by Eric Bowman
Last updated: 9:30 PM ET, Sun June 4, 2023
“This is the best event, ever.”
This phrase could be heard over and over throughout the 2023 Global Travel Marketplace (GTM), which took place Thursday, June 1 through Saturday, June 3 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida.
“We created this event for the travel advisor,” said Alicia Evanko-Lewis, Executive Vice President, Travel Group Global Events, Northstar Travel Group.
Advisors are fully hosted, each getting their own table for six-minute one-on-one appointments with various travel brands from around the world. Other events have the advisors moving around, but GTM flips it, making the suppliers go from table to table.
To apply, travel advisors must meet specific criteria, including having annual individual sales of at least $1 million or owning a multi-million dollar agency. The million-dollar sales mark is a big selling point for suppliers to attend. The event sells out fast, and many brands are already securing sponsorship spots for 2024, Evanko-Lewis said.
This year’s event brought nearly 400 industry professionals together to do big business.
Growing Together
GTM is designed to help further grow the travel industry.
For Dana Dziegiel, owner of Gypsea Travels, attending GTM last year helped her business reach incredible new heights.
“GTM has helped my business exponentially,” Dziegiel said. “It's grown from three million a year to now six million [this year].”
Connections are everything in the travel industry, and establishing relationships throughout the event are the foundation for millions of dollars being spent on travel in the coming months and years.
“I don't want to sound too cliche here, but it is the premier event,” said Jesse Morris, owner of We Book Travel. “It has changed and transformed my business…I had the opportunity to meet and actually sell products that I had never even considered before, and I think that's one of the most powerful aspects of this particular meeting. You get to meet with people that do things that maybe you hadn't considered selling, they teach you about their product and then you can go and offer it to your client base."
Willie Fernandez, chief marketing officer of Rental Escapes, who attended his first GTM event this year, said he was impressed by the quality of the advisors in the room.
“I've been so incredibly impressed by all of the advisors that I've talked to, just understanding their experience and their overall book of business,” Fernandez said. “I mean it really is the best of the best. For a supplier looking to reach the right audience, GTM is by far the best venue to do that.”
And the growth of business can be instant too.
“I landed a sale right after meeting a new supplier,” said Cali Stein of Four Hundred. “I had a client reach out recently about travel to Israel in a few months and really want a dedicated specialist. I trust that GTM only has the best suppliers, so while he was still standing in front of me, I sent him a big family request for peak season.”
Travel advisor and suppliers pose for picture at 2023 Global Travel Marketplace (Photo Credit: Eric Bowman)
Boardroom Learning
Suppliers can also buy in to host a boardroom presentation. They get 30 minutes to showcase their brand, answers questions from advisors, and further cultivate that relationship with travel advisors.
“The boardroom options really are the best way to get in front of the agents in a little bit more of that intimate setting,” said Isabella Borowiec, Director of Sales Midwest for Kensington Tours. “We have that full 30 minutes to really be able to speak on our product, answer any questions that might come about and having those smaller sort of classroom type settings are really great.”
Advisors also use the rooms as an additional place for peer-to-peer networking.
“The boardrooms at GTM are very important,” Debbie Brown, founder SmartBird World Luxe Travel and a member of the GTM Advisory Board. “It’s one of the things that really allows you to maximize the benefit of being at GTM…just in my boardroom alone, there's so many people that I can learn from as a travel advisor and hopefully they'll learn something from me as well. That's where you develop (peer) relationships, you meet people and you become lifelong friends in so many cases.”
Boardroom presentation at 2023 Global Travel Marketplace (Photo Credit: Eric Bowman)
Future Leaders Ascending Upward
After attending the Future Leaders in Travel Retreat, Meghan Hayes of MEI Travel knew that her next goal was to reach that million-dollar sales mark to apply for GTM.
“Attending Future Leaders in 2019 helped open the doors to other suppliers,” Hayes said. “I expanded my business and made GTM a goal. I feel like Future Leaders helped make that goal a reality.”
Fellow Future Leaders in Travel Retreat alumni who made the cut for GTM echoed the same sentiments.
“Future Leaders was the first industry event I attended that really focused on building supplier-advisor relationships," said Sydne Stubbs of Those Who Wander Travel. “By collaborating with other travel advisors, and networking with suppliers, I gained confidence in selling other products and trying new things to help grow my business to what it is now. Future Leaders introduced me to an industry event that encourages relationship-building and improving all facets of our business. Both Future Leaders and GTM go beyond presentations and sales pitches, they really dive into building relationships with our colleagues and suppliers, which creates a better product for our clients.”
Creating relationships, expanding networks and growing the travel industry millions of dollars – it’s what GTM is all about.
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