Individual Efforts: AIC Hotel Group Celebrates Top-Selling Advisors at Showstopper Awards

AIC Hotel Group celebrated over 140 top-performing travel partners from across Canada and the U.S. at the 2026 Showstopper Awards, held September 14-17 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana. 

The multi-day event immersed qualifying advisors, agencies and wholesalers in the company’s brands and properties while celebrating the growth, expertise and partnership they contribute to its all-inclusive portfolio.

Unlike other industry recognition programs centered on agency-wide production, the Showstopper Awards are primarily focused on the accomplishments of individual advisors and tour operator partners. 

Qualifying advisors must advance beyond their prior-year AIC sales status, making each invitation a reflection of personal business growth. Invitations are generally earned by advisors who achieve Platinum status or above, with a Gold Plus category also recognized. 

This year, two advisors and eight agencies received the Black Diamond Award after booking more than 500 room nights across AIC Hotel Group’s all-inclusive properties in Mexico and the Caribbean. 

The four-day experience translated Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana’s high-energy hospitality into a celebration designed around the advisors themselves. 

Programming included the Tan Lines & Tostones welcome event and lip-sync battle; exclusive product updates and a first look at what is ahead for AIC Hotel Group’s portfolio; guided property inspections; the Showstopper dinner and awards ceremony; and a boat experience along the Dominican Republic coast. 

Continuing Showstopper’s tradition of major artists performing exclusively for qualifying advisors, the celebration culminated with an after-party featuring DJ Sky Blu, formerly of LMFAO.

Throughout the event, advisors received direct access to AIC Hotel Group executives, who remained present and engaged with attendees rather than limiting their participation to formal meetings or presentations. 

That access gave advisors opportunities to deepen relationships, experience the portfolio firsthand, discuss what they are seeing in the marketplace and return home with stronger knowledge of the brands they sell.

“The Showstopper Awards have always been about celebrating our travel partners the AIC way: bigger, bolder and a little unexpected,” said Ash Tembe, Vice President of North American sales. 

“These are the advisors who show up for our brands all year long, drive meaningful business across our portfolio and continue to raise the bar, so when it’s our turn to celebrate them, we want to make them feel like the true VIPs they are,” Tembe said. 

“Showstopper gives us the opportunity to recognize what they’ve accomplished while bringing them into our world firsthand, experiencing the hotels, the brands and the kind of energy we want their clients to experience. They are a major part of our success, and this event is our way of making sure they know it.”