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| Co-presidents Libbie Rice, left, and Lindsay Pearlman, right |
The 2011 Ensemble Travel Group International Conference kicked off yesterday, October 19, at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. Almost 1,000 members, suppliers and guests convened for the sold-out, four-day event.
At the opening general session, co-presidents Lindsay Pearlman and Libbie Rice urged its members to approach the challenged economy with a focused and head-on approach. This year's conference is themed "A New Day," because that is truly what we are living in and the times call for new approaches to how travel agents operate their businesses. In the spirit of "A New Day," this year's conference is based around three pillars: growth, stability and focus.
"At least year's conference, we talked about the shift in thinking to being in the business of travel as opposed to the travel business," said Pearlman during the session. "We must continue down that path, but now with even more resolve. We're in an economic environment where many of the old rules no longer apply. At Ensemble, our focus is on how we do things, why we do things, and when we do things. At the end of the day, it's more about process than turning out to a litany of products and programs."
Rice continued, "It's about growing our membership, our value, and our brand...We're not solely reliant on one market. And finally, we must continue to focus on helping members grow their business through both technology and product offers that are relevant and compelling, and not just a broad brush approach."
With respect to growing its business, Ensemble announced last month that 67 new U.S. and Canadian members joined the consortium, further enforcing that this is a new day for Ensemble.
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