Avoya Travel Wins Four Travel Weekly Magellan Awards for Expansion, Marketing, and Education
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – November 20, 2023 – Avoya Travel®, one of the travel industry’s most innovative brands, has been honored with four of Travel Weekly magazine’s acclaimed 2023 Magellan Awards. The esteemed awards distinguish Avoya as a travel industry leader with its comprehensive hiring strategy, innovative marketing initiatives, and educational resources that further the company’s reputation as the number one vacation platform delivering unmatched services and support to the Independent Agencies in the Avoya Travel Network™, suppliers, and travelers alike.
Avoya’s dynamic hiring strategy, world-class marketing, and unrivaled educational opportunities were recognized with Gold Magellan Awards in the ‘Hiring Strategy’, ‘Web Marketing/Advertising’, and ‘Advertising/Marketing Campaign’ categories, and Silver in the ‘Training Program’ category. Avoya’s many award-winning initiatives demonstrate its commitment to helping Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network foster successful businesses and deliver exceptional vacation value and experiences to even more travelers. Avoya’s Magellan Award-winning programs include:
Avoya Travel Hiring Strategy: To continue its aggressive growth plans, Avoya invested in a comprehensive approach to its hiring strategy in 2023. Central to Avoya’s strategy was the expansion of its executive team, which year-to-date (YTD) has successfully filled five key roles: CSO, CFO, VP of Finance, SVP of People Operations, and SVP of Strategic Operations.
The SVP of People Operations role was created to drive the dynamic hiring strategy and create a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence. Results of the hiring strategy have already yielded an impressive increase, growing from 110 employees at the start of 2023 to over 160 YTD. Embracing the flexibility of remote and hybrid work allowed Avoya to expand its applicant pool, resulting in employees across 22 different states. Avoya’s candidate vetting process is rigorous to ensure the best talent and cultural fit, including practical assessments to evaluate candidates’ overall proficiency and unique panel interviews with various department leaders for Director-level and higher roles.
Leave It To The Experts: In February 2023, Avoya launched a multi-channel brand campaign named “Leave It To The Experts” featuring a series of ads across a range of digital channels including Connected TV, online video, social media, podcast networks, and more. The campaign underscores Avoya’s position as a leader in the industry of championing the value of travel advisors and promotes Avoya’s best-in-class model of combining human touch and expertise with powerful technology.
The brand campaign spotlights the benefit of using a travel advisor and the value of booking a vacation with Avoya through relatable and easy-to-follow ads that introduce travelers and travel advisors to Avoya’s platform. Another key component of the campaign includes an update to the Avoya Travel home page featuring a video explaining the Avoya model and the process of using an Avoya advisor. The campaign received resoundingly positive feedback from the industry and the Avoya Network and continues to drive a greater awareness of the brand, strengthen the value of the travel advisor, and reinforce Avoya as the future of the leisure travel industry.
On Deck With Avoya: Your Weekly Travel Update: “On Deck With Avoya: Your Weekly Travel Update” was created as a platform for travel advisors to keep up with the latest industry news, business best practices, and Avoya-insider knowledge. A collaborative effort between Avoya’s Trade Marketing and Network Expansion teams, the popular weekly web series has evolved into a go-to resource for advisors seeking information from high-profile industry leaders, knowledgeable Avoya support staff, and top-producing Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network.
Since its inception in October 2020, the show has accrued impressive levels of engagement and participation from the travel advisor community with nearly 355,000 impressions, close to 52,000 views, and over 820 new subscribers on YouTube alone. Phil Cappelli, Avoya’s recently appointed Chief Sales Officer, made a special appearance on the show for its third anniversary episode which aired on October 26.
Travel Agent Education Powered by Avoya: Avoya launched Travel Agent Education Powered by Avoya in November 2022 to satisfy the demand from entrepreneurs who found themselves needing an educational resource to help learn the travel industry. The education platform is designed for both new-to-travel entrepreneurs and current travel advisors who are seeking a comprehensive educational resource that prepares them to successfully own and operate a profitable independent travel business.
The online curriculum provides self-paced coursework, support from known travel industry leaders with over 100 years of combined industry experience, and free registration for the Travel Agent Education Certification (TAEC™) exam. For the ESSENTIAL and PRO packages, successful completion of the coursework and exam also includes the initial membership for both CLIA (Individual) membership and ASTA (Future Travel Professional) membership. The ever-evolving curriculum includes an overview of the various types of vacations and suppliers; geography, destination, and cultural education; foundations of entrepreneurship; how to use technology and marketing resources; preparing a new travel business for success; and much more.
“Avoya Travel is honored to receive four prestigious Magellan Awards that recognize our unwavering progress and historic growth,” said Sam McCully, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Avoya Travel. “The Avoya platform is constantly advancing and evolving to boost the market share of our suppliers through our omnichannel marketing solutions and offer Independent Agencies access to even more resources that can help them continue to earn at industry-leading levels. These Magellan Awards are representative of Avoya’s targeted strategies to continue increasing shared success for all of its key stakeholders.”
The annual Travel Weekly Magellan Awards honor the best in travel across the entire spectrum of industry segments and salute outstanding travel professionals. Winners are selected by Travel Weekly editors and industry experts such as Peter Greenberg, Travel Editor for CBS News; Norie Quintos, Editor at Large for National Geographic Travel Media; Patricia Schultz, Author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die; Johnny Jet, Travel Blogger and one of Forbes’ Top 10 Travel Influencers; and many more.
To learn more visit: www.AvoyaNetwork.com
About Avoya Travel
Avoya Travel® is a vacation platform company which is redefining how vacations are booked by providing unmatched resources, services, proprietary technology, and patented solutions to thousands of companies including cruise lines, tour companies, resorts, and the Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network. Through its innovative model and vast demand channels, Avoya utilizes powerful marketing technology and data intelligence, alongside its patented Live Leads™ program, to connect travelers with independent travel advisors who deliver personalized service and value throughout the vacation planning and booking process. Avoya continues to develop groundbreaking technology solutions to offer travelers access to exclusive discounts and amenities in partnership with travel suppliers. Avoya has won numerous awards for its technology and services, including holding multiple patents, and serves travelers in North America and beyond.
With the increasing complexities of planning and booking vacations, the travel agency profession has experienced an extraordinary comeback. Professionals interested in starting their own travel business should contact Avoya Travel at 800-521-2597 or visit www.AvoyaNetwork.com. Travelers interested in booking their next vacation with an expert Independent Agency in the Avoya Network should call 800-753-1463 or visit www.AvoyaTravel.com.
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