Three Agency Groups Combine To Form Travel Leaders Network

A new Travel Leaders Network logo will represent the combined three groups. 

In a move that at least a few in the industry had been predicting for years, three major travel agency groups, all owned by Travel Leaders Group, have combined to form one giant travel organization under the Travel Leaders Network brand.

Vacation.com, the largest travel agency consortium; Travel Leaders Associates (also known as Travel Leaders Franchise Group), a leading agency franchise group; and Results! Travel, a smaller franchise group, will be merged to form a mega-travel agency group with nearly 7,000 locations, 35,000 individual agencies and $17 billion in annual sales, including $6.5 billion in cruise and tour sales alone.

The merger will be effective Jan. 1, 2017.

The newly combined Travel Leaders Network (TLN) represents roughly 33% of all agency locations in the U.S. and Canada. TLN will offer common marketing and technology solutions to both associates and affiliates. It also will have one combined annual meeting, the first set for April 29-May 5, 2017, at Loews Pacific Hotel at Universal Orlando.

All existing Travel Leaders associates (franchisees) will retain sole licensing rights for the use of the Travel Leaders brand name. In addition, all members of both Results!  and Vacation.com will automatically become affiliate members of Travel Leaders Network, while those who qualify will be offered the option of becoming Travel Leaders associates in order to get a higher level of service. Travel agencies can now join TLN as associate members (franchisees) or as affiliate members.

TLN will remain part of Travel Leaders Group, the travel holding company led by CEO Ninan Chacko, which also owns such mega-travel agencies as Protravel International and Tzell Travel Group, as well as Travel Leaders Corporate, among other travel companies. Other Travel Leaders Group owned agencies, such as host agency Nexion and Cruise Specialists, will become TLN members (they are currently Vacation.com members). Protravel will continue as a member of Virtuoso, the luxury travel network, while Tzell will remain a member of Signature Travel Network, the travel agency cooperative.

TLN will continue to have headquarters offices in Alexandria, VA, and Plymouth, MN. The same team that currently oversees the three existing groups being combined will now oversee the new organization. John Lovell, currently president of Vacation.com and president of Travel Leaders Leisure Group, will serve as president of Travel Leaders Network and Leisure Group, and Roger Block, formerly president of Travel Leaders Franchise Group, will serve as TLN president, reporting to Lovell. TLN marketing will continue to be led by Stephen McGillivray, who remains chief marketing officer of Travel Leaders Group.

Travel Leaders Network’s team includes (from left to right): John Lovell, president of Travel Leaders Network and Leisure Group; Roger Block, Travel Leaders Network president; Stephen McGillivray, chief marketing officer of Travel Leaders Group; and Jose Ferreira, chief technology officer for Travel Leaders Group.

Jose Ferreira, chief technology officer for Travel Leaders Group, will head up TLN’s technology. Bernadette Stark, who has served as vice president of conference, events and training for Travel Leaders Leisure Group and Vacation.com, will be in charge of meetings and conferences. Gloria Stock Mickelson, currently senior manager of education and training for Travel Leaders Franchise Group, will head up TLN’s training and education. Nicole Galowin, senior director of member services for Vacation, will have now have a similar role for TLN.

“This is the dawn of a new day,” said Lovell. “We have long been recognized as a world-class organization, offering the industry’s most innovative and honored travel agency solutions. But as our industry’s landscape continues to evolve and consolidate, so must we. Simply put, we must come together to create one powerful force that helps each of our agencies compete even more effectively for the hearts and minds of the traveling public.”

What the new combination also represents, however, is an end to Vacation.com and Results! names as a travel agency brands. Vacation.com was formed in 1999 by the merger of two competing consortia buyout groups. In 2000 it was sold to Amadeus, which then sold it to Travel Leaders Group in 2008. Travel Leaders Network has tentative plans to continue to use the Vacation.com name for lead generation. The Results! franchise brand, which was formed in 2008 as a franchise group for those agencies that did not want to operate under the Travel Leaders brand, will fade away.

Our industry recognizes and rewards size and volume. I’m also a big believer in collaboration and the more creative, intelligent people we can put together, the better all the members will be.

Travel Leaders Group itself was formed in 2008 when Carlson Companies sold Carlson Leisure Group to its management team led by Michael Batt, president and CEO, who remains chairman of Travel Leaders Group. The name Travel Leaders was adopted because the group needed to replace the Carlson Wagonlit name for its agency franchisees. It came from a Florida travel agency that was purchased by the buyout group.

Among the changes for associates and affiliates migrating to the combined TLN: By 2017, the online bios from all qualifying travel agents from Results! Travel and Vacation.com will added to the existing Agent Profiler directory on TravelLeaders.com. TLN’s first conference next April will have one combined day for both associates and affiliates, but will also have separate sets of sessions, training and networking tailored for the specific needs of associates and affiliates.

All TLN associates and affiliates will have access to the technology currently offered to the three original agency groups, such as the CruisePro cruise booking platform and AgentMate travel agency management system. In addition, by 2017 all existing agency extranets will migrate to one Agent Universe platform, though content will be geared to individual agency participation agreements. Finally, a new website, TravelLeadersNetwork.com, has been launched to provide information about TLN.

Initial reaction to the TLN combined group has been positive from agents who are members of Vacation.com, Travel Leaders Franchise Group and Results! “I see it as a very positive move,” said Kate Murphy, president and CEO at Wings Travel Group in Blue Bell, PA, which is currently Vacation.com member. “Our industry recognizes and rewards size and volume. I’m also a big believer in collaboration and the more creative, intelligent people we can put together, the better all the members will be.”