Following the success of the second annual Cruise Academy and the inaugural Groups Academy, Transat Distribution Canada is pleased to announce the dates and details for the 2012 academies.

Education is at the forefront of our business and we have proven results from our members and associates who have attended the training academies. We focus on two of the hottest sales trends in our business, groups and cruise.

“The Cruise Academy continues to gain momentum after two successful years.” said Yves Lalumière, President of TDC. “And the inaugural Groups Academy had such positive feedback from our network we have decided to run both of these academies again for 2012.  Cruise and Groups are key areas of business development for TDC for 2012 and we are excited to produce these events once again.” 

The Groups Academy is set for April 15, 2012 at the Barcelo Maya in the Riviera Maya and the Cruise Academy will set sail on RCI’s Oasis of the Seas April 28, 2012.  This date was chosen to coincide with CLIA’s Cruise3sixty and TDC is working closely with them to develop exclusive network packages for their conference. 

Both of these academies attract the interest and participation of TDC’s key preferred partners with over 20 suppliers participating in each event. There will be some cross over training as seminars on how to develop Cruise Groups will be highlighted in both of the trips.  Over 120 owners, managers and consultants are expected to participate in both the Groups and Cruise Academies. 

In addition to the academies, new for TDC this year will be a series of Wedding Symposiums to be held in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.  These sessions will be 2 days in duration – day one will include wedding training by key TDC tour partners, hoteliers and tourist boards.  Day two will be an exclusive event with Transat Tours Canada. 

These exclusive training sessions were announced at the TDC regional conferences this month and generated a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm from the network.  Registration for the academies will commence in October.

Transat Distribution Canada is Canada’s leading retail distributor of holiday travel, with approximately 500 outlets. The distribution network, which is affiliated with Transat A.T. Inc., includes the Marlin Travel, TravelPlus, Club Voyages and Voyages en Liberté banners as well as other affiliate members. Transat A.T. Inc. is an integrated international tour operator with more than 60 destination countries and that distributes products in over 50 countries.