Travel Leaders Network has announced that Lee Kitchen will keynote its Annual Owners Meeting for franchisees that’s being held November 21 at the Breathless Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa in Cancun, Mexico. Kitchen spent 32 years at The Walt Disney Company spearheading marketing campaigns and operational efficiency changes, and he is one of several experts set to speak at the event.
At this event, which is exclusively for owners and managers of Travel Leaders Network franchise locations, attendees will have opportunities for peer-to-peer networking and chances to engage and share best practices with one another. They will also learn from other speakers during specialized sessions, such as:
- President Roger Block will hold an interactive “State of the Union” session discussing the strategic direction of Travel Leaders Network and what’s in store for 2020.
- Shailja Gulati, vice president, marketing and strategic partnerships at Travel Leaders Group, will explain the benefits of The Travel Collection, a Travel Leaders Group program that offers discounts on air travel, car rentals, air and hotel packages. She will also discuss how the program allows consumers to pay for their travel purchases using points from particular charge cards when booked through one of the travel advisors participating in The Travel Collection program.
- Brian Hegarty, vice president, marketing, Travel Leaders Network, will address the changing landscape of travel distribution as it relates to the consolidation in the industry and what it means for the advisor.
- Peter Vlitas, senior vice president, airline relations, Travel Leaders Group, will discuss airline relationships and how the New Distribution Capability (NDC) is transforming distribution and how Travel Leaders and its advisors can leverage this new structure.
- Sara Altschul, senior vice president and general counsel, Travel Leaders Group, will moderate a panel discussion that examines fraudulent activity impacting travel agencies and potential solutions to protecting consumer and agency information.
- Pam Jarvis, director, cruise programs, Travel Leaders Network, will discuss the added value of the company’s hosted cruise program, Distinctive Voyages, and will give an update on what the program will include in 2020.
- Jeremy Van Kuyk, vice president, technology, Travel Leaders Group, will discuss the latest changes and benefits of its Agent Profiler lead generation tool.
Top-selling agency owners who are “Leaders” members can participate in an additional day of networking and learning.
On Friday, November 22, Roger Block and Karen Blauw will give an overview of the expansion of Travel Leaders Network internationally. There will be updates on corporate travel trends by Mike Boult, senior vice president, corporate sales, Travel Leaders Group, while Mike Heflin, senior vice president, hotels, Travel Leaders Group, will discuss using Travel Leaders Group hotel programs for corporate accounts. Sheree Curry, manager of public relations and communications, will discuss leveraging media relations for corporate travel. Lee Kitchen will also deliver an additional keynote address.
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