Headquarter Happenings: Travel Leaders Network Talks AI, Industry Optimism at Annual Media Briefing

The travel industry continues to be on the up-and-up going into 2026, and Travel Leaders Network (TLN) is laser-focused on capitalizing on that for its 6,000 member agencies representing about 100,000 travel advisors across North America. 

At the consortium’s annual media briefing in New York City on Jan. 13, TLN executives talked about the factors contributing to a strong travel market and how TLN is leveraging their programs to drive industry growth toward its own members. 

In 2025, TLN added more than 300 members – 264 in the U.S. and 36 in Canada – representing $300 million in preferred partner sales. This is in line with the network’s growth in recent years, amounting to 1,000 new agencies in the past three years, ranging from small mom-and-pops to larger host agencies.  

Geopolitical events, which a year ago caused some uncertainty in the industry, now only solidify the need for a travel advisor, TLN President Lindsay Pearlman told reporters. 

“Travelers want to be reassured. They want expertise, and they want somebody to call when things go wrong,” Pearlman said. “Now, if you went back five years ago and you had made that statement, it’s like, ‘traveler advisors are nice to have if things go wrong.’  

“Flash forward to today, things will go wrong. And that’s not about making the customer afraid. It’s really about, listen, we live in very fluid times, right?” he said. “The neat thing is that that hasn’t stopped people from traveling.” 

From private islands to the proliferation of AI and everything in between, here’s what TLN executives had to say about the state of the industry today and their place within it. 

Growing with the Trends as They Unfold 

A strong luxury segment, shift in consumer behavior to focus on experiential over material products, and an entire generation retiring with significant wealth are all driving a healthy travel market, the executives agreed – and that shows in TLN’s own revenue numbers. 

Compared to the same time last year, TLN has seen an 11% increase in cruise revenue, 11% increase in cruise and land, and 12% increase in land only. The top destinations, like in previous years, are the Caribbean, Europe, and Alaska. 

Pam Young, senior vice president of industry relations, also noted that, in the cruise segment, there is a healthy mix of close-in and far-out bookings that has been beneficial to advisors’ businesses. She particularly praised cruise lines for transforming their private island product “from a perk to a strategy.” 

“We so appreciate what the cruise lines have done to invest in that structure on private islands. It really is reshaping the Caribbean,” she said. “The experience is really seamless, from the onboard to the shore side. They have more control over it, and it resonates very strongly with our customers. That private island segment does help us with that short-term Caribbean. We see good growth in that very close-in, so we’re really pleased.” 

Within the cruise segment, TLN’s revenue has increased 15% for luxury, 19% for premium, 2% for contemporary, and 18% for river. Within land, TLN has seen a 21% revenue increase for FIT and touring, 8% increase for fun and sun, and 11% increase for parks. 

Leveraging Technology – Especially AI 

While things are going well, Pearlman said the company is “not sitting on our laurels,” especially given how rapidly technology is evolving. Of course, AI is at the forefront of all of this. 

“A lot of advisors are afraid that they’re going to lose business because of AI. And what I say is that you’re not going to lose business to AI, you’re going to lose business to somebody who’s using AI because it’s an exceptionally efficient tool,” Pearlman said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t take the agent out of the process. We want to make sure that we’re able to leverage these technologies to drive personalization. How do you make it more about the agent, not less about the agent?” 

A cornerstone of TLN’s offerings is travel advisors’ ability to create a public-facing online profile on Agent Profiler, while TLN does the backend work to have these profiles appear in Google searches. Now, with AI on the rise, TLN is evolving this tool to ensure that advisors appear in more fluid, natural language searches. TLN is also incentivizing advisors to make their profiles more detailed than ever by adding tiers to Agent Profiler. 

“The reality is that consumer behavior is changing and is more centered around generative AI type searches in ChatGPT or in Google’s Gemini,” said Cory Voss, chief information officer. “So instead of just searching for a travel agent, they’re using a longer-tailed search and being more descriptive in what they’re looking for, because that’s what the AI search capabilities allow you to do. We’re well-positioned, with all our agent-generated content – the bios, the agent reviews – to be included in those AI type searches.” 

Aside from its AI-based initiatives, TLN has expanded its SNAP program, which allows advisors to sell airline tickets on a user-friendly platform – 83% more agencies have adopted it compared to a year ago. 

Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer, noted that use of SNAP can be vital for a travel advisor to capture the most business possible on a booking – and not give it up to an OTA. 

“How do you possibly feel good about sending your customer to Expedia to buy an airplane ticket, when you know they’ll be peddling everything else in their portfolio to that customer?” he said. ” So letting them escape and letting them go to these OTAs for air, that OTA says, ‘I own that customer now,’ which is no good.” 

Advancing Marketing and Lead Generation 

Agent Profiler is a large source of lead generation for TLN, producing hundreds of thousands of leads and an average sale of $11,017 for the more than 21,500 advisors who have a profile on it. Voss calls it an “incredibly powerful” tool to find lifetime clients in some scenarios. In 2025, it produced $750 million collectively in sales, with more than 1,200 bookings over $20,000, more than 200 over $50,000, more than 125 over $75,000, and more than 80 over $100,000. 

TLN is also adding new CRM (customer relationship management) integrations into its system, making it easier for agencies to market to clients. Among its other marketing tools is Social Share Pro, where TLN partners with suppliers to deliver more than 1 million personalized social media posts for 2,500 members who are enrolled. 

This year, TLN is also relaunching its Leaders Edge website program, which allows agencies to build their own customized website with several available integrations. The websites are now quicker and more user-friendly with the new relaunch. 

The consortium’s sold-out Travel Edge Conference is set for May 3-6, 2026, at the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center in San Diego.