With Martha Chapman
21DEC07
Erin Oddleifson
with Jacques Gilbert of Potruff & Smith
VoX Christmas Cheer
The corner of Yonge and Bloor is the heart of Toronto, where The Bay meets CIBC and Tim Hortons. And last night, the sounds of salsa met reggae.
Well, not exactly the corner – it was 26 floors up at the offices of VoX, who represent a mittful of destinations and hotels including Las Vegas, Texas and Allegro Resorts. And there were dozens of travel industry denizens there to enjoy the martini bar, wickedly sweet dessert buffet, and many seasonal libations.
So what else could the question-du-jour be except for “What would you like Santa to bring the Canadian travel industry this year?”
Tony Celio, manager of sales development for AC, hopes Santa will keep the dollar high. Ricky Goldman of Goldman Marketing has two simple wishes: “Bums in seats! And maximum capacity!” Pierre Lapage of Intair (and Exec Director of CATO) wants the dollar just to stabilize, while Sunwing’s Deana Murphy as well as Erin Oddleifson of Transat have their fingers crossed for lots of cold weather.
Ask Rob Stockman of Transat Distribution and he’ll tell you “Friendly people with lots of money who want to go away.” Insight’s Doug Patterson asks Santa to let travel agents know that escorted tours provide the biggest per capita income. Jonathan Cowley of Caribbean Airlines suggests that St. Nick upgrade his sleigh to a Caribbean Airways flight (surprise!). “That way he can fly direct to Tobago.”
Abdalah Castillo, director of the Dominican Republic Tourism Board, simply asked for “Safety. So people will be happy to travel.”
Amen to that, and season’s greetings to all!
© Open Jaw