Headquarter Happenings: InteleTravel Takes Over Norwegian Joy, Celebrates Billion-Dollar Milestone

InteleTravel took over the Norwegian Joy this past week for its annual InteleTravel Quest (ITQ) conference, which drew over 3,100 guests from around the globe. This year’s theme is “Level Up”—fitting considering how much the group has grown in recent years.

Since 2023, InteleTravel has been making headlines with the acquisition of companies like corporate travel consortia Hickory Global Partners, meetings and events company MGME, and, most recently, U.K. wholesaler Major Travel. 

“It’s kind of levelling up for the whole company,” CEO James R. Ferrara told the crowd during Thursday’s general session.

Taking the stage with the new InteleTravel president Tara Minson, the CEO said he has been focused on strategic growth—and hinted at a new acquisition of a “leading sporting event and concert ticket supplier and technology platform.”

Although Ferrara was not able to provide many details, he confirmed the deal had closed, and an official announcement will be made in the near future.

“You will have direct access to NFL tickets weeks before Ticketmaster,” he said. “All the major league sporting events … show and concert tours … all of this in a slick booking tool in your InteleTravel back office.”

InteleTravel’s $1 Billion High Score

Ferrara thanked the travel advisors for a strong performance in 2024.

“Our theme for 2024 has got to be ‘thanks a billion’ because, for the first time in the history of this company, we surpassed a billion dollars,” he said.

InteleTravel’s $1 billion+ in sales in 2024 represents a 40% increase compared to 2023.

“Forty percent growth is enormous year over year,” said Ferrara.  

This translated to over $71 million in commissions paid out to its 130,000+ members worldwide. The highest single commission was $105,642 to a U.S. advisor. 

Ferrara also discussed the company’s expansion into new regions around the world. The company has a solid presence in the U.K. (approximately 35,000 members) and recently has been developing in Ireland (approximately 1,500 members).   

Minson pointed out their agency has the largest number of individual CLIA and ASTA members, and celebrated those who have gone a step further to “level up” their travel business: “They’re not just joining ASTA … but getting their CTA—they’re becoming verified travel advisors, levelling up [their] industry partnerships and recognition.”

Donald Bradley, the founder, chairman, and CEO of PlaNet Marketing, which has been a partner of InteleTravel for the last 10 years, said his next goal is to attract 250,000 travel advisors to the company.

“We said 10 years ago we were going to help average people make above-average income,” he said. 

New Tools for InteleTravel Advisors

Minson highlighted some of the new tools InteleTravel added for its advisors in 2024, and announced an update coming to its new rewards program, IntelePerks.

Inteletravel launched IntelePerks in March 2024. The program offers members points for various activities, from watching webinars to registering bookings within 24 hours of receiving the deposit. The points can be redeemed for incentives like designer handbags, jewelry, and electronics—and coming soon, travel.

“You can redeem your points for things like Disney and Universal park tickets, Sandals and Beaches stays, and three- and four-night cruises,” Minson said.

Since launch, the company has already awarded over 90 million IntelePerks points.

Another tool introduced this year is the new IntelePro mobile app, which allows users to easily make bookings right from their phone.

Minson said her favorite new tool is also the most recent: Content Concierge, which was just launched in December 2024.

Content Concierge is a tool that creates marketing and social media content using AI. Advisors can enter a prompt to generate posts or blogs to use for marketing or can input their own posts to get feedback, edits, and suggestions.

So far, Content Concierge has over 6,000 users.

“This isn’t ‘artificial intelligence.’ It’s ‘InteleTravel intelligence,” said Minson.

What’s Next for InteleTravel

InteleTravel Quest will be back March 1 to 5, 2026. Next year, ITQ will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana.

“We try to alternate between land and cruise each year,” Minson told TMR in an exclusive meeting.

Minson noted that the length has been increased by a day, explaining the choice was made to give advisors in attendance a bit more breathing room to experience the resort in between conference activities.

At the same meeting, Ferrara told TMR that he wants to continue expanding InteleTravel’s global reach. He has his eye on the Emirates, and believes Major Travel’s roots in the country will help with the process.

“Dubai has a lot of expatriates,” he said, noting that the country’s potential for the IC travel advisor model.

Ferrara also said he wants to grow InteleTravel members’ individual sales. He plans to accomplish this with strategeic acquisitions that introduce new verticals, as well as by bolstering the host’s available tools and resources for professional development.

Ferrara expressed enthusiam for the new A.I. tool Content Concierge, and hinted that another A.I development is in the works. According to the CEO, InteleTravel’s in-house developers are working on a platform that will utilize custom-created A.I. to streamline FIT itinerary building.

After over 30 years in the business, Ferrara still feels a personal connection to his advisors. Now, he’s one a mission to “make InteleTravel bigger and better” for his advisors.