Headquarter Happenings: Travel Leaders Network Intros Expanded CRM Integrations, Extended Social Media Training

Is a consortium only as good as the tools and services it provides to its members? Probably not. But based on the number and variety of tools, services, and programs that Travel Leaders Network (TLN) has made a part of its value proposition, you couldn’t be blamed for thinking the answer was yes.

“Everything we do and our entire focus is how do we help our members do what they do best better,” said Lindsay Pearlman, president of TLN at a media briefing at this year’s EDGE conference held at the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

During an exclusive one-on-one later in the conference he added that much of what TLN offers to its members is “about driving efficiencies, driving down operating costs, and showcasing the ability to earn higher revenues.”

It’s also about allowing member agencies to choose the programs and services that make the most sense for their individual businesses – even if they might need a little nudge in the right direction from time to time.

“Our philosophy is to do business with our members on their terms, not ours… Instead of expecting our members to understand everything that we do, if we understand how their business operates, we can make recommendations on tools and services that we have that can make them more revenue and far more productive.”

Third-Party CRM Integration Expands

One of those tools is TLN’s third-party CRM integration, which launched at last year’s EDGE. The integration enables advisors who opt in to upload their customer database to TLN’s Engagement marketing system, making it easier for TLN to select which direct mail pieces to send to which clients. When it launched last year, it included integrations with three third-party CRM systems: ClientBase, AgentMate, and VacationCRM.

This year, TLN added four more CRM integrations: Tern, Travefy, Tres, and PlanitEasy. And, according to Cory Voss, vice president and chief information officer at TLN, work is currently being done to add yet three more third party CRM integrations.

The CRM integration is the one update, Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion, a member of Travel Leaders Network is most excited about on behalf of Nexion’s membership.

“Having those integrations to CRMs makes it easier for them to market, which means it makes it easier for them to grow,” she told TMR.

Nexion recently partnered with Tern, so the addition of Tern to the integrations is especially welcome. Ultimately, she hopes the integrations can extend to some of Nexion’s propriety programs as well.

Social Share Pro

Launching this year is a new social media training program designed to meet the insatiable demand for continuing education on the topic.

“Social media is our number one topic you seek information and training about,” said Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer at Internova Travel Group. “We know there are varying degrees of knowledge and skill when it comes to social media.”

Social Share Pro is an intensive hands-on, tiered training program with a goal of creating a “community of social-skilled advisors.” Participants develop and publish content throughout the program, refining their approach based on performance and expert guidance.

To start with, advisors must take the already-existing four introductory course. Only then can advisors enroll in Social Lab Pro, a $150 program, that provides hands-on training through eight modules comprising pre-recorded webinars, written courses, quizzes, and more. Topics include things like social media analytics, phone photography and videography hacks, advanced short form video editing, and more.

Upon completion of the program, graduates qualify for a “Final Reel” FAM trip to an all-inclusive where they will put all their new learnings into action. Travel Leaders will hold multiple Final Cuts throughout the year.

Focus on TravelLeaders.com Lead Quality

This year’s EDGE also revealed enhancements to TravelLeaders.com, the Network’s lead generation platform. The focus over the past year has been specifically on improving the quality of leads and reducing the risk of fraud.

Last summer TLN introduced the lead scoring index, which uses AI data analysis to assign a realt-time quality score to every lead generated through the website.

“Higher scores equal higher confidence that it’s a quality lead,” said Brian Hegarty, vice president, marketing for Travel Leaders Network.

The results, he added, have been “very positive” – 85% of the leads that have been delivered year-to-date meet the standards of the new metric. Furthermore, in comparisons of the past few months, versus the same period last year, there has been a 20% increase in the lead quality scores.

“Despite all of our efforts to focus on quality, we also know that spam and fraud have increased across the industry,” Hegarty added.

To combat this, TLN has added “layers of protection” that include, among others: reCAPTCHA, blocking international IP addresses, limiting the numbers of submissions per day per consumer, and timing form submissions to filter out AI bots.

So far in 2026, these safeguards have block more than 50,000 submissions from making it through to advisor inboxes.

TLN is also currently beta testing what it calls a virtual background check for every lead that is submitted to see if that further reduces fraud risk.

Air & Cruise Updates

On the cruise side, TLN announced that it is expanding its Cruise Complete booking engine from 23 cruise lines to 28, with the addition of Virgin Voyages and Windstar Cruises within the next 30 days, Explora Journeys later this summer, and Crystal and Atlas Ocean Voyages by the end of the year.

On the air side, TLN revealed some updates to its SNAP air program, including a new chat feature, an updated leader board, AI-driven FAQs that use natural language queries, and a Booking Buddy program that lets advisors partner with a SNAP team member for their first air booking.

Lauren Spinks, director, sales, SNAP/empower Cruise for TLN, also revealed the TLN advisors using SNAP in the past year have sold about 50,000 air tickets and made some 17,000 hotel bookings for $5 million-plus in commission and $750,000 in service fees earned.

Peter Vlitas, executive vice president, partner relations, air for Internova Travel Group, also had a reassuring message for advisors to pass on to their clients nervous about flying due to high fuel costs.

“American carriers will not run out of fuel, absolutely not,” he said. He added he’s not nervous about Europe’s mainline carriers either, but does have some concerns with some of the low-cost European airlines like Ryan Air and EasyJet.