EVA, Leading Travel Partners Fly 50 Top Travel Agents to Asia for Fam Experience

EVA Air, Stella Travel Services’ global wholesaler Travel2, leading retailer Signature Travel Network and the Travel Section of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) have teamed up to give agents the kind of expertise savvy travelers seek when they plan trips to Asia. The travel partners are hosting 50 of Signature’s top travel agents for a seven-destination familiarization program, ending with two nights in Taiwan. Travel Agent’s Senior Editor Mark Rogers will join the group in Taiwan to report on the agents’ combined experiences and new insights on the countries they have visited, as well as travel trends in the region.

EVA is providing transpacific travel for the invitation-only event in addition to flights to/from destinations within Asia.  The agents depart Los Angeles, San Francisco and Newark today and return on March 5.

“With their frequent flights to Taipei plus connections throughout Asia, we see EVA as a key player in opening up Asia to the American traveler,” says Mark Punshon, vice president of sales for Travel2.

Initially, the agents will be divided into five groups and EVA will fly each one to a different destination. The groups will spend six nights in Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam or Hong Kong and Macau before reuniting in Taiwan. There, they’ll get a taste of Taiwan and have networking opportunities to share knowledge and experiences gained from their different tours.

“Every one of the agents participating in this event will come home with greater expertise in Asian travel,” says Austin Cheng, senior vice president in charge, EVA Air America Head Office.  “As top producers, they’ll use the knowledge and experience they gain through this familiarization event to become even more successful travel agents.”

Travel2 is launching a Simply Asia campaign on March 1 and will refer all resulting consumer leads directly to the Signature agents who are participating in the mega-familiarization event.

Effective March 28, EVA is making seasonal adjustments to its schedule and will again be offering 20 flights a week from Los Angeles to Taiwan and 12 flights a week from San Francisco.  With just one stop in Taiwan, EVA passengers can connect onward on another of the airline’s many flights to just about any place they want to go in Asia.

EVA pays commissions and agents can learn more about working with EVA and its services by contacting one of its 10 offices in the United States and Canada, listed at www.evaair.com/html/b2c/english/global_tools/couns/America.htm.