Nexion Hosts First Canada-Only Travel Advisor Event

Two years after hosting a “very spirited” Canada-focused event ahead of its annual conference, Nexion brought a dedicated Canadian edition to Toronto this week, held Monday and Tuesday exclusively for advisors from across the country.

About 80 advisors and 30 travel partners attended the two day Nexion CanEx event which was held in Canada partly due to general overall reluctance to travel to the U.S. After the closing session, the group all headed downtown to attend the Blue Jays vs Red Sox game.

“We’ve been in the Canadian market since 2013 and we’ve always encouraged our Canadian advisors to attend our North American events, but this gave our advisors an opportunity for us to come to them,” said Jackie Friedman, President Nexion Travel Group and Nexion Travel Group-Canada.

“We had also been doing these one day regionals, which were great for folks that lived in the cities where the regionals were, but we realized that it might not be a bad idea to do a smaller version of CoNexion up in Canada, just for our Canadian advisors. And so this event was born.”

While the two day conference featured a trade show, business building and team-building sessions, a big focus was the unveiling of Nexion’s plans to invest in technology, expand business development, and create sub-communities for advisors with specific interests.

“The sub communities will be based around specialties of travel, for those who are interested in building their agency with advisors beneath them,” Friedman explains. “We’ll have a community for those advisors who want to learn how to do that properly. We may have some around people who love to sell cruises. Some communities will be uniquely Canadian where they can expand their community and get together with some of the US advisors as well. I like to think it’s the best of both worlds.”

And while AI is being integrated, both Friedman and Roemmele are quick to note it will never replace the role of a travel advisor.

“We’re encouraging advisors to use AI, and I think of it as automating or streamlining some of those tasks that are necessary but don’t necessarily add a ton of value to the relationship. AI allows advisors to spend their time developing and building those relationships,” says Roemmele. “I do believe that AI is not going to take over the Travel Advisor profession ever, but what it will take over is the advisor that doesn’t embrace it, because they will get left behind.”

“We have amazing leadership,” advisor Michelle Gaudet of Inspired Travel Adventures told us Tuesday. “Jackie Friedman and Esther Roemmele are icons for women in the industry, and it’s nice to have women taking care of women. Most travel agents are women, and it’s nice to have that representation.”

Also at Nexion CanEx, was a familiar face: Mike Foster. Since stepping back in 2024 to retire, the former Nexion Canada President has remained active in the industry through a mix of new ventures and a return to his roots, including investing in Travel Industry Solutions to support Canadian advisors and selectively selling travel for family and friends.

At the same time, a key part of his former role—bringing new members into the organization—has been taken on by his son Alex, who, after years of exposure to the business, pursued the opportunity and was ultimately selected for the position.

“I didn’t want to just sit at home and watch TV of course,” he jokes with Alex, by his side. “Alex had always been around the business through me, and was always intrigued by the industry. When the opportunity came up to replace that function that I’d had bringing in the members, he threw his name in the hat. The rest is history.”

We asked if the new job makes for any lively family dinner conversations.

“It’s reversed, because he used to ask me for stuff,” Alex laughs. “And now I say, I need this, what are you doing? But he’s retired, so I can’t give him too much to do.”

“The company listens to agents. That’s one of the things I always admired about the company,” says the elder Foster.

“I think as more of the world goes virtual and AI focused, the more people value human to human connection, because we don’t have as much as we used to. You can go on the computer and you can learn about the new launches of new programs and products. But it’s not the same as having lunch with somebody or how we’re going tonight to the ball game.”

“We have a great community here in Canada,” adds Gaudet. “We really connect with each other, and we try to support each other. It’s not the mindset of competition, it’s the mindset of what we can do together.”