by Joe Pike
Last updated: 8:30 AM ET, Wed December 12, 2018
The Millennial Travel Forum officially begins today in Barbados as travalliancemedia's inaugural event is set to bring 15 top-producing Millennial advisors to the Caribbean island today through December 16.
Launched by travAlliancemedia back in late August, the Millennial Travel Forum is a multi-day, hosted event that brings 15 to 20 Millennial travel agents to a specific destination around the world.
MTF: Barbados will require agents in attendance to post a certain number of social media posts each day and night of the event.
"It's a matter of quality vs. quantity," said Marisa Costa, founder of AMIKO and an advisor for Protravel International. "While advisors are micro-influencers, they are extremely effective in marketing products not only to their clients but also their network of other advisors."
And these will not be simple selfies either. Millennial advisors will instead be encouraged to engage all of their followers and create conversations around the destination and participating suppliers.
"I've sent countless bookings to vendors while traveling, more from other advisors than my own clients," said Costa. "I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences in Barbados with the other members of AMIKO and my advisor friends around the globe."
While Barbados will be the first destination to host the forum, the first host hotel company for the forum will be Elegant Hotels.
Four of Elegant Hotels' properties will be featured during the forum. Advisors will be staying at The House by Elegant Hotels, Treasure Beach by Elegant Hotels, and the Waves Hotel & Spa by Elegant Hotels. The Tamarind by Elegant Hotels will be the site of the forum's main event, a filmed roundtable discussion to run live on Facebook.
Meet and Follow the 15 Agents on Instagram
- Marisa Costa, AMIKO and Protravel International @marisagoesglobal/@helloamiko
- Daniela Harrison, Avenues of the World Travel @avenuesoftheworld / @traveltheworldwithdaniela
- Caitlyn Gambino, Aum Journeys @aumjourneys
- Jennifer Carr, The Tropical Travelers @tropicaltravelerjenn
- Avery Harris, Viking Travel @avery.vt
- Michael Shane Stephens, Curated Global Travel @themichaelshane
- Hannah Schremp, FROSCH @wherentheworldishannah
- Paul Stroncek, Dreamlines @travelmanager_paul
- Caroline Bracewell, Protravel, Inc. @Fivestarnomad_caroline
- Brian Moses, HE Travel @brian_moses
- Stephen Scott, Travel Hub 365 and Protravel International @travelhub365
- Maggie Crockett, Sanders Travel Centre @onthemovewithmaggie / @magsmaggie
- Meredith Donaldson, World Citizen Trave @worldcitizentravel
- Bailie White, BE The Travel @bethetravelgram
- Cathleen Richards, SmartFlyer @curatedbycath
Live Roundtable Discussion
As mentioned, the forum's main event, a filmed roundtable discussion to run live on Facebook, will be held at The Tamarind by Elegant Hotels at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 15.
Dubbed, "Breakfast with Barbados," the discussion will focus on selling the island from the perspectives of 15 Millennial travel experts.
"Some of the top producers, owners and partners will be giving their expert advice for all things promotionally, technically and culturally," said Paul Stroncek, an advisor with Dreamlines in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "I can vouch that these are top big names in the field, some of which I traveled with before. It's imperative we have various opinions, input and experiences to enhance our advisement to our future clients."
Hashtags
For those agents who couldn't join us this time around, follow our coverage of MTF: Barbados on social media from December 12 - 16 by using #MTFBarbados. For the live roundtable discussion on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 15, #BreakfastWithBarbados will also be used.
The event culminates with a live roundtable discussion at The Tamarind on December 15.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore