Ensemble Travel Group opened its seventh International Conference in Las Vegas on Oct. 19 with its two co-presidents, Lindsay Pearlman and Libbie Rice, challenging the record crowd of 1,000 Ensemble members, suppliers and guests attending the meeting to take a more focused approach to their business especially in the current economic environment. The two co-presidents also unveiled a revamped agency cooperative group that is truly North American, with co-presidents from Canada (Pearlman) and the U.S. (Rice), and one that has specific products and services designed to match every phase of the customer travel booking process.

“At last year’s conference we talked about the shift in thinking to being in the business of travel as opposed to being in the travel business,” said Pearlman during the opening general session at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. “We must continue down that path, but now with even more resolve. We’re in an economic environment where many of the old rules no longer apply. At Ensemble, our focus is on how we do things, why we do things, and when we do things. At the end of the day, it’s more about process than turning out a litany of products and programs.”

For her part, Rice, who was making her debut at an Ensemble conference as co-president, defined Ensemble’s “A New Day” theme for the 2011 conference theme around three pillars: growth, stability and focus. “It’s about growing our membership, our value and our brand,” said Rice. “It’s also about our 44-year history, our deep relationship with our preferred partners, and being North American, which means we’re not solely reliant on one market. And finally, we must continue to focus on helping members grow their business through both technology and product offers that are relevant and compelling, and not just a broad brush approach.”

Both Pearlman and Rice asserted that Ensemble’s North American structure is working. “Our North American focus has allowed Ensemble Travel Group to reap benefits far beyond our expectations,” Pearlman said. “Whether that’s technology, best practices, business development, leveraging supplier relationships, creative thinking -- it’s been quite positive. We’re encouraged by member feedback, as well. They like our sense of family, transparency, accessibility and thought leadership…how we go about things.”

According to Rice, the fact that Ensemble has recently added 75 new U.S. and Canadian members further reinforces the fact that the group is making great gains on a number of fronts. Ensemble members currently include more than 850 professional travel agencies in the U.S. and Canada. “Our very personal, consultative business approach and initiatives like the new air booking engine are creating a buzz in the agency community,” said Rice. “And from a supplier side, we’re making inroads and showing that we can move the business. It really is a ‘new day’ at Ensemble Travel Group!”

Ensemble also expects its member growth to be aided by new programs, such as Air by Ensemble, a new air booking engine that completed beta-testing in September and is already yielding results for members. In addition, Ensemble used the opening session of its conference to launch a new cruise booking engine, which is expected to be rolled out to the group’s U.S. members by the end of this year and to Canadian members by the first quarter of 2012. Other new programs are expected to be announced later this week at the Ensemble conference.

The group’s new strategy also was supported by a number of top suppliers who spoke at the general session, including Scott Nisbet, president and CEO of the Globus Family of Brands; Gregg Michel, president and CEO of Crystal Cruises; Michael Londregan, president of Qantas Vacations; Daryl Hudson, vice president-Americas for Tourism Australia; Guy Young, president of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises; and Ken Watson, executive vice president and COO of Silversea Cruises. All unveiled details of their new product lines and most said Ensemble’s sales of their products were up this year and into 2012

In the end, Ensemble is clearly an organization that is evolving into a trans-border group designed to weather the storms of both the U.S. and Canadian economies. For a group that is widely considered to be the original cooperative, it’s an important transformation. Warren Buckner, chairman emeritus of Ensemble, said that when he helped start the group in 1968, he hoped it would evolve and survive as it has. “Although the industry has taken a beating, we have prevailed,” he said, through the amalgamation of Ensemble’s U.S. and Canadian boards of directors to create a truly North American organization with two co-presidents and “programs will help you prepare for the future…no other organization has this.” For more information on Ensemble, call 800-442-6871 or visit www.joinensemble.com.