The Travel Counsellors Conference is taking place from 09 March to 10 March 2023 in the Lyrath Estate, Co. Kilkenny. This the biggest conference Travel Counsellors Ireland have had to date, with 67 of the 74 Travel Counsellors in attendance, including 18 new Travel Counsellors.
The conference started with an arrival and networking lunch, sponsored by Silversea Cruises. After lunch, Amanda Middler shared some future planning from Silversea including their new ship Silver Nova coming next year.
Cathy Burke, MD Travel Counsellors Ireland, then took to the stage to welcome everybody after being introduced through her favourite things (including her love of shoes) from Bernie Whelan, Business Development Manager TC Ireland. Cathy spoke about Travel Counsellors growing and breaking records.
Next to speak was Dave Callan, Customer Director, who spoke about Travel Counsellors as a brand mentioning that their brand is about the people. Everyone was asked to write down ‘what difference they have made in their clients lives’?
Jim Eastwood, Global Sales Director, took to the stage to speak about Travel Counsellors teams. As Travel Counsellors work for themselves, it was really interesting to hear how they can collaborate together including a buddy system, external assistants, mentorship, lead shares and team owners.
There was also some awards to hand out during the conference. Roger Barrett, Sinead Daly and Susan Hegarty are celebrating 10 years in Travel Counsellors. Katrina McMullan, Claire Maher and Sinead Lonergan have recently become Gold Travel Counsellors. The awards given in the afternoon included:
- Shining Star Award – Mandy Walsh
- TC Excellence Award – Mary Foyle
- NPS Score Leisure – Katrina McMullan
- NPS Score Corporate – Lorraine Lawless
- New Business Champion – Kathy O’Sullivan
Suzanne Rowe, MSC Cruises, presented on what’s new with MSC. MSC Cruises sponsored the dinner on the first night. Suzanne spoke about World Europa and some of the discounts they offer single occupants, senior citizens and health care workers.
Some travel trade suppliers, including sponsors of the event were in attendance on the first day to catchup with Travel Counsellors. There was a great opportunity to network, especially with the new Travel Counsellors.
Overall, day one was a fantastic success and day two is off to a great start. Stay tuned to ittn.ie and our social media to follow all the updates from the Travel Counsellors Conference 2023.
