SOLD-OUT: Biggest-Ever TMP Toronto Welcomes 600+ Advisors, 100 Supplier Reps

More than 600 travel advisors. Over 100 supplier representatives. A sold-out show.

Travel Market Report’s signature event, Travel Market Place (TMP), is taking place this week in Toronto. It’s the 12th and largest-ever edition of the leading travel trade show in Canada. 

The Toronto edition follows iterations in Vancouver and Montreal earlier this year and another coming up in Calgary on September 15-16.

The conference kicked off on Tuesday morning with a keynote by Jon Montgomery, 2010 Canadian gold medalist in skeleton at the Winter Olympics in Whistler, and current host of The Amazing Race Canada. He spoke to advisors about building confidence and working towards a goal, stressing the importance of finding community as part of the process. 

Montgomery urged advisors to be bold, encouraging them to chase their goals, no matter how difficult it may seem. 

“If you think and believe something is impossible, then it is impossible,” he said. “Taking that first step towards something is always the most difficult part.” 

Aside from Montgomery, Tuesday’s program included the kind of business-building, peer-to-peer content that TMP is known for. Breakout sessions covered topics such as effective upselling tips, how to perfect an elevator pitch, unlocking personal potential, traveller insights from TICO, and pivoting a travel business to become more profitable.

Bruce Parkinson, senior editorial director of TMR Canada, took to the stage to moderate a panel on experiential travel. Joined by advisors Frances Gertsch (Stewart Travel Group), Camille Wilson (Adventures with Camille), and Scott Constance (Onvigo), the panel explored the pleasures and rewards of experiential travel – broadly defined as “more doing than seeing.”

Attendees also heard a presentation on “The Art of Storytelling” by 15-year travel advisor Angela Weir. She discussed how her background in theatre, performing arts, and improvisation has helped her excel in travel sales through authentic and compelling storytelling.

The travel advisor business is a relationship business, and stories are a core part of relating to other’s experiences. Weir’s advice included connecting with others through finding common ground, inviting audiences into the story so you’re talking with them, not at them, and creating a story bank to draw from when meeting with clients. 

The “universal truth,” said Weir, is that the “best stories are human stories.” 

The day’s general session ended with a luxury-focused final panel hosted by Laura Ratliff, managing editor of TMR sister site Luxury Travel Report. Titled “Turning Cruise Skeptics Into Luxury Cruise Clients,” the panel featured expertise from the luxury cruise sector, including Shirley Lew (Oceania Cruises), Amelie Dubois (Regent Seven Seas Cruises), Patricia Di Benedetto (Explora Journeys), and Carolina Suarez (Silversea). 

TMP Toronto continues Wednesday, with more general sessions, breakout workshops, and a trade show.