Travel Planners International is retiring its proprietary back-office system in favor of Tern, an AI-powered infrastructure platform for travel agencies, and will cover the licensing cost for every active advisor in its network of more than 6,000, the host agency announced this week. The new system is slated to be in place this winter.
The move sunsets Suitcase, the back-office system TPI built and operated for the past 16 months, and shifts booking submission, commission tracking, reconciliation, and reporting to Tern. TPI's sister franchise brand, Vacation Planners, has worked with Tern since 2024. TPI and Tern began collaborating more than a year ago through a one-way sync that provided CRM at a steeply reduced price, and the back-office capabilities will now fully integrate the two companies.
Tern has gained significant traction in the advisor market in recent years. As of early 2026, the platform reported more than 9,000 advisors and processed $170 million in bookings in January alone — nearly $2 billion on an annualized basis, and roughly double the volume of a year earlier, according to reporting by sister publication Luxury Travel Advisor. Led by CEO David Shull, the company has raised a $17 million funding round, acquired the Lucia platform, and ships new releases on a near-weekly basis, with recent work focused on direct supplier integrations.
"TPI has always believed its advisors deserve full transparency into their commissions and their business," said Travel Planners International CEO Ken Gagliano. "We built Suitcase because we believed in that vision. When it didn't fully deliver, we made the call to move on. Tern is the platform that actually delivers on the promise we made to our advisors."
The full-platform move also gives advisors access to Tern's CRM, itinerary builder, and AI-assisted tools for those who want them, all included in TPI membership fees. Advisors who are not already using Tern for CRM services can continue with their existing CRM platform if they prefer.
"We've spent the last year building toward this moment," said Jenn Lee, president and CMO of Travel Planners International. "We took the time to vet, pilot, and pressure-test. Tern is a mature, proven platform trusted by agencies across the country. We are building in the training, support redundancies, and transition resources to make sure this launch lands the way it should and provides our advisors with the back-office infrastructure that gives them full visibility into their business without adding extra costs to them."
TPI advisors can begin onboarding with Tern now ahead of the full integration, which is set to launch by the end of the year. Training sessions will run throughout the summer to prepare members for the winter rollout. Feedback from a town hall for the TPI advisor community was positive, with most advisors expressing appreciation for the transparency and diligence behind the shift to a system that absorbs licensing costs while adding AI-powered back-office services.
"Tern has reimagined what the modern travel back office can be," said Katie Williams, COO and co-founder of Tern. "AI is a core part of what makes the platform so powerful—helping back-office teams move faster and more accurately, turning operational work into proactive insight. That leverage compounds as they scale, and becomes a key driver of their growth."
For more information about TPI and Vacation Planners, visit www.selltravelyourway.com, and about Tern, visit tern.travel.
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