Virgin Voyages Brings Enhanced Canva Tool to Travel Advisors
by Dori Saltzman
Photo: Virgin Voyages
Virgin Voyages has partnered with Canva to provide travel advisors with an AI-powered marketing tool that is designed to automate content creation, accelerate time-to-market, and drive measurable booking increases.
According to Virgin Voyages, the partnership with Canva marks the first phase of a strategic rollout of “intelligent” tools aimed at “revolutionizing” the travel advisor experience. It also “solves a critical inefficiency in the travel industry by reducing off-brand or duplicated materials while improving speed to market and overall brand consistency.”
“Travel advisors are the heart of Virgin Voyages’ success story,” said Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO of Virgin Voyages. “Our First Mates don’t just sell cruises; they’re brand ambassadors who bring our vision to life for Sailors every single day. This partnership with Canva is about investing in their success and giving them the tools they deserve to grow their businesses alongside ours. When our First Mates win, Virgin Voyages wins.”
Currently the program is only available to 100 already-invited travel advisors (First Mates) who are participating in a four-week immersive journey. The program features weekly sessions showcasing different marketing materials, accompanied by creative challenges that reward participation with prizes including Canva merchandise, Yellow Leaf Hammocks, and co-op marketing funds.
Those with access to the program can create and customize flyers, social media posts, destination content, and booking materials featuring Virgin Voyages’ complete brand kit, including fonts, logos, color palettes, offers, and signature “With Love From” stamps.
Following the success of Phase 1, Virgin Voyages plans to expand the Canva program to an additional 1,000 First Mates in Q1 2026, complete with similar training and support infrastructure. Eventually, the cruise line plans to roll the program out to its entire database of First Mates.
“This partnership with Canva is just the beginning of our commitment to equipping advisors with intelligent tools that minimize administrative burdens and maximize their ability to connect Sailors with unforgettable experiences,” said Billy Bohan Chinique, head of global brand marketing at Virgin Voyages. “We’re pioneering what agentic AI looks like in travel retailing.”
“With our complete library of assets integrated directly into Canva, First Mates can customize everything from social posts to booking flyers with their agency information and LetsGoBook links. We listened to our trade community, and we delivered exactly what they asked for,” Bohan Chinique added.
Looking ahead, Virgin Voyages plans to leverage Canva’s AI-powered tools to further scale personalized, on-brand content creation while supporting their strategy to equip a distributed sales network to market autonomously and drive growth.
In addition to Canva, the Virgin Voyages team is exploring intelligent tools and agentic AI designed to transform how travel advisors work, such as:
- AI-powered tools designed to minimize administrative burdens and maximize advisor-client interaction time
- Intelligent automation for routine tasks like availability checks, pricing updates, and booking confirmations
- Smart recommendations that help First Mates match clients to perfect itineraries based on preferences and history
- Streamlined communications with automated follow-ups and personalized client touchpoints
“By democratizing access to professional design tools today and rolling out AI-powered solutions tomorrow, we’re raising the bar for what travel advisors can achieve,” Bohan Chinique said.”This is about giving First Mates their time back so they can focus on building relationships and creating extraordinary experiences for Sailors. We’re not just talking about the future of AI in travel, we’re building it.”





