Envoyage VP Anita Emilio and COO Astrid Richardson on Going Global

Travel advisors, supplier partners, and various other industry professionals gathered at Hotel X in Toronto last night to celebrate the launch of Envoyage in Canada. 

Envoyage is the independent pillar of Flight Centre, announced in February 2024. After years of building and acquiring multiple independent travel networks around the world, Flight Centre has combined them all under the Envoyage brand, creating a global powerhouse.
 
Envoyage was formerly known as Independent by Flight Centre in Canada, and has been in operation since 2008. With the Envoyage rebrand, the company is now in a better position to elevate and enhance independent advisor businesses specializing in luxury and business travel. 

“I think everybody can say that people are traveling in a more premium and luxury way now, which is great for all of us,” said Vice President Anita Emilio. “People are really investing in their travel experiences to make sure that they tick those bucket list items off.”

Although Independent by Flight Centre was already successful in Canada, the Envoyage rebrand aims to strengthen the independent pillar and reinforce its core values.    

“The reason why we rebranded is because this is a global brand,” said Chief Operations Officer Astrid Richardson. “We saw an opportunity to leverage the power of our 2,000 independent advisors working under one brand, and what this would bring them in terms of consumer recognition, and supplier and partner recognition as well.”

“This is an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to the Canadian market,” Emilio told TMR.

Looking forward, Envoyage plans to grow its presence in the North America market, focusing on the U.S. and Canada, with the goal of expanding into the U.K. in the coming years, said Richardson. In the meantime, the focus is on continuing to build out the tools and other technology available to advisors. “We have some really interesting and exciting plans arounding adding new technologies that drive productivity and profitability for the agents.”   

Envoyage just returned from its inaugural conference, held in Santiago Chile. Over 300 members and partners were in attendance. 

“We weren’t sure whether we would do this on an annual basis,” said Emilio. “But there was such great feedback that we have already started planning for a worldwide 2025 global conference.”

So far, the rebrand has been met with enthusiasm from the Canadian advisor community. “The feedback has been that [the Envoyage rebrand] is reflective of the businesses that they’re operating,” Emilio told TMR. 

This sentiment was shared by travel agency owners at the party. Julie Smigadis, founder and lead advisor of Travel Our World, said she is pleased with the eleveated rebrand, saying it aligns better with her luxury travel business. 

“[Envoyage has] put a lot of effort, time, and money into really honing in on what subcontractors wanted,” she told TMR. “It’s a really exciting time in the industry.”

Adam Taylor, a Halifax-based IC, also welcomed the new Envoyage brand. “The rebrand is definitely what we needed in the market after COVID,” he told TMR. “It’s sexy, eccentric, and lively. It’s the powerhouse we needed behind us to launch us into the future.”