Selling to different generations of clients requires travel agents to develop different skill sets and, perhaps most importantly, learn the different generations’ needs and perspectives. Travel advisors at the recent Virtuoso Travel Week discussed those clients’ travel habits and their challenges in serving these clients.

Travel agents reacted with anger over Marriott International’s new YouTube campaign urging consumers to book direct, but several said the go-direct message comes as no surprise and will not affect their business with the hotel chain.

The recent Travel MarketPlace lived up to its billing as the premier conference for Canada’s travel professionals, offering two days of highly-focused education and networking. The packed agenda dealt with a far-ranging set of subjects from sales and marketing to destination weddings, technology to controversial issues, specialization to social media.

The burgeoning destination weddings market is the focus of one of the sessions at this year’s Travel MarketPlace in Toronto this spring. The niche can be a lucrative one for Canada’s travel agents and one that holds great potential for developing repeat clients.

Travel MarketPlace will return to Toronto for its second year this June, doubling-down on its success last year as the preeminent event dedicated to boosting the profitability of Canada’s retail travel professionals and suppliers.

The top ten wellness trends for 2015 include some surprising—and provocative—developments, according to Spafinder Wellness 365’s new forecast. Among them, the legalization of marijuana in several U.S. states will lead to a new ‘cannabusiness’ that includes cannabis wellness tourism.

In its 42-year-history, Travel Impressions has remained committed to the travel agent distribution channel. Its new president says that won’t change under Apple Leisure Group which purchased it in 2012.

Despite 2014’s political turmoil and medical scare, the year ended on a positive note for tour operators. They believe a combination of factors promise to make 2015 another good year.

How do travel executives view the coming year? Potential for more change in the agency business, trends with staying power, and ever-present challenges are on the horizon—but so too are many encouraging signs.

As the travel agency community looks ahead to the new year, it may be instructive to pause for a look back at 2014’s top stories. Here is Travel Market Report’s take on the most significant developments of that year.