, as an example, Air Canada, I think actually did a pretty good job. They were far more aggressive in communicating, which allowed our members to plan accordingly.”
Johnson also said that it also drives home the value proposition of the advisor.
“If you’ve got an advisor, they will be able to help you navigate, get home or create alternate arrangements, or let you know what your options are. If you’re booking with a nameless, faceless website, you’re on your own to figure things out, and so we never want to lean into fear as part of our value proposition. That’s not my intent. It’s just to say it’s far more convenient to book with an advisor in light of things like this,” he said.
Notably, Kristina Boyce, SVP, operations, said that members of the ADX Air support team were ready to find solutions for its members.
“Advisors that would have booked any of the Air Canada flights in ADX would have been super well supported,” she added.
The power of travel
The opening event of the conference featured a powerful presentation and interview between Giles Duley, the founder and CEO of Legacy of War Foundation, and Olive Muteamfura, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
During last year’s conference, Duley’s presentation about Olive resonated so much with attendees that $150,000 was raised for the Land for Women project in Rwanda, a program that promotes the economic empowerment of women through land ownership and sustainable cooperative farming. With matching funds from Navigatr Group, last year raised enough to fund one Land for Women farm.
“What was incredible about this was the reaction by the membership and the partner community. When we introduced this last year, it was not intended to be a fundraiser — Giles was actually there as a speaker, and his message resonated so significantly with the community, people were stepping up to say, how can I help? We ended up turning the last night, which was our gala, into an impromptu fundraiser,” he recalled.
The new farm named Heza Musha, meaning Better Future, is already up and running and is impacting the lives of 30 women and their families. Last night, Olive took the stage to share her story, marking her first trip outside of Rwanda. She brought along traditional Rwandan masks to hand out as Social Impact Awards that were given to escapes.ca, G Adventures, Kensington Tours and Crown Cruise Vacations, who were instrumental in last year’s fundraising efforts.
“Last year at Ensemble Horizons we were so inspired by Giles’ story of Olive that we knew we had to do something to support Land for Women. Being recognized on stage last night at the conference opening is really just a way for us to carry on Olive’s story,” Erin Rogers, national sales manager, Canada for G Adventures told PressToday. “G Adventures was founded in 1990 on the principles of sustainability, community tourism and the idea of changing lives through travel.”
This year, through donations and a silent auction, the goal is to raise enough to build two farms.
“Our goal within Ensemble is to raise $150,000, have that matched, and purchase two farms,” he said.
The next Horizons
Notably, Horizons is shifting from a fall event to a spring conference, starting in May of 2026.
“We’ve moving it to spring because it’s the right time to do it,” Shahla Lalani, SVP, marketing, tells PT. “We’re making it a three-day format so it’s a lot more intense so they don’t have to exercise a whole week. They get three days of deep intense networking. We’re going to be switching up the location but the next one will be in Vegas.”
For travel agencies who are open or looking for a new consortia, he invites them to discover the new Ensemble.
“For those that think they know Ensemble, with due respect, they probably don’t. This company is a revitalized, refreshed, reimagined approach to the role of the consortia,” Johnson said. “I think it behooves any small owner to understand what are those organizations that are out there that can provide value? So I would encourage everyone to learn a little bit more about Ensemble’s community, what its partners offer and what its programs are, and then make a decision about what’s best for their business because I think we’ve got a pretty compelling value proposition right now.”
Lalani said another advantage of going with Ensemble is that they have the best contracts in place with Canadian suppliers.
“When they are part of our consortia, they benefit the most,” she said. “We’re pretty humble and we don’t want to shout it out too much, but they do get the benefits.
“They get the best of both worlds,” Boyce added. “You get those relationships with all your Canadian suppliers, but because we’re also deep in the US, we have those direct contracts with the president of the cruise line in Miami too so you get the benefit of both.”
