PHOTO: Giovanni Livera at the TPI Extravaganza. (courtesy TPI)
"Mission Possible" was the theme for this year's Travel Planners International Extravaganza. The annual event took place Sept. 23-27 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando and featured a variety of motivational speakers, workshops and networking events that were designed to give travel agents an edge in a competitive industry.
The event was also punctuated by its welcome event, "Spy-Tacular," which continued the Mission Possible theme and took place Epcot's ShowPlace Theater. The conference closed with a stunning performance of the Festival of the Lion King at Disney's Animal Kingdom. And while the show was a definite highlight, as was the meal, TPI opened the park's famed Expedition Everest ride for attendees, which made the night extra special.
Headlining the keynote addresses were a variety of speakers that addressed the ever-challenging travel marketplace tand they provided tactical advice and challenged agents to take steps and make changes to their business practices to achieve higher sales and increase productivity as well as to focus on the ever-important aspect of client relations.
Speakers included Giovanni Livera, motivational speaker at Giovanni Experiences; Matt Bailey, speaker, author and Internet marketing expert at SiteLogic; Michael Hoffman, keynote speaker and president of Igniting Performance; Scott Stratten, president of UnMarketing; and Daniel Levine, director of Avant Guide. Mark Murphy, president and CEO of travAlliancemedia, parent company of Travel Pulse, also addressed the agent attendees. Each speaker had something in common - they combined useful information with a humorous approach to illustrate how travel agents can better themselves and their careers.
In addition to the series of speakers, TPI offered agents one-on-one sessions with preferred suppliers, roundtable discussions and breakout sessions over the duration of the event. There were also opportunities to do ship inspections in Port Canaveral, Fla., and to visit several of Orlando's theme parks.
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