Representatives for Israel, Morocco and Hawaii Address GTC Travel Advisors at Elevate Conference

24.10.2023 - 20:17 / travelpulse.com / Richard Branson

The Global Travel Collection “Elevate” conference opened at Virgin Hotels New York City with emotional appeals from representatives from three destinations that have seen crises in the past few months—Hawaii, Morocco and Israel.

GTC is the luxury travel advisor division of Internova, the mega-network of advisors.

Amal Moukhlisse, CEO of Morocco Private Travel, said the destination is safe and that the damage from an earthquake had mostly affected the mountain region while cities like Marrakesh were open and welcoming visitors.

Vanesa Johnson, director, travel industry partnerships, Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, said that recovery efforts were continuing but that Maui was losing millions of dollars a day. She said that the islands need “responsible, respectful, compassionate travel” more than ever. A campaign is underway to encourage travel.

Meanwhile, she said advisors should register on the agent site, stay in touch with suppliers and share the islands’ messages with clients.

Eyal Carlin, tourism commissioner to the North America Israel Ministry of Tourism, said that J.D. O’Hara, CEO of Internova, was the first travel industry leader to express support for Israel. He said it is support like that that will bring tourism back once the fighting is over.

And Chad Martin, director of northeast tourism region for the ministry, said that Israel was having its best year ever before the attack of October 7. He said that if travelers have plans, they should keep them. If the departure dates are too soon, they should postpone them—“but don’t cancel them.”

Angie Licea, president of GTC, kicked off the event by introducing a video from Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Hotels, whose company operates the meeting hotel. He said that the future of travel holds great possibilities and that “advisors are doing their part to shape the future of the industry.”

In her talk, Licea said that leadership is working to build a new culture at GTC although she said that many members missed the cultures they had under previous brands like Protravel and Tzell.

However, she said that while the organizations present outwardly as GTC, advisors can brand themselves as they please—as their individual agencies or under a previously existing name like Tzell. She said there are no plans to make GTC a consumer-facing name, but it will be used to drive business to advisors.

Angie Licea, president, Global Travel Collection. (Photo Credit: Global Travel Collection)

A common thread for all members, said Licea, is that “our advisors are second to none and people will believe it if we all say it.” She said the organization has become more proactive by building account management teams that work in small groups to help advisors with whatever they