SANDALS Resorts last month engaged in a four-city sales tour of Canada over four days in an effort to attract Canadian consumers to Jamaica and the Caribbean, especially during the winter months.

Close to 1,500 travel agents combined attended promotional events in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Calgary, Alberta.

“Year after year, the Canadian market not only continues to perform but continues to grow,” said Sandals chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, who was on his second such visit in the last six months.

“Travel agents are a major part of our success. We’ve had a 30-year love affair with agents and that relationship just gets stronger and stronger,” added Stewart, who was accompanied by his son, Adam, the CEO of Sandals Resorts.

Both hoteliers reaffirmed the luxury all-inclusive resort chain’s commitment to Canadian travel agents and the Canadian marketplace. In addition, the younger Stewart shared the company’s vision for the next decade, pointing to its planned US$500 million expansion throughout the Caribbean.

The elder Stewart thanked Air Canada Vacations, a sponsor of the cross-country tour, WestJet Vacations, Thomas Cook and Transat Holidays for their ongoing support.

In a further show of support for travel agents, special ads appeared in two of Canada’s leading newspapers — the Globe & Mail and the Toronto Star — encouraging consumers to call their travel agent and to use the expertise of specially accredited Sandals travel agents when planning their vacation.

In every city, travel agents received comprehensive product updates on all three resort brands — Sandals, Beaches, and Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts.

“Sandals aptly demonstrated that these resorts offer more quality, more inclusions, more service than any other resort,” the company said in a news release. “In addition, agents learned why Sandals Resorts is the most profitable group of hotels to sell, because agents earn more commissions selling every aspect of the luxury-included vacation.”

The resort company said that new collateral and marketing tools were unveiled, “including a compelling array of new brochures and co-branded car wraps that are now available for over 72 models”.

Stewart, in his address to the agents, described the cars as “moving billboards” which drive business right to the agents’ doors.

The first stop was Halifax where travel agents enthusiastically welcomed Stewart and his son for the very first time. Agents also met with members of Sandals’ sales team, tourist board representatives and tour operators. The evening included an address by Air Canada Vacations President Zeina Gedeon, who was part of the delegation that travelled across Canada.

In Toronto, an overwhelming crowd of 750 travel agents attended the evening event during which Sandals Resorts was presented with three Agents Choice Awards.

Launched in 2000 by Baxter Travel Media, the Agents Choice Awards is the largest sampling of Canadian travel agent opinions. Sandals (including its sister brand, Beaches Resorts) claimed top spot in three prominent categories: ‘Favourite All-Inclusive’, an award Sandals has won every year since the inception of the awards; ‘Favourite Hotel Chain’ for five consecutive years, and ‘Favourite Environmentally-Friendly Company’ for four years in a row.

Sandals also held a media luncheon in Toronto attended by travel editors and writers, radio and television executives and tour operator partners.

Media were presented with a special screening of Sandals’ new consumer video and a tribute to Sandals’ 30th anniversary.

In another first, the Sandals road show made a stop in Winnipeg where an evening marketplace was staged, followed by dinner attended by 175 agents, many of whom were agency owner/operators eager to learn more about how to build their business selling Sandals.

In Calgary, a boisterous crowd of 250 travel agents gave their usual warm welcome to the Sandals team, despite an outdoor temperature of -17 degrees.

Calgary is one of Sandals’ top-producing Canadian markets and is the corporate headquarters for WestJet and WestJet Vacations.