“Very informative”: Suppliers Social Series lands in Oakville, ON

The volunteer-run “Suppliers Social Series” (SSS) landed in Oakville, ON, Thursday night (April 27), bringing together some of the travel industry’s top BDMs and travel advisors in the area.

The grassroots meet-up started in 2022 in response to the pandemic and the disruptions it caused in face-to-face business interactions.

A group of BDM peers (Rod Hanna of Majestic Resorts and Juan Carlos Ruiz of Sandos Hotels) shared a common desire to spread their respective brand’s awareness through partnership opportunities and product options to travel advisors across Canada in a straightforward, affordable, and cost-effective way.

The result was a city-by-city roadshow where travel advisors could meet with suppliers in an open-house style at a local venue.

For suppliers, it’s also an opportunity to expand their reach within travel advisor communities, through affordable means.

“A great night of learning”

Last night’s stop in Oakville was hosted Hanna, Ruiz, as well as Jasmine Grant of AIC Hotel Group, Mike Quinto of Exoticca, Sobeida Feliz of Warwick Hotels and Sanjay Kopalkar of Canada Jetlines.

The event unfolded at "Stack Smmmoked" restaurant in Oakville, attracting close to 40 agents in total, who enjoyed drinks and light bites as they heard updates and sales tips from various partners.

"It was a great night of learning and socializing…thank you,” stated Joanne Sammut of Cruise Holidays.

Martino Daniels of SelloffVacations called it a “very informative and very well-organized presentation.”

“I look forward to sharing this information with my colleagues,” Daniels stated.

Meanwhile, Francis Maxwell of Expedia CruiseShipCenters called it the “first conversational format I've attended.”

“I loved it as it elicits more Q&A in small group discussions than just presenting to a full room of people,” Maxwell stated.

Kathy Hamelin, also of Expedia CruiseShipCenters, enjoyed the event because it felt “very relaxed and casual.”

“And we still get so much great information from the reps,” she said. “It was also great to get information on new suppliers, which is always very exciting for us. I look forward to the next one!"

Travel advisors can be kept in the loop regarding upcoming Suppliers Social Series by following the participating BDMs on social media. (An official website is coming soon).

“We'll also commonly reach out to our own individual contacts in the cities/regions where we will be visiting to spread the news of upcoming visits,” Hanna said.

Don't miss a single travel story: subscribe to PAX today!  Click here to follow PAX on Facebook.