On 8 November, TravelManagers’ chief operating office, Grant Campbell and operations manager, Troy Coelho (pictured) will join more than 2,400 delegates from travel brands around the globe at Signature Travel Network’s annual conference in Las Vegas.
The four-day event will be TravelManagers’ first opportunity to get together in person with Signature’s network of travel advisors, independent contractors, managers, agency owners and supplier partners since a partnership was formalised at the beginning of 2022.
“Signature is a community of leading travel agencies and supplier partners which currently generates US$8 billion (about $13 billion) in annual sales,” Campbell noted.
“Their focus is on the luxury travel segment, making them a great asset to many of our personal travel managers (PTMs) given the huge surge in demand we have seen since the reopening of Australia’s international borders.”
According to Campbell, the key purpose of the conference is to network with and learn from Signature Travel Network partners, strengthening existing supplier relationships and developing new partnerships through a series of appointment sessions, educational workshops and a trade show.
As well as its extensive collection of luxury products and experiences, Campbell said Signature Travel Network shares many of the same values as TravelManagers: “appropriately, both Signature’s annual owners’ meeting and TravelManagers’ annual national conference even shared the same theme: ‘Together’.”
Campbell said the pandemic does not appear to have slowed Signature Travel Network’s rate of growth, with 39 travel brands having joined the network since the last conference took place in 2019.
“They achieved this by doubling down on member support, methodically growing their preferred partnership portfolio to ensure that members had access to the products their clients would need,” he explained.
“They focused on finding like-minded agencies, knowing that the unity of the Signature community has always been their greatest strength.
“We’re excited to have become part of that community, and we’ve been really impressed by how well Signature’s members and preferred partners have worked together to grow their respective businesses over the past three years.
“Many of them have already surpassed their pre-pandemic sales levels, while preferred land partner sales for 2022 are up more than 26 percent compared with 2019.”
After three years of pandemic, Campbell said he is anticipating a celebratory mood at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas when the conference gets underway on 8 November.
“Despite all the challenges our industry has experienced through the course of the pandemic, it’s reassuring to know that Signature members have risen to the occasion and exceeding expectations: TravelManagers is excited to be part of the next stage in their journey.”
