New York -- By partnering with Internova Travel Group, the
global travel seller network, destinations, hotels, and other travel suppliers
get access to about 114,0000 travel advisors who will sell their products,
especially if they develop a working relationship. That was the message at a
Focus on Partnership 2026 event at Internova's headquarters here, attended by
destinations, destination management companies, and other suppliers.
Stephen McGillivray, chief marketing officer for Travel
Leaders Network, an Internova company, said Internova is the largest vacation
seller in the world, with its network of mega-host agencies, home-based
advisors, and independent contractors, selling every vertical of travel
products.
Internova, said McGillivray, can be broken into three
groups: advisor services, consortia, and direct-to-consumer sellers. He said leisure
travel is projected to triple by 2040 from the current $5 trillion to $15
trillion as the number of households worth over $1 million increases by 1,000
every day in the US where 40% of all high-net-worth consumers in the world
reside.” There has been an explosion of wealth and there doesn’t appear to be
an end in sight,” said McGillivray.
J.D. O’Hara, Internova’s CEO, said that while there is a
perception that Internova – with all its parts – is complicated, it is not, but
might seem that way because "we don't have a direct competitor.” He said
the company is easily described as 114,000 travel advisors all selling Internova
products. By having a conversation with Internova, said O’Hara, “you are
getting access to all of those advisors.” He said the company has long switched
from calling travel industry providers suppliers – moving to the word partners
“because we both benefit from the relationship.”
The pandemic, said O'Hara, “put a lot of things into
perspective and people began replacing an emphasis on goods with experiences
and services.” He said younger people are Internova’s fastest-growing
demographic because of their general desire to outsource tasks and
responsibilities.
A travel advisor, said O’Hara, should be perceived as more
like a private wealth manager. He said, “I can trade my own stocks up to a point
but at some point, I’ll need expertise.” He said Internova’s main differentiator
from other advisor networks is scale. He said that in the travel consortia space,
for one, Travel Leaders Network has 50% of the market.
Henry Gilroy, executive vice president-strategic development,
told the audience, “If we’re partnering with you, we want to make sure you’re
achieving your goals.” He said there are two big trends in travel: seasonality
and slow travel. The hot topic in travel, he said, is encouraging travel in
shoulder seasons. He said research shows that while luxury travelers are less
price-sensitive and tend to travel in peak seasons, they can be encouraged to
travel at other times with different kinds of experiences and messaging, including
through social media.
Slower travel, he said, means spending more time in a
destination and not rushing through the
Premium travel – roughly a four-star experience – tends to involve
longer trips than luxury travel, and more domestic travel, said Gilroy. Having
information like this, he said, helps Internova to achieve partner goals.
Overall, said Gilroy, Internova is seeing strong growth
across most regions, with Antarctica leading the way because of expedition cruising.
The exceptions are North America, which is flat, and Latin America, which has
seen some decreases because of issues in Mexico, "but we hope to see a
rebound soon.” In general, said Gilroy, “we’re very positive about 2026.”
Bill Lemon, vice president of global sales for MICE, said
the company has a global strategy that considers cultural differences, local
laws and regulations, and market trends. He said the benefit of going through
Altour – Internova's corporate travel subsidiary – is access to business
intelligence capabilities.
Representatives of two destinations – Croatia and Tenerife (a
Canary Island) – testified to the power of a partnership with Internova. Pia
Louw, with the Tenerife Tourism Corporation, said, “If we didn’t have the relationship
with Internova we would not have the success we have today.” Together, she
said, her office and Internova do webinars, mailers and more.
Leila Krešić Jurić, with the Croatia National Tourist
Office, also testified to the power of the relationship, saying that working
with Internova "helps us design customized and focused campaigns” and allows
the destination to attend events like Edge, the annual conference of Travel Leaders
Network. In three years, she said, the destination has seen 64% growth in revenues
and 39% growth in travelers through Internova alone.
In a talk about Internova AI efforts, Casey Soto, an
executive involved in Internova’s AI initiatives, said: "The future of
travel is AI-enabled.” He said that Internova’s position is that “AI is not
coming for advisors or for destination management companies.” He said advisors “will
be able to serve more clients more personally with less friction.”
Internova, said Soto, is investing in AI through its AI
Center of Excellence. It targets advisor productivity, operational
intelligence, customer experience, and innovation – by designing AI that can
help answer questions. AI, he said, can deliver personalized recommendations
and faster response times.
Destinations and destination management companies, said Soto,
must design marketing for AI – “otherwise you will be invisible. “He continued:
“Don’t think of it as content; think of it as infrastructure.”
Dennis Grunden, vice president of hotel programs, said that Internova’s
three hotel programs – Select, Curated and Worldwide - offer options for every
traveler. Select is for five-star properties, Curated for luxury lifestyle and Worldwide
for value-oriented clients.
Internova Advisors, said Grunden, represents the largest
luxury network in the US, with 78 advisors netting upwards of $300,000 in
commissions.
And Brian Hegarty, vice president of marketing, called
travel advisors “the original influencers.” He said the challenges and risks of
travel today call for more dependence on advisors. He said one example is that 51%
of millennial families use advisors, and advisor use is growing with each
generation because younger generations don't have the time to plan a
complicated trip.
Advisors, said Hegarty, deliver high value to customers. He
said that almost 60% of consumers come to an advisor without a specific destination
in mind. They do their research and use AI, he said, but are “overwhelmed and
confused.” The number one thing people come to advisors for, he said, is
destination expertise.
“Travel advisors,” concluded Hegarty, “are the new power brokers.
It’s actually always been that way, but now it's finally being realized."
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