On The Road At Vcom 18 In Florida

More than 1,300 travel professionals are in attendance at the 18th International Vacation.com Conference and Trade Show in Hollywood, Florida – including a significant Canadian contingent with 140 travel agents and suppliers and keynote speaker Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures.

The conference kicked-off on Sunday (May 22) and runs until Thursday (May 26).

“The biggest news in the Canadian front is the release of pinSIGHT Canada,” Christine James (pictured), vice-president Canada at Vacation.com, told PressToday. “pinSIGHT is an all encompassing desktop booking tool for hotels. We are combining Expedia rates with GDS rates… we have our own negotiated hotel rates.”

The new tool will be available to all members – including those without GDS access. Previously Canadian members only had access to pinSIGHT with prices in USD.

“Say an agent has a client that wants to go to Paris, and wants a hotel within proximity to the Eiffel Tower, all they have to do is type it in the search bar. Even if they misspell it, what will pop up is a visual map of the Eiffel Tower as well as all the hotels within their search parametres,” she adds.

Along with 130 hours of educational classes and seminars, workshops and entertainment by the likes of the Jersey Boys, the conference featured a preferred supplier destination trade show, with a section devoted to Canadian representatives.

Pictured at the trade show (middle) are Stéphanie Bishop, managing director, Canada, Globus family of brands and Vacation.com president and CEO John Lovell.

Canadian winners on hand for the Cruise Holidays International Awards, which recognize top-performing agencies and travel agents, include Ralph and Barbara Young/Cruise Holidays of Port Coquitlam, Lola Vassiliadis/Cruise Holidays of Oakville, Carole Paleczny/Captain Sandy’s Cruise Holidays Ottawa West, Bill and Grace Dieleman/Vellinga’s Travel Service/Cruise Holidays and Joan Yam, Cruise Holidays of Scarborough (#1 – Outstanding Sales Achievement).